Little Nell takes flight. Aspen Skiing Co. has formed a hospitality division called The Little Nell Hotel Group, a privately held, Aspen, Colorado-based hotel investment and management platform now actively seeking acquisition and development opportunities for its Little Nell and Limelight hospitality brands. The portfolio of owned and operated hotels and residences currently consists of The Little Nell ski resort in Aspen and its affiliated Residences at The Little Nell, as well as the Limelight Hotel Aspen and Limelight Hotel Snowmass in Colorado, as well as the Limelight Hotel Ketchum/Sun Valley in Idaho. The Company also owns and operates two mountain clubs (the Aspen Mountain Club and the Snowmass Mountain Club).
Nobu to Poland. Nobu Hospitality has announced a 120-room hotel project for Warsaw, Poland, which is scheduled to open in the first half of next year and occupy a new building located at Wilcza Street, designed by the Polish architectural firm, Medusa Group. It will also encompass the existing Hotel Rialto. This marks the group’s 17th hotel as it tracks toward its goal of 20 properties by 2020.
AWH buys ski resort. New York-based developer AWH Partners has acquired the 68-room Topnotch Resort and Spa in Stowe, Vermont. Spire Hospitality, AWH’s hospitality management company, is now managing the resort and will immediately implement its repositioning strategy.
Voco to Bangkok. IHG has signed a management agreement with Bangkok’s B&G Estate Co. for a new-build Voco-branded hotel in Bangkok — the first to be announced in South East Asia. When it opens in 2021 the hotel will offer 300 guest rooms in the heart of Bangkok’s Sukhumvit area. The signing follows the November opening of the first Voco in the world in Gold Coast, Australia.
Big Choice deal in West. Choice Hotels International has signed an agreement with Clovis, California-based developer Jay Virk to develop 15 new-construction midscale hotels in the Western region of the U.S. through 2026. Five Sleep Inn hotels and five dual-brand Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites properties will be built across California and Arizona.
Benchmark to Catskills. Benchmark has added The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark in Monticello, New York, to its Benchmark Resorts & Hotels brand operating portfolio. Located in New York’s Catskill Mountains, the new property with 324 suites will open in March 2019 on 1,600 wooded acres, the site of the Resorts World Catskills entertainment complex.
Indigo milestone. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has opened its 100th Hotel Indigo property globally, the 118-room Hotel Indigo Berlin East Side Gallery. IHG stated it wants to double its Hotel Indigo portfolio over the next three to five years and has nearly 100 hotels in the pipeline. Upcoming openings in 2019 include Hotel Indigo Milan – Corso Monforte; Hotel Indigo Stratford Upon Avon in the UK; Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown; Hotel Indigo Miami; and Hotel Indigo Coachella in California.