Raffles deal in Dubai. AccorHotels on Tuesday signed a management agreement with Dubai-based master developer Nakheel that will lead to the 2021 opening of Palm360, a two-tower development on the Palm Jumeirah comprising of the 125-room Raffles The Palm Dubai Hotel and 359-unit Raffles Residences Palm360. Among the residences for sale will be 16 penthouses with their own private infinity pool, gym and cinema.
Ireland’s largest 2017 transaction: Fairfield Real Estate Finance and private investors have confirmed the acquisition of Knightsbrook Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort. The total transaction cost was €19.5 million (US$23 million). The purchase, which was one of the largest hotel transactions in Ireland in 2017 so far, was completed with 76% debt funding from Fairfield Real Estate Finance.
Ronaldo and Pestana: Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo partnered with his country’s top hotel chain, Pestana, in a joint venture to open two more hotels under the Pestana CR7 brand — CR7 is a trademark combination of Ronaldo’s initials and shirt number — by end-2018, having already tested the market at home in Portugal with an initial two hotels.
Fujita in Osaka: Fujita Kanko Inc. will open Hotel Gracery Namba in Osaka, Japan. Construction is expected to begin in January 2018, with an opening scheduled for summer 2019. Hotel Gracery Namba will be the 11th hotel in Fujita Kanko’s Hotel Gracery brand, and the first Gracery property in Osaka.
Sydney’s Rocksia sells: The Rocksia Hotel in inner west Sydney sold for A$36 million (US$27 million) after less than two weeks on the market. Feros Hotels sold the property to Oscars Hotels.
More from The Australian Financial Review
Minor managing: Minor Hotels signed a management agreement with Basma Group and ARADA for a new Anantara resort in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Scheduled to open in mid-2020, the 233-key Anantara Sharjah Resort will be located on a prime beachfront location in Sharjah, the third-largest emirate in the UAE.
Scandic acquires Restel: The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority made its decision on Scandic Hotels’ acquisition of Restel’s Finnish hotel operations, which was announced on June 21. The authority approves the acquisition on the condition that Scandic divests one hotel in Lahti, one hotel in Pori and one hotel in Kuopio. The transaction is also subject to a commitment by Scandic not to participate in certain announced hotel projects in Lappeenranta and Vantaa. The Restel acquisition is expected to close before the end of the year.
Expedia expands MICE: Expedia’s online booking engine MICE is now available to select hotel partners in the U.S. The automated technology can enable hotels to answer RFPs approximately 20 times faster.
Pipeline data, Europe: A recent hotel construction pipeline trend report for Europe states that the total pipeline has 1,228 projects/189,490 rooms, up 22% by projects year-over-year according to data from Lodging Econometrics.
There are 586 projects/95,775 rooms under construction, up 17% by projects YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 388 projects/58,008 rooms, up 51%, while projects in early planning at 254 projects/35,707 rooms are up by 2%.
The top countries in the Europe construction pipeline are: United Kingdom with 228 projects/34,614 rooms, Germany with 185 projects/36,221 rooms, and France with 116 projects/14,672 rooms. Cities in Europe with the largest pipelines are: London with 79 projects/14,234 rooms, Paris with 37 projects/6,748 rooms and Moscow with 28 rrojects/5,541 rooms.
Pipeline data, Middle East: Analysts at Lodging Econometrics report that the construction pipeline trend report for the Middle East states that the total pipeline has 572 projects/156,420 rooms, up 12% by projects year-over-year.
There are 349 projects/100,485 rooms under Construction, up 17% by projects YOY. Those scheduled to start construction in the next 12 Months are at 113 projects/30,841 rooms, up 5%, while projects in early planning at 110 projects/25,094 rooms are up 3%.
The top hotel companies in the Middle East’s construction pipeline are: Marriott International 95 projects/22,767 rooms, Hilton Worldwide with 86 projects/24,197 rooms, and AccorHotels with 84 projects/24,838 rooms. The largest brand in the pipeline for each of the these companies are: Marriott’s Courtyard with 195 projects/3,998 rooms, Hilton’s full-service hotel with 28 projects/10,151 rooms and Accor’s Novotel with 14 projects/3,865 rooms.