IHG signs agreement for 20 Holiday Inns in Germany and other international hotel news

IHG signs agreement for 20 Holiday Inns in Germany
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a franchise agreement with Foremost Hospitality to introduce 20 new Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express properties across Germany’s key cities by 2016. Of the 20 properties within the agreement, seven hotel contracts are already signed and development underway. These include the November signing of two additional hotel contracts; the 328-room Holiday Inn Berlin City Centre – Potsdamer Platz, expected to open March 2011, and the 150-room Holiday Inn Express Berlin City Centre – Alexander Platz, scheduled to open March 2010.There are currently 55 hotels operating under the Holiday Inn brand family in Germany, of which 41 are Holiday Inn and 14 are Express by Holiday Inn properties.  As of 30 September 2008 Germany’s pipeline of signed deals was three Holiday Inn and nine Holiday Inn Express properties, which includes five signed deals with Foremost Hospitality.  The global relaunch was announced in October 2007 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. 

 
Novotel selected for Brisbane Airport’s first international hotel
Accor’s mid-market hotel brand Novotel, has been selected for Brisbane Airport’s first major international hotel. The hotel is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion by October 2009. It will be the second Novotel in Brisbane – the first opened in 1995 in Creek Street in the heart of the central business district. The 156-room Novotel is being developed by Kenlynn Properties Australia and will be part of a retail, commercial and recreational precinct and will feature a roof top terrace, gymnasium, lap pool and sauna, a lobby bar, a la carte restaurant, and six meeting rooms. In recent years Novotel has been selected for hotels at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Guangzhou’s Baiyun Airport, Hyderabad’s new international airport and Hong Kong’s airport. There are over 40 Novotels at major airports around the globe. Novotel Brisbane Airport will be the 23rd Novotel in Australia and the 5th in Queensland.

New York Palace hotel appoints new executive chef
Two Michelin-starred restaurant Gilt, the restaurant at the New York Palace hotel, has appointed Justin Bogle as its new executive chef. Bogle, who most recently served as executive sous chef for Gilt.  Bogle previously collaborated with Gilt’s former executive chef Christopher Lee since 2004 when they worked together at the Striped Bass in Philadelphia.  Bogle went on to join Lee at Gilt where he’s served as executive sous chef since 2006. A graduate of The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Bogle has worked in other Philadelphia restaurants including Alma de Cuba.  He is currently in the kitchen and his contributions to Gilt’s menu will continue to evolve. David Carmichael will carry on as the executive pastry chef, and the front of the house staff will continue under the leadership of restaurant director Christopher Day. The New York Palace recently joined the Dorchester Collection.

First ever BDRC Russian Hotel Guest Survey results published
Specialist market research company BDRC has released the Russian edition of its Hotel Business Guest Surveys investigating the Russian business travel market. Radisson and Hilton came out as the top performers in Russia sharing the title of number one hotel brand. Despite having only one property in Russia, Hilton manages to score highest levels of awareness amongst business travellers but Radisson came out as the most preferred brand. The report also states that Radisson is likely to become the market leader because it was one of the first global hotel brands to enter Russia and has more extensive development plans. The report also shows that the usage of hotel chain websites to book hotel rooms is higher, and preferred to the direct contact that travellers favour in other markets.

By Gemma Sharkey

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