Olympics deadline: Olympics organizers are concerned that Rio de Janeiro’s first Trump-branded hotel won’t be open in time for the July games. A back-up hotel has been arranged. Two Holiday Inns won’t be ready until after the games.
HMH in Oman: Hospitality Management Holdings signed a management agreement for a new hotel in the sultanate, Corp Muscat Al Muzn Hotel, and announced plans to have six hotels in Oman by 2020. HMH recently opened Coral Muscat Hotel & Apartments; Muscat Al Muzn, in Muwaleh, is expected to open in Q1 2018.
Exe Hotels expands: Grupo Hotusa’s Exe Hotels added two hotels in Spain, in Salamanca, the Exe Salamanca 4*, and Oviedo, with the Exe El Magistral 3*. Exe’s portfolio now includes 40 properties, 25 of which are in Spain.
TPG adds hotel division: Real estate and management company Procaccianti Group of Rhode Island promoted Paul Sacco to president and chief development officer of its newly named hotel division, TPG Hotels & Resorts. TPG has 56 hotels totaling 16,562 rooms. Before joining TPG in 2013, Sacco was SVP of development at Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
Aloft in Indonesia: Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of the 180-room Aloft Jakarta Simatupang. The fourth Aloft in Indonesia will open in 2020 and is owned by PT. Anugrah Karya Bangsa.
Hollywood in the U.K.: A “Hollywood-style” theme park called the London Paramount Entertainment Resort, expected to cost £2 billion (US$2.89 billion) is planned in the English county of Kent. The theme park will draw up to 50,000 visitors a day, according to London Resort Company Holdings, the company behind it, and include rides and a 1,500 seat theater. A planning application will be submitted in 2017.
“Suspicious” online reviews: Around 20% of online hotel customer reviews may be unreliable or fake, according to a study by researchers of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Researchers used software to examine more than 40,000 TripAdvisor reviews of all star-rated hotels in Hong Kong and examined apparent discrepancies in comments compared with overall high star ratings of the properties.
Leeu Collection in U.K.: Leeu Collection acquired the boutique Linthwaite House in England’s Lake District. It’s the company’s first property outside of South Africa, where the group operates two hotels, Leeu House and Le Quartier Francais, and is preparing to open a third, Leeu Estates, in June.