| InterContinental expands hotel portfolios in New Zealand | Return to Headlines |
| InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and the Carter Group have signed an agreement to jointly acquire Parkroyal Queenstown for more than NZ$20 million. The resort will be re-branded Holiday Inn Queenstown following a NZ$6 million refurbishment in May and June 2005. The Carter Group owns Holiday Inn Christchurch and Centra Christchurch - both operated by the IHG. Centra Christchurch will be re-branded Holiday Inn City Centre Christchurch before the end of 2004. | |
| Starwood Hotels & Resorts to launch W hotel in Maldives | Return to Headlines |
| Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (SH&R) has formed a joint venture company with Universal Enterprises Ltd. to develop and own a resort in the Maldives. SH&R will own 50% of the resort and manage it under its W brand by late 2005. The W Maldives-Fesdhu Resort will comprise 80 villas including 50 over water villas and 30 beachfront villas on the Fesdhu Island. | |
| InterContinental Hotels Group to manage new hotels in China | Return to Headlines |
| InterContinental Hotels Group has added nine hotels to its portfolio in China. The group will manage the hotels under its respective brands including Express by Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza. These hotels include the 220-room Holiday Inn Erdos in Mongolia opening this year, the 300-room Crowne Plaza Longgang Shenzhen, the 300-room Crowne Plaza Tianjin and the 350-room Crowne Plaza Science City Guangzhou, all are due in 2005; the 250-room Holiday Inn Changshu in Jiangsu province, the 271-room Holiday Inn North Chongqing in Sichuan and the 300-room Express by Holiday Inn Bell Tower Xi'an are set to open in 2006 and the 305-room InterContinental Moon Valley Beijing is scheduled to open in 2007. Furthermore, the re-branded 271-room Express by Holiday Inn Zhengzhou in Henan province is in operations. | |
| GIC RealEstate acquires hotel in Tokyo | Return to Headlines |
| The property investment arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, GIC realEstate, acquired two prime Tokyo commercial buildings for 42.5 billion yen. The Shinagawa Seaside East Tower will have 14 floors of office space, a 300-room hotel and retail space, while the West Tower of the same name will be an 18-storey office block. GIC RE’s other Japanese properties include the Shiodome City Centre and the Kawasaki Tech Centre. | |
| Marriott’s expansion plan in China | Return to Headlines |
| Marriott has signed an agreement with Shenzhen Guangzhou Mansion to manage a hotel in Shenzhen, China. The 450-room Shenzhen Marriott, located close to Futian CBD, is slated to open in early 2005. In addition to the Shenzhen Marriott hotel, seven hotels under management of Marriott International are currently under construction in China. These include the 284-room Renaissance Tianjin TEDA Hotel and the 453-room Sanya Marriott Resort, opening in 2004, the 289-room Renaissance Wuhan Hotel and the 380-room Renaissance Suzhou Hotel, due in 2005, the 226-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Beijing is scheduled to open in 2006 and the 591-room JW Marriott Hotel Beijing and is set to open in 2007. | |
| Hilton International to manage riverside hotel in Bangkok | Return to Headlines |
| City Developments and US real estate fund Westbrook Asia LLC have appointed Hilton International to manage their new 542-room hotel along Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. The Millennium Hilton Bangkok is slated to open in the first half of 2005. The five-star hotel will be the first in Bangkok for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), City Dev’s hotel arm. City Dev and Westbrook bought the asset as an uncompleted property under a 50:50 joint venture last year for US$50 million. The seller was Thai Asset Management Corporation. This will be the third hotel in M&C’s global portfolio to use the Hilton brand. The other two are the Millennium Hilton in New York and the Millennium Seoul Hilton. | |
| Panya Property to develop resort in Thailand | Return to Headlines |
| According to The Nations, Property developer Panya Property Co Ltd plans to build a THB1 billion health resort in central Pattaya. The construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2004 and is scheduled to be completed by end 2005. The 80-rai resort will comprise 12 villas with 1,800 square metres in size each. Furthermore, the resort will offer recreational and health activities. | |
| Le Meridien Changi Village is set to re-open | Return to Headlines |
| Le Méridien Changi Village in Singapore is set to open in June. Owned by Far East Organization Hotels, the hotel has undergone an S$45 million renovation. The hotel comprises 380 rooms, 13 meeting rooms, a 300-seater ballroom and recreation facilities. | |
