AMD Hospitality Management, Los Angeles, is looking for a mid-sized hotel in a major market that will serve as both a flagship property and provide the scale to support an operations management team that will grow the company, says President Dean Andrews. AMD is owned by JRK Capital.

The 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky, was developed by local art collectors Laura Lee Brown (part of the Forman-Brown beverage company) and her husband, Steve Wilson. They have now brought in other partners—including restaurateur Michael Bonadies, possibly best known as CEO of The Myriad Group—to form ACE Unlimited LLC. ACE, which stands for Art Commerce Entertainment, believes that art drives commerce. Its second hotel will be the 209-key 21c Austin in Texas. ACE is looking for other opportunities.

Zabeel Investments, Dubai, thinks investment in Las Vegas makes a lot of sense. It has purchased 50% of The Light Group, which will manage the 400-room Harmon Hotel, Spa & Residences at CityCenter, being developed by Dubai World and MGM Mirage. In the UAE, Zabeel is also the main shareholder in the fledgling Tiara Hotels & Resorts, which has already announced an interest in such major international cities as Bangkok, London, Madrid, Milan and Paris. Will Zabeel now be able to take Tiara into the United States?

Gansevoort Hotel Group evolved from its launch hotel, the Gansevoort Hotel in New York City’s Meatpacking District. COO Elon Kenchington has three future openings in North America and is now looking for opportunities in major capitals overseas.

Cabo Sao Roque, a development near Natal, Brazil, is being led by Brazil Development Investimentos Turísticos LTDA and Norwegian billionaire Torben Frantzen, whose family is behind food supply giant Findus. The creators have already signed a David Beckham soccer academy, and car racing will be handled by Honda team member Rubens Barrichello. Other partners will be brought in to a project that will include three hotels.

Ras al Khaimah, UAE, is headquarters of Rakeen, chaired by Khater Massaad, who is also CEO of the emirate’s RAK Investment Authority and personal advisor to His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the crown prince and deputy ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. Rakeen’s multi-developments in the emirate include Al Marjan Island, which will be five manmade, coral-shaped islands extending more than a mile off the Ras al Khaimah coast into the Arabian Gulf. There are 10 major hotel sites included in the Al Marjan Island concept. Rakeen, by the way, is not confining its activities to its home territory. It is also developing a 350-key luxury hotel at Tbilisi Heights in the Georgian capital to the east of the Black Sea.

Speaking in one of his many palaces in Udaipur, Rajasthan, Arvind Singh Mewar—still called by many His Highness the Maharana of Udaipur or, by some locals, “the king”—heads HRH Hotels, once known as Historic Resort Hotels. HRH was set up by his father, HH Maharana Bhagwat Sing of Mewar, and its executive director today is Avind Singh Mewar’s daughter, Princess Bhargavi Kumari Mewar. HRH owns the iconic Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur’s Lake Pichal (leased to Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces). HRH does, however, operate nine hotels under its own label, and there are at least three projects to come, all in Rajasthan. Yes, says Mewar, he is constantly approached by international companies wanting to come in and propose joint ventures, but he says the mindset has to match. So far he has not found a really attractive partner. He is looking for a long-term partnership.

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