Reliance buys Stoke Park for US$79M: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries has bought the British country club and 49-room luxury golf resort Stoke Park for £57 million (US$79 million). The acquisition adds to Reliance’s current stake in Oberoi hotels and hotel/managed residences in Mumbai that it’s developing. The UK-based firm, which owns a hotel and golf course in Buckinghamshire, UK, will add to Reliance’s consumer and hospitality assets, the firm said in a filing late on Thursday.
Rosewood’s first in Japan: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts will open its first property in Japan, the Rosewood Miyakojima. Upon opening in 2024, the all-villa resort will be located on Mikayo Island in the Okinawan archipelago. Architecture and design were conceived by Netherlands-based Studio Piet Boon, in collaboration with Japanese firm Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei. The 55-villa resort will also have: accommodations with private pools and landscaped gardens; four restaurants and bars; a standalone Rosewood Explorers Club; and Asaya, Rosewood’s wellness concept.
Also for Rosewood, PlaceMakers: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts is introducing a new experiential offering in “Rosewood’s PlaceMakers,” a program which partners with individuals who are “advancing the ideals of culture and kinship around the world.” The partners include artists, designers, poets, teachers, inventors, chefs, and others. Each PlaceMaker will curate a selection of lifestyle experiences in addition to sharing insider knowledge into their respective locales. New PlaceMakers will be inducted into the program throughout 2021 and beyond. The program kicks off with three inaugural PlaceMakers, including Philip Huang, a sustainable clothing designer (Rosewood Phuket); Catie Miller and Boniface Verney-Carron of Oona Series, a wellness platform (Rosewood London); and Liu Min and Ian Hylton of Ms MIN, a Chinese luxury fashion label (Rosewood Beijing).
Italy ‘Hotels & Chains’ report, 2021: Horwath HTL Italy has released the 8th edition of the Italy Hotels & Chains Report, 2021. Despite showing dramatic and diverse effects on demand, the 2021 edition confirms the on-going strengthening of the Italian Chain hotel supply and stresses the importance to sustain this trend to ensure the country’s competitiveness against the global markets, especially over the strategic upcoming years.
‘Workcation’ — a hospitality fix? According to a new article from PKF Hotelexperts Group, 2020 saw a large share of the office workforce adopting remote working and several companies making this switch permanent. The group writes that this trend will affect the travel industry as leisure tourists will become the main segment and many opt for “workcation” periods that involve both remote work, as well as choosing a vacation setting. Both trends require some physical and service adjustments but will drive massive benefits, the group writes.