HVS EMEA Newsletter - Week Ending 2 July 2010

The Cumberland Hotel Sold

As a joint venture, property investment firms Starwood Capital and London & Regional have bought the 1,019-room Cumberland Hotel, in London, from the Royal Bank of Scotland in what is thought to be the biggest deal in Europe for more than a year. The property is reported to have been sold for a sum close to the asking price of £215 million. The Cumberland’s current operators, Guoman Hotels, will continue to run the hotel.

A Triumphant Sale In Paris

Paris-based property investment and operator group Altarea Cogedim has sold the Hotel Renaissance Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, to Deka Immobilien for €114 million. Deka has acquired the hotel under a sale-and-leaseback agreement on behalf of its Europa open-ended property fund. According to Deka, Altarea will hold a long-term lease for the 118-room hotel and it will be managed by Marriott International.

A Beautiful Debut For Radisson Blu On Corsica

Often referred to as the “Island of Beauty”, the French Island of Corsica has beaches, mountains and warm weather…everything you could ask for from a holiday destination. The one thing it currently lacks, though, is a Rezidor property. But this is soon be rectified as Rezidor Hotel Group announced this week that it is to make its debut on the Mediterranean island with the Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Porticcio. The hotel is expected to open on the southwest coast in spring 2012, in the village of Porticcio, 32 km from Corsica’s capital Ajaccio. The 170-room property will be owned by French tour operator the Ollandi group and will bring Rezidor’s portfolio in France up to 25 hotels.

The Debut Of Suite Novotel

The third film in the Twilight saga premiered in London this week to a horde of screaming fans, but this could not eclipse the world debut of Accor’s new Suite Novotel brand. There may have been no horde and no screaming fans, but it was still a big event when the Suite Novotel Luxembourg rolled out the red carpet for its first guests. All of Accor’s existing Suitehotel properties will have traded in their old signs for the new Suite Novotel one by the end of July 2010.

The Chief Of All Seasons

Luxury hotel group Four Seasons Hotels has announced that from 1 August 2010 Kathleen Taylor will take over the role of president and chief executive officer from Isadore Sharp, the company’s founder. After joining Four Seasons in 1989, Ms Taylor has worked as president and chief operating officer since 2007. Commenting on her new post, Ms Taylor said: “I’m greatly honoured to become the next CEO of Four Seasons and have the opportunity to continue building on the legacy of leadership and vision established by Issy.” Mr Sharp will continue to be involved with the company staying on as Chairman.

A New Hospitality Division Lands In Doha

This week Qatari development company Dohaland launched its new hospitality division: Dohaland Hospitality. Heading up the new subsidiary is Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, who, before joining Dohaland, was previously the chief operating officer of Barwa Hotels & Resorts. Dohaland Hospitality may be less than a week old but it has already announced its first venture: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has signed a management agreement with the new company for the Mandarin Oriental, Doha, which is expected to open in 2014 as part of the QAR20 billion (US$5.5 billion) mixed-use Musheireb project in Qatar. Dohaland is the owner and developer of the hotel, which will have 160 rooms and 95 serviced apartments. This will be Mandarin Oriental’s second hotel in the Middle East; hotel number one, the Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi, is scheduled to open in 2013.

Taking It Easy In The Middle East

EasyHotel, part of the easyGroup owned and founded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is now taking bookings for the easyHotel Dubai, Jebel Ali. The 216-room, six-storey new-build hotel, due to open its doors on 1 August 2010, is the first easyHotel property outside of Europe and it will be operated by Istithmar Budget Hotels FZE. Until now, easyHotel has only franchised hotels in Europe, including five London hotels and hotels in Luton, Basel, Zürich, Budapest, Larnaka, Sofia and Berlin. EasyHotel will also be opening hotels in Edinburgh and Porto in 2010.

To Beach Or Not To Beach

In the news this week was the official opening of the first Rotana property in Dubai to have direct access to a beach: the 301-room Amwaj Rotana Jumeirah Beach – Dubai. Rotana also opened the 245-room Centro Barsha in Dubai this week, hotel number two under its Centro Hotels by Rotana budget brand.

Gladen’s Tidings

By Esther Gladen, Business and Market Intelligence Analyst, HVS Madrid. The five-star, 172-room Hotel Los Monteros in Marbella, which has been closed for the last year, has been bought by Juda Azuelos, a Moroccan businessman who also owns hotels in Switzerland. The hotel will be managed by the new companies founded by Mr Azuelos (New Monteros and Monterotel) and is expected to reopen in July 2010. The hotel’s main creditor, BANIF, has agreed to forgive part of the €55 million mortgage which has not been completely covered by the purchase price. Wyndham Worldwide has completed its previously announced acquisition of the Tryp hotel brand from Sol Meliá, including franchise agreements with 92 Tryp hotels in Europe and South America. Wyndham and Sol Meliá will work together to develop the Tryp by Wyndham brand globally and to market the hotels cooperatively through their central reservations systems and loyalty programme as part of a strategic alliance between the two companies. Ola Hotels has signed a management agreement for the Es Ravells d´Or apartment complex in Santanyi, on Majorca. Accor plans to open its first Suite Novotel property in Spain in the centre of Málaga; the 100-room, new-build hotel is expected to open at the end of this year, and another property is planned for Paris in 2011.

Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 24 June-1 July 2010

NH Hoteles - NH Hoteles added 2.6% on low volume, ending a four-day streak of losses.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts - Shares fell for a third day on Wednesday, bringing the company's three-day fall to US$4.21 or 9.2%.

Rezidor - Decreased 1.4% on low volume.

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