Ritz-Carlton Irvine Opens In 2001

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 9/1/1999

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA The 15-story Ritz-Carlton, Irvine at Park Place,

will contain 269 rooms, 31 suites and one presidential suite. Rooms

on the top four floors will have panoramic views of the area, some all

the way to the Pacific Ocean. All rooms will have outdoor terraces with

balconies. One novel feature will be the placement of bathrooms on the

exterior walls, allowing in natural light. This has become a prominent

feature of the newer super luxury hotels in the Asian market but is

new to the United States. The architect is Killingsworth, Stricker,

Lindgren, Wilson and Associates, Long Beach, California.

The hotel will have a large spa with a health and fitness component

as well as a specialty restaurant in a garden setting and a poolside

restaurant. The hotel will also feature the Ritz-Carlton Club, two floors

of guestrooms and suites that will offer the services of a club concierge,

a private lounge and five complementary food and beverage presentations

throughout the day and evening.

The owner of the hotel will be Park Place Hotel Company LLC, the managing

member of which is Crow Winthrop Development Limited Partnership. The

US$85 million hotel will be managed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

L.L.C., Atlanta, and is expected to open in December 2001.

Starwood To Manage 11th Hotel In Manhattan

NEW YORK Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced

it will manage the 562-room Planet Hollywood Hotel in Times Square.

Currently under construction, the hotel will feature a Planet Hollywood

Restaurant and Bar and retail store. Intell Management and Planet

Hollywood own the hotel.

In addition to the Planet Hollywood deal, Starwood is in the midst

of a Manhattan hotel development boom. At the end of 1998 it launched

its newest brand, W Hotels, with the opening of the 722-room W New York

and assumed the management of the 597-room Essex House, a Westin Hotel

in March. It is also in the process of opening two new W Hotels: W The

Court and W The Tuscany in late 1999. Also, ground will soon break on

a new US$300 million, 860-room The Westin New York at Times Square which

is scheduled to open in 2002.

"Starwood's Manhattan hotels are flourishing and the Manhattan

hotel market looks strong through 2000," said Juergen Bartels,

chief executive officer, Hotel Group, Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Worldwide Inc. "Our agreement with Planet Hollywood coupled with

our other new hotel projects proves that Starwood is quite bullish on

Manhattan. Manhattan is one of the hotel capitals of the world and it

is important for Starwood to have so many showcase properties here." Other

Starwood properties in New York City include The St.

Regis, Sheraton New York, Sheraton Manhattan, Sheraton Russell and The

Westin Central Park South.

A Luxury Raffles Resort In Bali

BALI, INDONESIA The Raffles Resort Bali at Jimbaran will be situated

within a site of approximately 200,000 sq.m at the southern tip of the

island of Bali, a 15-minute drive from the Ngurah Rai International

Airport. The resort is a joint venture between Raffles Holdings and

P.T. Bukit Tegeh Sari. Raffles Holdings is the hotel arm of DBS Land

Ltd.

The Raffles Resort Bali will feature 210 individual villas, each with

its own private swimming pool. The architecture and functional style

of a traditional Balinese water palace inspired the design concept.

The centerpiece of the resort will be a palace-like structure surrounded

by vast landscaped gardens, and within this palace compound are located

the reception lobby and two Raffles International theme restaurants.

Other amenities include a wellness center and spa, tennis park, beach

club and recreation facilities. The resort will be completed in 2002.

Hard Rock Hotel At Universal Studios

ORLANDO, FLORIDA The 645-room Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Studios

Escape, which opens in late 2000, is designed in an architectural California

mission style and will feature a pool area with an underwater audio

system, 6,000 sq.ft. (557 sq.m) of meeting and function space, five

restaurants and lounges, a business center, health club and retail shops.

The Hard Rock Hotel will be managed by Loews Hotels and joins two other

Loews properties at Universal Studios Escape: the 750-room Portofino

Bay Hotel, which opens in September 1999 and the 1000-room Royal Pacific

Resort, opening in 2001. The Hard Rock Hotel and the Portofino Bay Hotel

will be connected to each other and to Universal Studios Florida, Universal

Studios Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios CityWalk by a chain

of scenic waterways. In addition to more traditional forms of transportation,

guests will be able to board water-taxis from their hotel to Universal

destinations and back again.

Universal Studios Escape is a joint venture between Universal Studios,

a unit of the Seagram Company Ltd., a global entertainment and beverage

company, and the Rank Group Plc.

WARSAW, POLAND Portman Holdings, L.P., Atlanta, Skanska, and the City

of Warsaw announced that Hilton International signed a letter of intent

to be the operator for a new 360-room first class international business

hotel, to be a part of the Atrium development in the city center. The

total cost of the development is approximately US$70 million and the

hotel is scheduled to open in the summer of 2001.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA The 616-room Indianapolis Marriott Downtown will

be Indianapolis' largest hotel and will be owned by Convention Hotel

Partners, led by White Lodging Services Corporation, Merrillville, Indiana,

a hotel management company, plus Kite Development Corp. and REI Investments

Inc., Indianapolis. The US$90 million property will feature the city's

largest hotel ballroom, exceeding 20,500 sq.ft. (1,904 sq.m). Other

features include a 200-seat full-service restaurant, Champion's Sport

Bar, lobby lounge, business center, health facilities and underground

parking. The hotel is scheduled to open in March 2001.

ASIA

Hyatt Regency Chonqing, Chonqing, People's Republic of China; 334-rooms

to open 2001; Management and contact: Hyatt International Hotels.

Hyatt Regency, Hsinchu, Taiwan; 250-rooms to open 2001; Management

and contact: Hyatt International Hotels.

Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel, Shenyang, China;

635-rooms to open late 1999; Contact Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Avari Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 300 rooms open 2000 at a cost of US$20

million; Developer is Avari Hotels Ltd.; Management and contact: Avari

International Hotels.

CARIBBEAN

Royal Reef Hotel, Grand Cayman, The Cayman Islands, BWI; 80-rooms to

open early 2000 at a cost of US$16.8 million; Architect is OBM Limited

and the developer is Thompson Resorts Ltd.; Management and contact:

Royal Resorts Group.

Rose Hall Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Montego Bay, Jamaica;

430-rooms to open early 2000 at a cost of US$113 million; Architect

is Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Atlanta,

and construction company is Brice/Bill Harbert Jamaica LLC, Birmingham,

Alabama; Management and contact: Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC.

CENTRAL/S. AMERICA

Best Western Hotel Panamby, São Paulo, Brazil; 206 rooms open

mid-2000 at a cost of US$9 million; Construction: Timbauba Construtora

Ltda., São Paulo; Architect and interior designer are Angela

Pereira de Magalhaes and Regina Akiko Aquinaga; Contact

Best Western Hotels International.

Inter-Continental Santiago, Chile, 103 rooms;

Adding 200 guestrooms; Renovation completed mid-2000; Architect is

Barreda & Alemparte;

Contact Bass Hotels & Resorts.

EUROPE

Swallow Hotel, Leicester, England; 200-rooms to

open early 2001 at a cost of £21million; Developer, management

and contact: Swallow Hotels.

Rafael Cambridge, Cambridge, England; 120 rooms to open late 2000 at

a cost of US$38 million; Interior designer is Chhada Siembieda, Los

Angeles, California; Developer, management and contact: Rafael Hotels.

MIDDLE EAST

Mövenpick Resort, Red Sea (north of Mersa Alam) Egypt; 250 rooms

open 2001; Contact: Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.

Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 400 rooms

to open late 2001; Architect is Khatib & Alami, Dubai, and interior

designer is Arabtec, Dubai and Hirsch Bedner, Atlanta; Contact and management:

Park Plaza International Hotels & Resorts.

Helnan Rodan, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt; 300 rooms open in 2000 at a cost

of US$30 million; Architect is Maher Andaraws Group Consultants and

the developer is Rodan Company; Management and contact: Helnan International

Hotels.

NORTH AMERICA

Hyatt Regency Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 350-rooms

open in late 2000; Owned by Penn's Landing Partners L.P., a joint venture

of Keating Development Company and Somerset Holdings; Management and

contact: Hyatt Hotels Corp.

Hilton Columbus, Columbus, Ohio; 314-rooms to open mid-2000; Managed

by Olshan Hotel Management Inc., Contact Hilton Hotels Corp.

Westin Stonebriar Resort, Frisco, (near Dallas),

Texas; 301-rooms to open mid-2000 (part of a US$180 million mixed-use

project); Architect is Aguirre Corporation, Dallas, and the interior

designer is Forrest, Perkins & Tuttle LLC, Dallas; Construction: Roy Anderson Corporation,

Jackson, Mississippi; Contact Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Inc.

Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, Pontiac, Michigan; 290-rooms

to open late 2000; Architect is PFVS Architects Inc., Atlanta, and the

interior designer is F.A. Hunter & Associates, Atlanta; Developer

is A.J. Etkin Construction Co., Farmington-Hills, Michigan,

and management is White Lodging Services Corporation, Merrillville,

Indiana; Contact Marriott Lodging.

Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort, Bernalillo, New Mexico; 350-rooms open

late 2000 at a cost of US$41 million; Owner is the Pueblo of Santa Ana,

a Native American tribe; Construction company is McCarthy Building Company,

Phoenix, and the architect is Hill-Glazier Architects, Palo Alto, California;

Developer: TynanGroup, Inc., San Diego, California; Contact Hyatt Hotels

Corp.

Marcus Vacation Club, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin;

84-rooms (added to Grand Geneva Resort & Spa) to open early 2000; Architect is Fugleberg

Koch Architects, Winter Park, Florida, and interior designer is Merilee

Elliott Interiors, Chicago; Developer and contact: Marcus Hotels & Resorts.

Homewood Suites, Garden Grove, California; 167-suites to open in early

2000; Construction company is Summit Builders Construction Company,

Phoenix, and the architect is Pahl-Pahl-Pahl Architects, Denver, Colorado;

Contact Promus Hotel Corp.

Embassy Suites Hotel, New York; 460-rooms at a cost of US$120million

to open in early 2000; Construction: Lehrer McGovern Bovis Inc., New

York; Contact Promus Hotel Corp.

Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, Atlanta, Georgia;

148-suites to open late 1999; Contact Bass Hotels & Resorts Plc.

Royal Sands Hotel, Cancun, Mexico; 316-rooms to

open early 2000 at a cost of US$40.5 million; Architect is Fisher,

Friedman & Associates.

Developer and contact: Royal Resorts Group.