The First Country Inns & Suites Comes to Paris

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 5/1/2001

PARIS Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, Minneapolis,

announces the company will build a new hotel at the Charles de Gaulle

airport. The property, a Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, is the

brand's first hotel in France. It will have 180 guestrooms that will

include 30 suites, and it is scheduled to open in late 2002.

"This is an incredibly important location for us given the enormous

exposure we will receive being at de Gaulle airport," said Paul

Kirwin, president of Country Inns & Suites By Carlson. "This

property will be company-leased and -managed and will be our largest

hotel to date in Europe." The property is being developed by SORIF,

a subsidiary of VINCI, the largest construction company

in Europe. It will have six meeting rooms totaling 4,700 sq.ft. (437

sq.m). The hotel will also include an on-site restaurant, bar and fitness

area.

With more than 250 hotels worldwide, Country Inns & Suites

has eight hotels in Europe including locations in London, Munich and

Vienna. The majority of the brand's properties are in North America,

with plans to open hotels soon in Australia and India, as well as

further expansion in Europe.

Asia / Pacific

Holiday Inn Resort, Sanya, Hainan, People's Republic

of China; 350 rooms to open mid-late 2001; architect

and interior designer is David Wu & Associates; developer is Sanya Yalongwan

Seaview International Hotel Company; contact: Bass Hotels & Resorts.

Meritus Shantou China Hotel, Guangdon, China;

431 rooms to open mid-late 2001; architect is Choo Tse Ann & Partner, and interior designer

is Wilson & Associates; developer: Hotel Investment (Shantou) Pte.

Ltd.; management and contact: Meritus Hotels & Resorts.

Soneva Gili, Island of Lankanfushi, North Male

Atoll of the Maldives; 50 rooms to open late 2001; management and

contact: Six Senses Hotels, Resorts & Spas.

Regis Shanghai, Pudong, Shanghai; 318 rooms to

open mid-2001; architect and interior designer is Hirsch Bedner Associates,

Hong Kong, and the owner is Shanghai Hong Ta Hotel Co., a wholly-owned

subsidiary of Yunnan Hong Ta Group; management and contact: Starwood

Hotels & Resorts.

Caribbean

Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus (an all-inclusive

resort), Bayahibe, Dominican Republic; 496 rooms to open late

2001; management and contact: Iberostar Hotels & Resorts.

Europe

Steigenberger Esprix Airport Hotel, Helsinki,

Finland; 267 rooms to open in 2002; management and contact:

Steigenberger Hotels AG. Radisson SAS, Mijas, Malaga,

Spain; 95 suites to open in early 2002; developer is

Mijas Hill Development, S.A.; management and contact: Radisson SAS

Hotels & Resorts.

Meliá Verona, Verona, Italy; 203 rooms to open in mid-late 2001;

management and contact: Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.

The Druids Glen Marriott Hotel & Country Club,

County Wicklow (near Dublin), Ireland; 148 rooms to open in early

2002; management and contact: Marriott International.

Brussels Marriott Hotel, Belgium; 218 rooms to open in mid-2002; owner

is Renthotel Brussels S.A., a City Hotel Group Company; management and

contact: Marriott International.

North America

Lake Buena Vista Travelodge World Resort, Lake Buena

Vista, Florida; 1,380 rooms to open in mid-2002;

contact Cendant Corporation.

Loews Boston Hotel, Massachusetts; 400 rooms to open in 2003; interior

designer is Aero Studio Ltd., and the architect is William Rawn Associates,

Architect Inc.; developer is Sawyer Enterprises; management and contact:

Loews Hotels.

Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia; 458

rooms; addition of a new 27-story tower, adding 600 guest-rooms at

a cost of US$70 million; addition is scheduled to open in 2003; architect

and interior designer is Culpepper, McAuliffe and Meaders, Atlanta;

contact: Omni Hotels & Resorts.

Four Points by Sheraton, Halifax, Nova Scotia,

Canada; 178 rooms to open in late 2001; owner is Fortis Properties

Corporation under a franchise agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts; contact: Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Hilton Garden Inn, Memphis, Tennessee; 187 rooms

to open in late 2001 at a cost of US$16 million; architect is Bounds & Gillespie;

developer is Cooper Hotels, and management is Cooper Hotels Management;

contact: Cooper/CSS Hotel Group.

Hilton Madison, Wisconsin; 236 rooms to open mid-2001

at a cost of US$29 million; architect is Kahler-Slater, Madison, Wisconsin,

and interior designer is Knauer Inc., Highland Park, Illinois; developer

and contact: Marcus Hotels & Resorts.

Hilton Garden Inn, Torreon, Coahulla, Mexico; 150 rooms to open in

mid-late 2001 at a cost of US$9.2 million; contact: Grupo Chartwell

Mexico.

Candlewood Suites, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; 78 suites to open in

early 2002 at a cost of US$5.7 million; owner is Kornfeld Family, and

Mitron Construction, Wilkes-Barre, is building the hotel; contact: Candlewood

Suites.

Microtel Hotel & Suites, Chihuahua, Mexico;

110 rooms to open late 2001; owner is Siframex, S.A. de C.V., Chihuahua,

Mexico's master franchisor for the Microtel brand; contact: US Franchise

Systems

Fairmont Announces New Resort In Puerto Rico

PUERTO RICO Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Toronto,

Canada, signs a letter of intent with Willowbend Development Corporation,

Boston, and Betteroads Asphalt Corporation, San Juan, Puerto Rico,

to manage a new US$140 million, 400-room resort on Puerto Rico's Rio

Grande, 25 miles east of San Juan.

The resort will feature a 12,000-sq.ft. (1,114-sq.m) spa, 36 holes

of golf and 30,000 sq.ft. (2,787 sq.m) of meeting space. Each guestroom

will offer a balcony and view of the ocean. Many rooms will also features

views of El Yunque, the Puerto Rican rainforest.

"We are excited to expand Fairmont Hotels & Resorts' presence

in the Caribbean and further build our brand in the resort category," said

William R. Fatt, chairman and CEO of Fairmont. The new resort, which

is scheduled to open in late 2003, will expand Fairmont Hotels & Resorts'

collection to 37 properties in the United States, Canada,

Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

MARCO ISLANDS, FLORIDA The Gulf Bay Group of Companies,

Naples, Florida, announces the development of a luxury hotel condominium.

The 103-room Marco Beach Ocean Resort, which is located on Marco Island's

Crescent Beach, will feature elegant architecture, Italian Renaissance

décor

and 5-star quality services. The project's interior designer is Carol

Korn Interiors, Boca Raton, Florida, and the architect is Brito, Cohan & Associates.

More than 75% of the 1- and 2-bedroom suites have been

sold. Owners can rent the units out on a daily basis. The Gulf Bay Hotel

Company will manage the resort when it opens in late 2001.

On-site amenities will include a concierge service, health spa with

salon, massage and personal fitness training, fitness center, 5th floor

rooftop garden with heated pool, whirlpool spa and sundeck, beachfront

poolside bar, business service center, conference rooms, and two restaurants

offering authentic Italian and French cuisine.

The US$102 Million San Jose Marriott Opens In 2003

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA The 506-room San Jose Marriott

will be the first newly-built hotel in downtown San Jose

in 10 years. The 25-story hotel is located adjacent to

the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. According to

the San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau,

the demand for hotel rooms near the city's convention

center has increased dramatically. Occupancy of hotels in downtown

San Jose surpassed 76% in 2000, and industry experts believe the occupancy

levels will remain constant even as the inventory of downtown hotel

rooms increases.

The architects for the project, Hornberg + Worstell, San Francisco,

have designed a distinctive, high-tech architectural style, including

stone cladding on the lower elevations, pre-cast finish on the upper

elevations, and a dramatic glass curtain wall encompassing the entire

north elevation and surrounding public podium places. Concepts 4, Long

Beach, California, has been selected as the interior designer of the

project.

The San Jose Marriott will offer 17 flexible meeting

rooms boasting outdoor terraces, a fitness center with outdoor pool

and spa, underground valet parking, concierge club, a full-service

signature restaurant and bar, and a café. The luxury business

hotel is expected to open in early 2003.

Destination Hotels & Resorts Plans Conference

Resort

ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO Destination Hotels & Resorts (DH&R)

plans to build a 350-unit conference resort, featuring a 4-star hotel

and 18-hole championship golf course. Hill Glazier Architects, Palo

Alto, California, has been engaged as the hotel architect; Jay Morrish

Associates will design the resort's golf course; and Gage Davis Associates,

Scottsdale, Arizona, will serve as land planner.

DH&R purchased the 255-acres in Austin, Texas, from Bradley Development.

The property is adjacent to the highly successful Circle C master-planned

community and is bordered by a significant amount of land now controlled

by the City of Austin as natural preserve. "DH&R believes the

land is one of the best sites for a conference resort in the Texas marketplace," says

Charles S. Peck, president at DH&R.

Destination Hotels & Resorts manages 28 upscale luxury hotels and

resorts that span nine states and feature more than 7,000

guestrooms, 13 golf courses and three full-service spas. Destination

Hotels & Resorts'

sister company, Destination Europe Limited, owns and

manages three hotels in the United Kingdom: Cliveden,

the Cliveden Townhouse and The Royal Crescent Hotel.