Dolce Plans First Conference Destination In Spain
By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 3/1/2003
- Dolce Plans First Conference Destination In Spain
- Sydney Welcomes Accor's Formule 1 Hotel
- Seattle Welcomes First Full-Service Marriott Hotel
- Grande Lakes Includes Two Hotels
- Lighthouse Inn To Open In Texas
- Loews Continues Expansion Plans With A US$65 Million Hotel For New Orleans
- Mövenpick To Manage 450-Room Hotel In Dupai
Dolce Plans First Conference Destination
In Spain
Dolce International, Montvale, New Jersey, has
begun construction on its Barcelona conference destination project.
When Dolce Stiges opens in July 2004, it will be the first and only
dedicated conference center delivering the conference center concept
in Spain. “Spain
is Europe’s
fastest growing destination for meetings and tourism,
yet lacks dedicated conference facilities for small to midsize corporate
meetings. Barcelona frequently is mentioned by our global customers
as a desirable destination for our conference center concept,” says
Andy Dolce, chairman and CEO of Dolce International.
The 4-star property will consist of 260 guestrooms and suites and is located in Costa de Garraf, Stiges. It is a 30-minute drive from Barcelona, and a 15-minute drive from the Barcelona International Airport. The conference area will have 20 meeting rooms, a fully equipped business center and a total of 43,056 sq.ft. (4,000 sq.m) of conference space.
Additional amenities available to guests will be onsite recreational facilities, which include a fitness center with indoor swimming pool, two outdoor swimming pools and two outdoor tennis courts. Guests also will have access to three golf courses, all within the direct vicinity of the property. There will be a main dining room with two private dining areas and a gourmet restaurant for a la carte dining.
Sydney Welcomes Accor’s Formule 1 Hotel
The first city-based Formule
1 in Australia is planned for Sydney. According to Accor
Asia Pacific, the new development will reverse a trend that has seen
over 3,000 hotel rooms closed or converted into apartments in Sydney
over the past two years, with Kings Cross the most affected area. “While the upper-end
of the hotel market in Australia has suffered as a result of the Ansett
Airlines collapse, economic recession and September 11, the economy
sector has been very resilient, with occupancies for Formule 1 and our
3-star Ibis hotels consistently exceeding the 80% mark across the country,” says
David Baffsky, chairman, Accor Asia Pacific.
The 115-room Formule 1 will be the 14th hotel in the Australian network, and the first in a prime city district. The Formule 1 concept is based on providing a highly affordable and standardized product in key commercial areas that are close to major transport areas. Guestrooms are all identical (offering a queen-size bed and overhead bunk bed plus en-suite bathroom) and a uniform tariff.
Seattle Welcomes First Full-Service Marriott Hotel
As only the second
waterfront hotel to be built along Seattle’s
newly redeveloped central waterfront district, the Seattle
Marriott Waterfront Hotel is truly one of the most highly
anticipated developments in downtown Seattle.The hotel is scheduled
to open in May 2003.
“Marriott is thrilled to be partnering with CNL Hospitality Corporation, Orlando, Florida, to bring downtown Seattle’s first full-service Marriott hotel and the city’s second waterfront hotel to life,” says Steve Heitzner, regional vice president of sales and marketing for Marriott International, Washington, D.C.
The hotel will be directly across from the 78,000 sq.ft. (7,246 sq.m) Bell Harbor International Conference Center and also will supply a unique meeting venue not currently available in Seattle. The 358-room Seattle Marriott Waterfront hotel will offer an additional 11,000 sq.ft. (1,022 sq.m) of meeting space accommodating groups from 10 to 700. The hotel also will be the first hotel in Seattle to provide wireless capability in most of the hotel’s public areas.
The Seattle Marriott Waterfront hotel also will become home to one of today’s most renowned restaurateurs. Award-winning Chef Todd English plans to open up the Fish Club, an upscale seafood establishment. Other hotel facilities include a lobby bar, the Quench coffee bar, and a restaurant bar, concierge service, a full-service business center, comprehensive fitness center, indoor/outdoor swimming pool, whirlpool and 24-hour room service.
Grande Lakes Includes Two Hotels
|
When the 500-acre (202 ha) Grande Lakes Orlando resort opens in July 2003, it will include the luxury 584-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel (left) and the deluxe 1,000-room JW Marriott Hotel (right). The nearly US$600 million destination resort is owned by Thayer Lodging Group, Annapolis, Maryland, and managed under a long-term agreement by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC and Marriott Internatoinal.
Addressing the shortage of luxury and premium hotel rooms and facilities in Orlando, Grande Lakes will offer meeting planers and attendees exceptional levels of service. Connecting the two properties will be the vast meeting space—The Ritz-Carlton will offer 33,000 sq. ft. (3,066 sq.m), including two ballrooms and 14 meeting rooms, while the JW Marriott will feature more than 72,000 sq.ft. (6,689 sq.m) of meeting space, including two ballrooms, 23 conference rooms and two elegantly appointed boardrooms.
In addition, the estate will contain a 40,000-sq. ft. (3,716-sq. m) spa and an 18-hole championship golf course designed by two-time British Open winner Greg Norman. Guests at both resorts will share the full range of spa, golf and dining facilities. Interior designer fs Hirsch Bedner & Associates, Atlanta, Georgia, and the contractor is Hunt Construction Group, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Lighthouse Inn To Open In Texas
|
Hospitality Management Corp., Dallas, Texas, has announced it will manage the 78-room Lighthouse Inn on Aransas Bay for its owner Heritage Hotels Rockport L.P., Texas.
The Lighthouse Inn will feature a lighthouse design that will include a comfortable front porch, balconies and single-hung windows with shutters. GSR-Andrade Architects, Dallas, will oversee the design of the property.
The Inn will feature 42 suites with full kitchens and 36 single rooms, a 70-seat, full-service waterfront restaurant, bar, full meeting facilities, waterfront boat dock and fishing pier, a lavishly landscaped oversized swimming pool, exercise facility, library and gift shop. Each oversized room will have either a pool view or a dramatic view of Aransas Bay and the harbor entrance.
General contractor H.C. Beck Construction has scheduled the hotel to open in May 2003.
Loews Continues Expansion Plans With A US$65 Million Hotel For New
Orleans
Loews Hotels, New York, continues its hotel expansion
with the announcement of its plans to build a US$65 million
luxury hotel in New Orleans. This latest property will be the national
brand’s
sixth new hotel in as many years when it opens in late
2003.
The 285-room Loews New Orleans Hotel will be a conversion of the former Lykes Building that is located in the heart of New Orleans’ central business district and the New Orleans Riverfront. It will be across the street from the Harrah’s New Orleans Jazz Casino. The Lykes building will be completely rebuilt as the
4-star Loews New Orleans featuring approximately 140 suites, an upscale restaurant, 14,000 sq. ft. (1,301 sq. m) of meeting space, a health club and spa as well as on-site parking facilities.
Alexandra Champalimaud and Associates, New York, has been selected as the interior design company. Throughout the hotel, from the large glass areas and high ceilings on the first floor to the spacious guestrooms above, the interiors will feature an open, lively and comfortable atmosphere achieved by the use of light colors and soft curves introduced into the patterns, walls, and flooring. The architects, Lyons & Hudson, New Orleans, in conjunction with Hewitt and Washington, New Orleans, will incorporate the Piazza d’Italia into the hotel design.
Jonathan Tisch, chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels says that Loews Hotels will operate the hotel as part of a long-term management contract. Piazza D’Italia Hotel Associates, LLC, and Multi-Employer Development Partners L.P., a limited partnership of tax-exempt institutional investors, own the hotel.
Mövenpick To Manage 450-Room Hotel In Dubai
|
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts (MH&R), Adliswil, Switzerland, signed a management contract to operate one of the newest flagship properties in Dubai. The new Mövenpick Dubai Pearl Hotel is currently in the final planning stage with an estimated construction cost of US$82 million and is due to open in 2005. As for investors in the property, in October 2002, a partnership was forged when Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz, chairman of Kingdom Hotel Investment Group and holder of 30% of the shares of MH&R, and Jamal Abu Issa, chairman of Omnix Group, signed agreements to invest US$19 million in the property.
The hotel will enjoy a spectacular setting at the foot of Palm Island, the revolutionary multi-billion dollar project to create two islands in the shape of palm trees, which on completion will be the world’s largest man-made islands.
Guests will enjoy spacious state-of-the-art guestrooms and a variety of luxurious suites and apartments all equipped with the very latest modern conveniences. Leisure facilities include a 3,587-sq. ft. (3,000-sq.m) spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, squash, volleyball and tennis courts, hotel shops and a nightclub. Also available will be more than 2,391 sq.ft. (2,000 sq.m) of fully equipped conference and meeting space, and seven dining and entertainment venues with a wide range of culinary delights in settings to suit every need.
“Being represented in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, Mövenpick recognizes that Dubai is a valuable addition to its portfolio, as the Emirate has become one of the world’s premier tourist and business destinations,” says Andreas Mattmueller, senior vice president for Mövenpick in the Middle East.
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