Accor wins antitrust approval: AccorHotels received antitrust clearance for its proposed acquisition of Fairmont Raffles hotels International. The next step for the company is Accors’ shareholders meeting to approve capital and board representatives for Qatar Investment Authority and Kingdom Holding. The meeting is expected to take place in coming weeks, and the transaction is expected to close mid-year.
Fairmont in Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia: Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Portuguese construction company Mota-Engil Tourismo announced the development of a 250-room hotel and private residences along the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico. The Fairmont Costa Canuva is slated to open in late 2018 within the Costa Canuva planned community north of Puerto Vallarta. Fairmont also announced the signing of two new developments: the 155-room Fairmont Taghazout Bay, Morocco, and the 240-room Fairmont Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, with 12 serviced apartments. Both are scheduled to open before 2020.
Onyx apartments: Onyx Hospitality Group signed a management agreement with serviced apartment brand Shama to rebrand a 24 one-bedroom units in Hong Kong to Shama Midlevels, effective May 1.
Tokyo hotel rebranding: Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co. will acquire and rebrand the Grand Pacific Le Daiba in Tokyo. The 30-story, 884-room hotel, owned by Keikyu Corp., will reopen in July as Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba. It will be the first Grand Nikko-branded hotel in Japan.
Swissôtel in Phuket: Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts was appointed to manage its second resort in Phuket, Thailand. The property currently is operating as a dusitD2 Phuket Resort but will commence operation as Swissôtel Phuket Patong Beach Resort in June. It’s the second resort the brand will manage for owner Destination Properties.
Royalton adds resorts: Royalton Luxury Resorts dded four new all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean: Royalton Luxury Resorts and the adults-only Hideaway at Royalton within the resort, will open in Negril, Jamaica, and in Saint Lucia in February 2017.
Marriott to grow in Middle East: Marriott International announced the signing of a 300-suite Marriott Executive Apartments in Doha, Qatar, due to open in 2019. In addition, 10 new properties totaling 4,600 rooms will open in the UAE and Saudi Arabia by the end of 2017. The company says it aims to have 21 new hotels totaling 4,200 rooms in Saudi Arabia by 2025.