Lone Star buys Shearings: U.S. private equity firm Lone Star Funds acquired Shearings Leisure Group, which owns 46 hotels across the U.K. and has annual revenue of £200 million (US$284.1 million). The sale price was not disclosed. Grant Hearn, formerly CEO of Travelodge and chairman of Lone Star’s Amaris Hospitality, reportedly will lead Shearings.
Capella in China: Shanghai Hengfu Investment & Development Co. hired Capella Hotel Group Asia to manage the Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li, scheduled to open in March 2017. The hotel is located within the city’s historical preservation zone in a landmark 1930s building.
St. Regis in Belgrade: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide signed the 125-room St. Regis Belgrade and the Residences at the St. Regis Belgrade. It’s part of a development project owned by Belgrade Waterfront LLC slated to open in 2019.
Cuba expansion: Cuba’s National Plan for Economic and Social Development plans to create at least 108,000 new hotel rooms in the next 15 years, according to Cuba Journal. The country’s tourism minister says possible locations for future hotel sites have already been chosen. The total includes existing room inventory.
Don’t overdo it? A study of TripAdvisor comments from Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research suggests that responding to reviews of your hotel online can help – but only to a point. Hotel guests want “substantive” responses to negative reviews, but too many overall responses can be worse than no response at all, the study says.
Norman Peck dies: Norman Peck, who led the group that owned the iconic Carlyle Hotel in New York City and sold it for $130 million in 2001, died April 16 in Manhattan of melanoma. Peck, who was 80, was also a philanthropist, giving tens of millions of dollars to New York music institutions.
Garden Inn for Miami: A former government building in Miami will be renovated to become a 139-room Hilton Garden Inn that will be part of a mixed-use development called Triton Center. The 12-story building is owned by developer Florida Fullview Immigration Building LLC.