Featured in this EMEA Hospitality Newsletter - Week Ending 18 August 2006
Wyndham Hotel Group And Corinthia Pair Up For Adventures In Rebranding
Nikko Models Its Third Hotel In The Middle East
Paramount Has Turkey On Its Screen
Coral Keen On A Piece Of Libya
Deltagate Group Wins The Bidding In Abuja
Cavan Joins The Radisson SAS Club
Missoni Could Be Ready To Hit London
Greater Choice In Southern Europe
Cheltenham Is Next For Hotel du Vin
New Openings In Spain
JPC Could Be Good For Charlotte


Wyndham Hotel Group And Corinthia Pair Up For Adventures In Rebranding
Wyndham Hotel Group and Corinthia Group are getting together in a deal that will see 15 hotels owned by Corinthia in Europe and Africa take either the Wyndham or the Ramada Plaza brand. Certain properties will be eligible to join the newly created Wyndham Grand Collection. Wyndham Hotel Group and Corinthia Hotels International will take joint responsibility for the management of all of the rebranded properties.

Nikko Models Its Third Hotel In The Middle East Return to Headlines
JAL Hotels announced last October that it was to be the first Japanese company to operate hotels in the United Arab Emirates. JAL has extended its reach in the Middle East by agreeing to operate a five-star resort that Ossis Property Developers is creating on Amwaj Islands. These man-made islands off the northern coast of Bahrain are destined to feature one four-star hotel and two five-star hotels, one of which will be the Nikko Bahrain Resort & Spa. The hotel will have around 350 rooms and it is set to open in 2008.

Paramount Has Turkey On Its Screen Return to Headlines
Paramount, the American film company, has chosen Turkey to be the destination of another of its theme parks. The country’s capital Ankara should see work on the US$1 billion project start next year, with Paramount said to be close to concluding talks with TOKI, Turkey’s housing development administration. The 3 million m² theme park, which would take two to three years to build, would include a number of hotels and villas.

Coral Keen On A Piece Of Libya Return to Headlines
Reports indicate that the government of Libya is seeking to offer hotels that it owns to operators from outside the North African nation. Keen to be in the vanguard is Coral International, an operator from the United Arab Emirates. The company has reportedly formed a joint venture with Winzrik Tourism and Investment Group that, as a first step, wants to take over the management of two five-star hotels in Winzrik’s home city of Tripoli. The joint venture also has its eye on managing a resort that is opening in Subrata this September.

Deltagate Group Wins The Bidding In Abuja Return to Headlines
It was reported in May that six parties had expressed an interest in acquiring the stake of 90% held by the government of Nigeria in the 577-room Abuja International Hotel, which stands in the Nigerian capital Abuja. Reports from West Africa suggest that Deltagate Group has been declared the winner with its bid of almost US$145 million. Deltagate has 90 days in which to pay the full amount. Over on the eastern side of Africa, meanwhile, Alem Group, a private investment partnership, is to build a third hotel in its native Ethiopia. The 40-room aparthotel will rise in the country’s capital Addis Ababa and will cost in excess of a reported US$3.5 million to construct.

Cavan Joins The Radisson SAS Club Return to Headlines
Generations of families in the Irish town of Cavan might have stopped outside the gates of the Farnham Estate to give them a furtive push. But the gates remained unyielding to the pushing public for 300 years. However, a descendant of one of those families trying the gates on the morning of 10 August 2006 would have found them swinging apart to reveal not only the long-hidden delights of the estate but something that their forebears could not have imagined: the buildings converted into the 158-room Radisson SAS Farnham Estate Hotel. You might want to stride along some of the seven kilometres of walking trails that the estate has to offer, or you might prefer the hike of 80 km or so towards our next story. As you near Clontarf on the outskirts of Dublin be prepared for the sight of stooping builders; for the 111-room Clontarf Castle Hotel is in the midst of refurbishment work costing a reported €10 million.

Missoni Could Be Ready To Hit London Return to Headlines
Might the Hotel Missoni brand be on its way to London? A brand that launched itself with the help of Rezidor SAS Hospitality towards the end of last year could be adorning a five-star hotel that is being proposed for Cutlers Gardens, in the City. The site was acquired some four years ago by Peabody Global Real Estate Partners (a venture formed by O’Connor Group and JP Morgan Chase) for a reported £300 million and could be transformed into a mixed-use development of which the hotel would form part.

Greater Choice In Southern Europe Return to Headlines
Choice Hotels Europe is ready with more comfort and quality to tempt those travelling to Spain, Portugal or the island of Sicily. The city of Granada, in southern Spain, could be said to offer the greatest amount of comfort for it has welcomed the three-star Comfort Hotel Los Jeronimos Granada and the two-star Comfort Hotel Los Girasoles. The Portuguese city of Coimbra boasts the 75-room, three-star Comfort Inn Almedina-Coimbra and Sicily provides the Quality Hotel Park Siracusa Sicily, a 142-room property that stands in the southeastern port of Syracuse.

Cheltenham Is Next For Hotel du Vin Return to Headlines
The fastest racehorse in all of England would have difficulty keeping pace with Hotel du Vin at present. Fresh from its recent visit to Newcastle upon Tyne to set in motion the establishment of a 42-room hotel, the boutique chain has galloped to the other end of the country and pulled up in Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire. The company, which has thrilled spectators in Cambridge, York and Edinburgh already this year, is to invest a reported £10 million in work to convert the Carlton Hotel into a 46-room hotel that will leap from the stalls in September 2007.

New Openings In Spain Return to Headlines
NH Hoteles now has a second hotel in Salamanca, in western Spain, with the opening in the city of the 37-room, four-star NH Puerta de la Catedral. Not to be outdone, AC Hotels, NH’s Spanish compatriot, has opened what is its seventh hotel in the centre of Madrid. The AC Monte Real has 72 rooms. Madrid has once again proved attractive to Hotusa Hotels; the company has taken up the management of the 103-room, four-star Gran Hotel Almenar (formerly the Almenar Las Rozas).

JPC Could Be Good For Charlotte Return to Headlines
JPC (Commercial Services), a property management firm from Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, is familiar with the city of Lincoln in eastern England for it is there that the company runs the ten-room Bailhouse. JPC wants to extend that familiarity by converting the Grade II listed Charlotte House, which is owned by the city council, into a 16-room boutique hotel.

Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 10/08/06-17/08/06




NH Hoteles - The share price rose sharply on the company's inclusion in the Ibex-35 index.

InterContinental Hotels Group - Investors backed the shares as confidence returned after a slide in the share price in the wake of the terror alerts.

Whitbread - The share price was depressed towards the end of last week as UBS lowered its rating from 'Neutral' to 'Reduce'.