Meliá to open hotels in Qatar and Indonesia: Meliá Hotels International announced it will open hotels in Doha in 2015 and Bintan in 2017. The Meliá Doha will occupy 39 floors in the Bin Samickh tower and will have 282 guestrooms and suites. The Gran Meliá Bintan will be the second Meliá hotel in Indonesia and will include 120 suites and 38 villas.
Yelp adds hotel reservations: Yelp has partnered with Hipmunk to allow users to book hotel reservations. Yelp also announced users can book winery reservations through a partnership with CellarPass.
Sotherly enters franchise agreement with Hilton: Sotherly Hotels Inc. has entered into a 10-year franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide to rebrand its Laurel, Maryland, hotel as the DoubleTree by Hilton Laurel.
Alexandria Fulton Hotel to be converted to a Holiday Inn: The Alexandria Fulton Hotel in Alexandria, Louisiana will undergo improvements and will be converted to a Holiday Inn within the next six to eight months.
Hyatt announces groundbreaking in Puerto Rico: Hyatt Hotels Corp. announced the groundbreaking of its fourth Hyatt-branded select service hotel. The US$26.7 million, 126-room Hyatt Place San Juan will open in 2016.
Sovereign Hotels merges with eLan Hospitality and African Insignia Hotels: Sovereign Hotels announced the joint venture Sovereign eLan Hotels as a result of its successful merger with eLan Hospitality and African Insignia Hotels.