EASYHOTEL INVESTS £4.5M TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS
easyHotel, the low-carbon hotel brand, invested £4.5 million ($5.62 million) in 12 locations around the U.K. to reduce the company’s carbon footprint even further. The investment will be utilized to improve hotel energy efficiency with the installation of heat pumps, better metering, solar panels, control systems and more efficient air conditioning systems. Following the work, CO2 emissions are expected to be reduced by 45% by 2025 in all these 12 locations. Along with the upgrades, single-use plastic bottles have been removed from all owned and leased hotels, with free filtered water fountains installed for guests. All plastic key cards have been replaced with wooden key cards at all the owned and leased properties. In addition, easyHotel partnered with Kanso, a carbon-neutral facilities management company, to clean all leased and owned hotels in the U.K. While the work is completed, the hotels remain open. By the end of the year, similar investments will be announced for its properties in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. easyHotel currently has an estate in 44 locations with more than 4,400 rooms comprising 18 franchise hotels and 26 owned and leased hotels.
M SOCIAL LAUNCHES IN CHINA
Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR) has announced the debut of its M Social brand in China with the opening of M Social Suzhou. The 294-room luxury lifestyle hotel is the first and flagship M Social-branded hotel in China, heralding the start of expansion in Greater China. The hotel is located in the Hong Leong City Center in the central part of Suzhou Industrial Park. Interiors have been designed by architect KCA International. The property includes three restaurants and bars, 728 square meters of ballroom space, a pool, 1,200 square meters of fitness space, a spa and a sky lobby on the 25th floor. M Social, a lifestyle brand of MHR, is the brainchild of MHR Executive Chairman Kwek Leng Beng and was first introduced in 2016 in Singapore. MHR plans to open M Social hotels in London, New York, Sunnyvale, Phuket and key cities in the Middle East.
HILTON BURLINGTON LAKE CHAMPLAIN TO REBRAND
Hilton Burlington Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vt., has announced that it will rebrand to Hotel Champlain and join Hilton’s Curio Collection. The outside and interior of the 258-room Hotel Champlain will be renovated by the end of the year, including eating venues, event spaces and exercise rooms. During the renovation, the hotel will remain open. The upgrades will include an expanded fitness center, a new restaurant, an all-day café and event spaces. The hotel also uses renewable solar energy to power its meeting spaces.
RADISSON RED TO OPEN IN BELGRADE
PPHE Hotel Group, the Amsterdam-based international hospitality real estate group, will open its first Radisson RED hotel in Belgrade, Serbia. Formerly operating as Arena 88 Rooms hotels, the hotel is undergoing refurbishments to reopen later this year as the Radisson RED Belgrade. The hotel will offer 88 rooms, including three suites. The design scheme has been developed by London and Zagreb-based Atellior design studio and features a signature red Zastava 750 car in the lobby. The hotel will have an all-day restaurant on the ground floor, a co-working space on the top floor, flexible event spaces and a rooftop bar with city-center views. Radisson RED Belgrade will be the second hotel to be operated and marketed by PPHE under its extended partnership with Radisson, following the opening of Grand Hotel Brioni in Pula, Croatia, in May 2022.
HILTON GARDEN INN FORT COLLINS COMPLETES RENOVATION
The Hilton Garden Inn Fort Collins has completed a major renovation. The renovation includes all 120 rooms and suites, 2,800 square feet of meeting area and all the public spaces. The Garden Grill restaurant, elevator lobbies, public restrooms and corridors have been refreshed. The hotel’s 3,000 square feet of meeting area and pre-function area have been elevated with new carpeting and floor coverings. Located in the heart of the Northern Colorado corridor, the hotel is managed by Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC. Crestline currently manages 127 hotels, resorts and conference centers with over 18,000 rooms across 30 states and the District of Columbia.