Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced the continuation of their aggressive expansion in China with the signing of two new hotels, the Four Points by Sheraton Tianjin, Zhongshan and the Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou, Binjiang. Starwood now operates 26 hotels in Mainland China, Taiwan and Macau, with 27 new hotels under construction and has become one of the largest international hotel operators in China. The Four Points by Sheraton Tianjin, Zhongshan will be located within a mixed use development that will include retail outlets and residential units and will have 300 rooms and 7,500 square feet of meeting space. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2008 and is owned by the Tianjin City Sun Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. and will be managed by Four Points by Sheraton. The Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou, Binjiang is also part of a mixed use development and will feature 350 guestrooms and 17,100 square feet of meeting space. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2008 and is owned by the Zhejiang Dragon Happy Investment Group, Co. Ltd. and will be managed by Four Points by Sheraton.
Singapore's CapitaLand Ltd. said they agreed to sell its 44.6% stake in Hotel InterContinental for S$231 million to international property company Pacific Coast Assets Inc. CapitaLand will book a net gain of S$40 million with the sale in line with a strategy to boost asset productivity. CapitaLand owns the stake in the Singapore hotel indirectly through wholly-owned subsidiaries CapitaLand Retail Investments Pte Ltd., Victoria City Pte Ltd. and CapitaLand Retail Holdings Pte. Ltd. The three subsidiaries own an effective 49.5% interest in Bugis City Holdings Pte Ltd. which in turn owns a 90% interest in the InterContinental Hotel. The transaction will be completed on August 29th.
Korean Company BXT Corp. broke ground for a 616 room, P3 billion hotel waterpark complex in Barangay Maribago. The complex will be called Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa and will be managed by Imperial Palace Hotel. We gave you some information previously on this but the details are that the complex will include six medium rise buildings, three low rise apartments and forty single villas with individual pools. The resort will also have complete recreational facilities that include swimming pools, a waterpark, tennis courts, function rooms and a ballroom.
Carlson Hotels Worldwide's Park Inn unit announced the City Heart Hotel in Ludhiana, Punjab will undergo extensive refurbishment and be renamed the Park Inn Ludhiana. The hotel will be managed by Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, an affiliate of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide and will join a growing number of hotels in the Park Inn portfolio across India. The hotel will close to begin renovations in September. The hotel will feature 50 well equipped guest rooms, an Indian restaurant, bar and a banquet hall. The new Park Inn Ludhiana is scheduled to open towards the end of 2007.
Accor announced that Townsville's first new international hotel in almost 20 years, the Hotel Ibis Townsville, was opened last night by Australian Prime Minister John Howard. The 118 room hotel is to be followed by an all-suites hotel being developed next door to the Ibis. Suites on Palmer, part of the Grand Mercure collection of hotels, will open in mid-2007.
The Ascott Group has opened its first Middle East property, Somerset Jadaf, Dubai. The 84 unit serviced residence is in the Jadaf area, 15 minutes by car from Dubai International Airport. The Singapore-based Ascott Group is one of the first international serviced residence companies to operate in the Middle East. Somerset Jadaf, Dubai is owned by the Wafi Group. The Ascott Group said they plan more properties in key regional markets as part of its Middle East foray. Their expansion plans include about 15 properties by 2010 in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
