STR reported China hotel RevPAR for the week ended September 3. Year over year, hotel RevPAR was up 19.3%, still up against easier year-over-year comps. When compared to the similar week in 2019, hotel RevPAR was down -28.2%. Absolute occupancy for the week was 52.7%. That compares with absolute occupancy of 46.65 during the same week in 2021.
The DuGhassan Aboud Group has acquired Sydney, Australia’s Rydges Sydney Harbour Hotel for approximately $100 million. DuGhassan acquired the 176-room hotel with its hotel management division, Crystalbrook Collection. The Ghassan Aboud Group already owned eight other Australian hotel properties in Brisbane, Byron Bay, Cairns, Newcastle and Sydney’s Surry Hills.
Radisson Hotel Group announced the continued expansion of their brand footprint with Radisson Resort & Suites Phuket. The hotel is positioned just 27 kilometers from Phuket International Airport, nestled between jungle-clad hills, Kamala Beach and the Andaman Sea. The hotel includes 179 spacious suites, a lagoon pool, six restaurants and bars, a spa and fully equipped fitness center and a kids’ club. The suites range from one to three bedrooms, ranging from 43 to 95 square meters. RHG is partnering with Destination Hospitality on the opening of the resort. This marks RHG’s fifth hotel in Thailand, part of their plan to add 100 hotels and resorts in Thailand by 2025.
The Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club has opened on Koh Samui’s Chaweng Beach in Thailand. The hotel is next door to the SEEN Beach Club Samui. The resort includes a swimming pool they described as a hopping bar, with snug cabanas and a mixology station that moonlights as a check-in area for guests. The resort includes 80 chic rooms and suites with names such as Cool Pool View, Sweet Sea Breeze and Fabulous Sea View rooms. Funky Poolside rooms are on the ground floor and include terraces that open onto the courtyard pool, taking the resort’s social concept to the next level. The Groovy Sea View Suites are 61 square meters and Double Groovy Sea View totals 90 square meters. Suite guests can even call a private dj for music.
Best Western has opened its latest property in the Thai capital, located close to the city’s Don Mueang International Airport. The 235-room hotel features an all-day dining restaurant, 200 capacity ballroom and six further meeting spaces. The Best Western Nada Don Mueang Airport Hotel is located 15 minutes from the airport’s terminal building. The hotel joins six other Best Western properties in the Thai Capital, across the group’s Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier, Vib, SureStay Plus and SureStay Collection brands. This follows BWI’s most recent opening in the city, the Seekers Finders Rama IV< SureStay Collection by Western in June.
Travelodge Hotels Asia announced it successfully led and completed the acquisition of the 242-room Unizo Inn Koto Kawaramachi hotel. The purchase is Travelodge Hotels Asia’s second separate account hotel investment in Japan this year. In February they announced their first acquisition in Japan, advising on the purchase of the former One Five Midosuji Hotel in Osaka. That hotel will be relaunched as Travelodge Honmachi Osaka in early Q4 after an extensive refurbishment program. Along with its two hotel openings in Thailand – Travelodge Phuket Town and Travelodge Nimman Chiang Mai, TLA has added four new hotels to its portfolio since the start of 2022, increasing its pan-Asian footprint to 17 hotels in 13 cities and 7 countries, reverting to its pre-Covid growth trajectory of opening a new hotel every quarter on average. The Unizo Inn Koto Kawaramachi hotel is located right along the Shijo-Kawaramachi Street, Kyoto’s business retail high street. The hotel will undergo a six month renovation program to uplift the design, look and feel of its rooms, facilities and communal spaces, before reopening as Travelodge Kyoto Shijo Kawaramachi in the first quarter of 2023.
Accor announced the 288-room Mercure Tokyu Stay Osaka Namba will open its doors on December 1, 2022. Accor teamed up with Tokyu Resorts & Stays Co., Ltd. on the dual-branded hotel with a Mercure and Tokyu Stay branded rooms. It is Tokyu Stay’s first dual-branded hotel. The property includes an all-day dining restaurant.
Accor and InterGlobe Hotels announced the launch of their new hotel – ibis Bengaluru Hebbal. The 21st ibis hotel in India features 154 rooms, located a 30-minute drive from the Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru, closed to the Bengaluru CBD area. The hotel includes a signature multi-cuisine restaurant called Spice It, a bar and a cozy corner for book lovers. The hotel also offers a 24 hour fitness center, two boardrooms and fully equipped convertible meeting rooms.
The Economic Times said Park Hotels group is planning to double the number of rooms they operate in India in the next four years. The Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotel group runs hotels under The Park and Zone by the Park brands. The company currently has 22 hotels covering 2,000 rooms and will add another 2,000 and take the number of hotels to 40 in the next four years. Their “pan-India expansion plan” is for their Flurys brand they acquired in 1965. The chain currently has 65 Flurys outlets across West Bengal, Mumbai and Delhi and plans to expand the café chain to 200 across the country in the next two years. The chain’s new hotels will come up in Delhi, Digha, Port Blair, Dimapur and Gopalpur this year.
Lemon Tree Hotels announced their latest signing, Lemon Tree Hotel, Erode. The property is expected to be operational by December 2023 and shall be managed by Carnation Hotels Private Limited, the management arm of Lemon Tree Hotels Limited.
In Malaysia, Harris Sunshine Penang is set to open its doors to guests by late 2023 as the first international hotel in Ayer Itam. The hotel will occupy an 18-story block in the Sunshine Central mixed development by Crimson Omega Sdn Bhd. There will be 289 rooms, comprising studio, one bedroom and dual key two bedroom units. Amenities include a 25-meter-long swimming pool, 160 seat all day dining restaurant and gym and it will have one of the biggest MICE facilities in Penang with a 33,500-square-foot ballroom ideal for large-scale events and weddings. The hotel was announced during a signing ceremony between CapitaLand Investment Ltd’s The Ascott Ltd. unit and Crimson Omega, which is Suiwah Corporation Bhd’s wholly-owned property subsidiary. The hotel marks the debut of Ascott Ltd’s Harris brand in Penang and they expect this to be a popular property for the MICE market. At Sunshine Central, there also is a mall, office tower and wellness center. The mega project is targeted to be completed in the third or fourth quarter of 2023.
