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| A rendering of the lounge at Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami. |
We’ve scoured the globe for the latest hotel news you’ll need to know now to advise your clients on where to go next.
Mandarin San Francisco To Become a Loews Hotel
Loews Hotels & Resorts entered into an agreement to purchase the 158-room Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco. The acquisition is expected to close in late March. Paul Whetsell, Loews’ president & CEO, said the company has been trying to get into the San Francisco market for some time.
Located in San Francisco’s Financial District, the hotel, which is currently managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, is on the top 11 floors of San Francisco’s third-tallest office building, showcasing uninterrupted views of San Francisco and its bay. The hotel has 158 guest rooms, the Brasserie S&P restaurant, more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space and a new 8,000-square-foot spa and fitness center.
This is the seventh addition to the Loews portfolio announced in the last two-and-half years. Loews also opened the 400-room Loews Chicago Hotel earlier this month and the company seeks to grow its brand in gateway cities and resort destinations.
Hyatt’s New Lifestyle Brand Set to Debut in April
Hyatt Hotels Corporation says that Hyatt Centric, its new, full-service lifestyle brand, will open its first hotels, Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago and Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, in April. The new brand, announced in January, will also be opening 15 hotels in New York, Paris, Atlanta and other cities.
Both hotels are adaptive reuse projects and will have “core elements of the Hyatt Centric brand starting with the unique designs that fit the hotels’ surroundings while putting guests in the middle of great destinations,” according to Hyatt. The hotels will also offer “dynamic food and beverage options, with hand-crafted cocktails and locally inspired food in their bars, restaurants and lounges.” Both will also have a Bluetooth-enabled TV system in all guest rooms.
Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami will be on Collins Avenue, across the street from the beach. Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago will occupy the northwest corner of Monroe Street and Clark Street, within walking distance of Millennium Park, the theater district, and shopping along State Street, as well as numerous company offices.
Jumeirah Group Inks Deal For First Venu Hotel
Dubai-based Jumeirah Group has signed a management agreement with property developer Meraas Holding for its first new lifestyle hotel brand, Venu, in Dubai. Jumeirah will operate the Venu Bluewaters Island Hotel together with adjoining serviced residences, which will be operated under the Venu Living brand. The Venu properties are expected to open in 2017. Bluewaters Island is a mixed-use development that will be located off the coast of Dubai.
Hilton Sells Waldorf, Buys Five Others With Profit
Hilton Worldwide is swapping one hotel for five more. The McLean, VA-based hotel company says it has purchase agreements in place for the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, Waldorf Astoria Orlando, The Reach and Casa Marina Waldorf Astoria Resorts in Key West and Parc 55 in San Francisco for a total of $1.76 billion.
The five hotels represent 2,984 rooms. The news comes after the announced closing of the Waldorf Astoria New York sale to Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95 billion. As a part of its long-term relationship with Anbang, Hilton Worldwide will continue to operate the Waldorf Astoria under a 100-year management agreement.
Parc 55, which represents more than one-third of the purchased portfolio by number of rooms, will be a new addition to the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand that will be managed by Hilton Worldwide. It is currently operated under the Wyndham flag. The other acquired hotels are currently managed by Hilton Worldwide.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Opens In Lake Tahoe, NV
The developers of the newly renovated Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Lake Tahoe smashed an ice guitar in late January to celebrate the opening of the 539-room property. It is a return of a major hotel with a major name to the location, which had most recently been the downscale Horizon Casino & Resort. After a $60 million renovation, the hotel and casino at 50 Highway 50 in Stateline, NV, has renovated rooms, a 25,000-square-foot casino, a Hard Rock store, five restaurants and multiple bars. The hotel will not have a Hard Rock Cafe in it, but there is one at the neighboring Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.
The rejuvenated property has three main meeting spaces with a total of more than 15,000 square feet, including Vinyl, an intimate music venue.
New hotel rooms in Tahoe are a rare event. Any new development has been restricted around Lake Tahoe for years. The number of hotel rooms or lodging units in the area is controlled by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Hotels are capped at the number of lodging units that existed in 1987.
Sixty Montreal to Open Sixth Property Late Next Year
Slated to debut in late 2016, the collective formed by hospitality leaders Jason Pomeranc, Lawrence Pomeranc, Michael Pomeranc and Stephen Brandman, will open its sixth property — Sixty Montreal — in Montreal’s financial and cultural district as their first international venture.
The hotel will be between Place Des Art Palais des Congres de Montreal on Rene Levesque Boulevard in the Central Business District, a few blocks from Old Montreal. The project will entail the complete redevelopment of an existing building and will debut 120 guest rooms and suites, event spaces, a restaurant and lounge and 70 branded luxury residences.
Brandman, co-owner of Sixty Hotels, said that in New York, the company has wrapped up a complete renovation of Sixty SoHo and will debut its new restaurant, Sessanta, this spring. “We’re also reimagining our rooftop bar lounge at Sixty Les in the Lower East Side. Soon we’ll be debuting Nautilus, a Sixty hotel in Miami, then embarking on a project at Sixty Beverly Hills in Los Angeles to restyle and revitalize all the rooms and suites while introducing 12 additional guest rooms, and a new, multifunctional event space.”