| Hilton Takes Number 17 To Euston |
| Commuters passing by Euston railway station in London will have a new sight to cheer them on their way from 1 November. That is the day when Hilton International will be moving in at the London Euston Plaza Hotel, and shaking hands in the lobby with new partner and the hotel's previous operator London Plaza Hotels. The 150-room, four-star property will be renamed the Hilton London Euston and will become the company's seventeenth hotel in the capital. Perhaps restaurateurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King might call by the hotel for tips on how to enter the trade. The men behind noted London restaurants such as The Ivy are said to be interested in establishing a boutique hotel in London, with the privately owned 80-room Basil Street Hotel in Knightsbridge reportedly lined up as a starter. |
| Raffles Draws Up A Marketing Alliance With Taj Hotels | Return to Headlines |
| Raffles International, noting that the geographical spread of its portfolio of 37 luxury hotels complemented that of the 70 properties belonging to India's Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, concluded that the formation of a strategic marketing alliance would be the ideal way of getting to know this subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company (IHC). The alliance will focus initially on cross-marketing projects involving the luxury brands Raffles Hotels and Resorts, and Taj Luxury Hotels. The lure of India's growing tourist industry appeals to Raffles, whereas IHC's Managing Director Raymond Bickson's initial hope is that the partnership will raise the profile of the Taj brand in Europe and America. | |
| Prague Welcomes andel's Suites This October | Return to Headlines |
| The Andel City business area of the Czech capital Prague will be offering the visitor somewhere new to stay from this October in the shape of the andel's Suites Prague, a collection of high-quality serviced apartments and suites. Meanwhile in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Primorsko new things are promised to those visitors prepared to wait until July 2005. And native firm Euro Holidays knows that nothing will attract them more than a combination of sun, sands and the words City Hotel; work on the 400-bed, four-star Sun Sands City Hotel, which will cost a reported US$9.1 million to build, will begin next month. In the capital Sofia, meanwhile, Riel 99 is certainly not wary of Greeks bearing gifts, particularly when Grecotel's gift is an investment of a reported €27 million in Riel's Rila Hotel. The money will be spent later this year on raising the status of the property from three-star to five-star. | |
| Caines And Brownsword Send A Greetings Card To The Arthouse | Return to Headlines |
| The Arthouse Hotel in Glasgow has been plucked from receivership by chef Michael Caines and his business partner Andrew Brownsword. The pair paid a reported £6.5 million for the 65-room, four-star property, which is likely to be extensively redeveloped. Meanwhile, Scottish operator The Country House Hotel Group is said to have attracted a number of expressions of interest from parties looking to acquire the leasehold on four of its properties in Scotland. The Belleisle House Hotel in Ayr, The Manor Park in nearby Monkton, the Birnam Hotel near Perth and the Ewington in Glasgow are the hotels awaiting rescue from the hands of the receiver. | |
| Nozar Hears Its Call From The Pyrenees | Return to Headlines |
| Spanish property developer Nozar is to exercise its call option with its compatriot, the insurance firm Agrupació Mútua, to take ownership from this October of the Boí Taüll Resort in the Pyrenees. The move will cost Nozar a reported €50 million but it would seem that the company has sufficient cash remaining in its pocket, as reports indicate that it wants to develop another tourist resort nearby. News of the deal may eventually filter down from the mountains and find its way to the resort of Marbella in southwest Spain, where Accor has opened the 101-room Sofitel Las Dunas. | |
| Sale Time On The Black Sea In Georgia | Return to Headlines |
| The Intourist Hotel in the resort of Batumi on Georgia's Black Sea coast seems likely to be the lead item in a sale, due to start next month, of state-owned hotels in the Adzharia region of the republic. A minimum price of a reported US$3 million has been set for the Intourist, and other lots on offer could include hotels in Kobuleti and Chakvi. Auction enthusiasts who find nothing in the sales brochure to interest them there might like to turn to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Reports suggest that state-owned company ZOI 84 is preparing to sell the Hotel Igman, for which an opening bid price of €5 million has been set. | |
| Glide Across A Newly Polished Floor In Nigeria | Return to Headlines |
| What was already the largest hotel ballroom in west Africa is undoubtedly now the freshest too after renovation work on Ladi Kwali Hall was completed recently. The work on the conference facilities at the Abuja Sheraton Hotel in Nigeria cost a reported US$616,000. Reports from nearby Algeria suggest that the tourism ministry is interested in the possibility of building a Marriott hotel in the capital Algiers. | |
| Hello, Hello, Hello, What Might Be Going On Here, Then? | Return to Headlines |
| Reports have come in this week that a number of hoteliers were sighted among the crowd in the vicinity of Bow Street police station and the adjoining magistrates' court in central London. The same faces may also have been seen outside the premises of the estate agent handling the sale of the Grade II listed buildings. One of the suspects may eventually come forward brandishing the necessary £12 million; if this happens to be a hotelier then they will be charged with redeveloping the two buildings as a hotel. | |
Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 12/08/04-19/08/04
Hilton Group - Seeing further growth in betting in the medium term, UBS upgraded Hilton from 'Neutral 2' to 'Buy 2'.
InterContinental Hotels Group - Fitch affirmed ratings of BBB+/F2 and a stable outlook.
Millennium & Copthorne - Teather & Greenwood placed a 'Buy' rating on the stock. CSFB retained an 'Outperform' rating and raised its target price from 330p to 345p.
