Minor partners with Funyard: Minor Hotels has signed a memorandum of understanding with Funyard Hotels & Resorts, which will see the expansion of its brands in China. Funyard Hotels & Resorts is a core alliance enterprise of Country Garden, based in Foshan, China. Currently managing more than 200 upscale hotels, the company provides operations and asset management services and boasts about 50,000 guest rooms. The partnership will fuel the expansion of Minor brands Anantara, Avani, Oaks, Tivoli and NH brands in mainland China, many of them for the first time.
Accor’s new openings: The lifestyle category is set to be one of Accor’s most valued segments over the coming years, with the number of lifestyle hotel openings expected to triple by 2023. Moreover, Accor’s lifestyle segment currently accounts for roughly 5% of the group’s annual revenue, while representing 25% of the company’s development pipeline by value. The recently announced joint venture with Ennismore, expected to close in Q2 2021, will mean new properties opening their doors, including Mondrian Shoreditch London; Jo&Joe Vienna Westbahnhof; So/ Sotogrande Resort & Spa; SLS Dubai and 25Hours Dubai.
Hotel Pichlarn Castle sells to Georg Imlauer: Hotelier Georg Imlauer has acquired the Hotel Pichlarn Castle in the Austrian Alps through his hotel group, Imlauer Hotel & Restaurant Gmbh. With this purchase, Imlauer is adding the first typical leisure hotel to his existing portfolio of city hotels and restaurants in Salzburg and Vienna. He is taking over the hotel with the existing operating company and around 100 employees. The 96-room hotel has a wellness and spa area, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, as well as an underground car park, a helicopter landing pad, and an 18-hole golf course.
AHLA on Biden inauguration: The following is a statement from Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, on the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“On behalf of the hotel industry, we congratulate President Biden and Vice President Harris on their inauguration. Today’s peaceful transfer of power marks a new chapter as our country moves forward together. Over the last year, our nation, and the world, has faced incredible difficulties, but we are resilient, and working together we can overcome these historic challenges.
“As an industry, we continue to face historically low occupancy rates, massive job loss, and record hotel closures. Our industry needs help to retain and rehire our associates, revive our local communities, and restart our economy. While the vaccine rollout has begun, it will likely take months to widely distribute, and travel is not expected to return to 2019 levels until 2023. We urge Congress and the new Administration to come together on a longer-term stimulus package that will ensure our industry survives so that the men and women who are the backbone and heart of hospitality can get back to work and unleash the power of the American dream.”
Rosewood’s ‘Resilience’: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has launched a new wellness retreat concept. The retreats, “Journey to Resilience,” will focus on four main behavioral elements to resilience, including positivism, purpose, resourcefulness and compassion, through practices that take individuals towards emotional, physical and mental balance. Participating properties include Asaya at Rosewood Hong Kong; Rosewood Bangkok; Rosewood Beijing; Rosewood Bermuda; Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco (Tuscany, Italy); Rosewood Guangzhou; and Hôtel de Crillon, among several others.