Deutsche’s deal: German hotel company Deutsche Hospitality created a European hotel real estate fund with German real estate asset and investment manager Commerz Real. Deutsche subsidiary Steigenberger Hotels is a €12 million (US$13.6 million) capital co-investor in the Commerz Real European Hotel Fund. An additional €92 million (US$104.2 million) is expected from investors. The plan is to raise a total of €250 million (US$283.3 million) and intends to invest in up to eight 3- to 5-star hotels. The fund plans to buy properties under construction or hotels with a residual lease term of about 18 months. As part of the deal, Steigenberger will conclude long-term lease agreements for these hotels following the acquisition. The fund will then sell them again after a holding period of at least five years.
Radisson ends JV: Radisson Hotel Group and tourism company Panorama Group are ending their Indonesian joint venture partnership, PT Carlson Panorama Hospitality. Radisson will acquire Panorama’s stake in the hotel management company formed in 2013. According to Radisson, “the separation has been agreed amicably by the shareholders to permit the groups to align better with their respective business strategies, while still maintaining close business relationships.”
Kempinski in Dominica: The 152-room Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski Dominica will open in October 2019. It’s Kempinski Hotels’ second in the Caribbean.
Riu in Canary Islands: Mallorca’s Riu Hotels & Resorts completed its purchase of Hotel Riu Buena Vista in Tenerife. The company has been operating the hotel since 2008. A €30 million (US$34.0 million) renovation is planned.
HVMG adds Daytona Beach: Atlanta-based Hospitality Ventures Management Group (HVMG) took over management of the 200-room Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach in Daytona Beach, Florida. The hotel, which opened in early 2018, is owned by Summit Hospitality Management Group. It’s HVMG’s first Hard Rock-branded property.
Nikko in Thailand: Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., will open Hotel Nikko Amata City Chonburi in Amata City Chonburi Industrial Estate, south of Bangkok, in 2021. The company is signing a contract with a project management partnership comprising Fujita Corporation, Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development and AMATA Corporation PCL for management of the 250-room property.
Reported assaults in Jamaica: According to an investigation by the Detroit Free Press, sexual assaults of tourists in Jamaica are regularly covered up (according to the U.S. State Department estimates, one American is raped per month on the island). The story interviews multiple victims who say resorts are offering confidentiality agreements and payoffs rather than pursuing prosecution.
Read the story in the Detroit Free Press
Postcard from India: Former Oberoi Group President Kapil Chopra launched Postcard Hotels with the opening of three properties in Goa, India. Chopra told the Times of India that he intended to open seven more of the “experiential luxury” brand within 18 months and have a total of 50 hotels of no more than 50 rooms, in five years.
Read more in the Times of India