JO&JOE’S FIRST IN NORTH AMERICA: London-based Ennismore, along with owner and developer Soda Urbana, have announced the first JO&JOE development in North and Central America — JO&JOE Tulum in Mexico’s Quintana Roo state, which will open at the end of 2024. JO&JOE Tulum will have 84 rooms (300 beds), 45 private rooms, 30 small dorms, nine large dorms, and some suites. The hotel will also feature a bar, restaurant, open kitchen, guest laundry room, locker room and a 50-square-meter meeting room. The hotel will be part of a new mixed-use development that also includes 12 retail stores and a rooftop bar. Ennismore currently has 14 brands representing 103 operating properties with more than 140 in the pipeline, as well as 150 restaurants and bars.
ACCOR’S HANDWRITTEN COLLECTION DEBUTS IN AUSTRALIA: Accor will operate Wonil Hotel Perth, a new Handwritten Collection hotel that will open at the Forrest Hall Precinct in February. The 66-key hotel is located on the banks of the Swan River adjacent to The University of Western Australia. The hotel includes a dining venue with views of the Swan River and UWA’s Crawley campus. The hotel’s net revenue will be reinvested into the Forrest Research Foundation through a unique operating model to support present and future scholars and fellows. Wonil Hotel will be the first Australian property to open under Accor’s new Handwritten Collection.
YOTEL TO SAUDI ARABIA: YOTEL has signed its first hotel in Saudi Arabia. Expected to open in 2025, it will be the first hotel to open in Oxagon, which will also be the home of clean and advanced industries in NEOM. The 300-room hotel will be in the integrated live-work-play research and Innovation district of Oxagon. The hotel will feature motorized smart beds, a multi-functional dining and co-working space, a fitness center and meeting spaces. The announcement is part of YOTEL’s plan to reach 50 hotels by 2025.
EKN, APPELLATION PARTNER FOR NEW HOTEL: EKN Development Group, the Newport, Calif.-based developer, has partnered with culinary-based hotel brand Appellation, which was co-founded by luxury hospitality veteran Christopher Hunsberger and American chef Charlie Palmer, to launch Appellation Petaluma. The 93-room experiential boutique hotel in Petaluma, Calif., is expected to open in 2026. The five-story hotel will feature a rooftop bar with views of the Petaluma River. The two partners will invest more than $500,000 in art, including specifically commissioned signature pieces from local artists.
LEMON TREE ADDS IN INDIA New Delhi-based Lemon Tree Hotels has signed a franchised hotel in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan. Franchised by Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd., the 59-key hotel is scheduled to open in December. The hotel will include a restaurant, bar, meeting spaces and a pool. Lemon Tree Hotels, which already has six properties across Rajasthan, has signed 19 hotels in CY 2022. Currently, the company operates around 8,350 rooms in 87 hotels under seven brands and plans to have 11,200 rooms in 122 hotels by the end of 2025.