A quick roundup of global hospitality news.
GREAT WOLF RESORT AT PERRYVILLE, MD.: Great Wolf Resorts has announced the opening of Great Wolf Lodge Maryland in Perryville, Md. This marks the 20th resort in North America for the entertainment and indoor water park resort company and its largest ever. The new resort features 700 family-friendly suites and a 128,000-square-foot indoor water park with 22 slides. The resort includes multiple dining options and a 57,000-square-foot family entertainment center. The property represents an investment of over $250 million by Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners, Great Wolf Lodge’s shareholders, and has already generated over 1,000 full and part-time direct jobs at the resort.
THE RITZ-CARLTON OPENS IN SOUTHERN JAPAN: The Ritz-Carlton, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 21 brands, has opened The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka on the Kyushu island in southern Japan. The luxury hotel is located within the 111-meter main tower of Fukuoka Daimyo Garden City in the city’s commercial district. The hotel occupies the top nine floors of the 25-story building designed by Tokyo’s Kume Sekkei. The hotel’s interiors have been designed by Melbourne-headquartered Layan Architects + Designers. The hotel offers 167 rooms, including 20 suites, on floors 19 to 23 and The Ritz-Carlton Club on the 24th floor. The hotel also has four restaurants, two bars, a spa, a chapel and banquet spaces (which include the 108-square-meter Carlton Studio and the 336-square-meter ballroom). The hotel marks The Ritz-Carlton’s seventh hotel in Japan since launching the brand in the country in 1997.
HI EXPRESS NEAR ATLANTA AIRPORT: IHG Hotels & Resorts has opened Holiday Inn & Express Atlanta Airport-North close to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The hotel offers 224 rooms with multi-functional seating and storage and showcases the brand’s new design concepts. The hotel offers 2,800 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center and an outdoor pool. A former hotel was converted and renovated to open under IHG’s Holiday Inn Express brand. The hotel is owned and managed by Georgia-based Natson Hotel Management LLC. The company has 15 open or in-pipeline IHG properties in the U.S., including four more Holiday Inn Express hotels across Georgia. With 3,095 opened hotels in over 50 countries, Holiday Inn Express is IHG’s largest brand. The brand’s pipeline includes 314 hotels in the U.S.
CAMBRIA HOTELS ADDS TO COLORADO PORTFOLIO: Continuing the expansion of the Cambria Hotels brand, Choice Hotels International, Inc. has opened Cambria Hotel Copper Mountain in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The four-story, 127-room hotel is the third Cambria property in Colorado. The new hotel features on-site dining, a fitness center, multi-purpose indoor and outdoor spaces and customizable event spaces. The hotel is operated by O’Reilly Hospitality Management, LLC, and is the fifth Cambria hotel to be owned by the company. Currently, more than 68 Cambria hotels are open across the U.S., and around 70 are in the pipeline.
ELEMENT AT WESTIN AT METRO CENTRE OWINGS MILLS: David S. Brown Enterprises has unveiled plans for a new 120-room Element by Westin Hotel at Metro Centre in Owings Mills, Md. Crescent Hotels & Resorts, which manages the Marriott Owings Mills Metro Centre, will also manage the new hotel. David S. Brown Enterprises will break ground on the hotel this summer. The hotel will be located across Grand Central Avenue from the Marriott Owings Mills. The hotel will be led by a sustainability-focused design strategy featuring suites with spa-inspired bathrooms and in-room kitchens.