A quick roundup of global hospitality news.
ROSEWOOD OPENS RESORT IN HAWAII: Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort, has officially opened along Hawaii’s Kona Coast, following a re-imagination of the former Kona Village Resort. The hotel first opened in 1960 and closed in 2011. Real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson reconstructed the resort in partnership with Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. The resort is spread over 81 acres, with most buildings designed over LEED Gold Certification standards and aiming for TRUE and SITES certifications. Hawaii-based architect Greg Warner of Walker Warner Architects led the property’s architecture, while San Francisco-headquartered interior design company, NICOLEHOLLIS, worked on the interiors. The property offers multiple dining outlets and recreational facilities.
DOUBLETREE BY HILTON LAUNCHES IN BERLIN: Hilton has announced the opening of DoubleTree by Hilton Berlin Ku’damm, marking the brand’s first in Berlin and the third in Germany. The hotel, which overlooks the Los Angeles Plaza and first opened in 1981, underwent a 16-month renovation that saw a complete overhaul of the interior design by Virserius Studios. Cologne-based Event Hotels operates the hotel, which has 420 rooms,15 suites and more than 8,600 square feet of meeting space. The hotel includes a restaurant featuring a sustainable, zero-waste menu, a fitness center and 11 meeting rooms. DoubleTree by Hilton has a global portfolio of 661 hotels totaling 151,000 rooms across 52 countries.
MARRIOTT’S EDITION OPENS IN ROME: Marriott International has opened Rome EDITION. Located close to the Via Veneto, the 91-room hotel was originally built in the 1940s and earlier housed one of the main Italian banks. The building was created by Cesare Pascoletti in partnership with architect Marcello Piacentini. The hotel features three bars, a rooftop lounge, bar and pool, a show-kitchen restaurant, gym and treatment rooms and a courtyard garden. The hotel includes a garden that will function both as a piazza and a dining area. EDITION Hotels, which Ian Schrager and Marriott conceived, currently operates 15 hotels worldwide.
CRESTLINE TO MANAGE HYATT PLACE KEYSTONE: Crestline Hotels & Resorts has been selected to manage the 103-room Hyatt Place Keystone in Colorado. Located in the heart of Arapahoe Basin and adjacent to Keystone Resort, Hyatt Place Keystone features three conference rooms totaling 2,187 square feet of space and 2,252 square feet of outdoor patio space overlooking the Rocky Mountains. The hotel is owned by an affiliate of Realty Capital Partners, LLC, headquartered in Dallas. Murphy Asset Management conducted a management company selection procedure to help ascertain the best operator for the hotel. Currently, Crestline manages 130 hotels, resorts and conference centers totaling 18,400 rooms across 30 states and the District of Columbia.
CORAL SEA HOTELS NEW MEMBER OF SHA: Coral Sea Hotels in Papua New Guinea has become the latest member of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA) to aim towards achieving Net Positive Hospitality. With more than 800 rooms in its portfolio, Coral Sea Hotels has seven hotels in five destinations across Papua New Guinea and two partner hotels. Coral Sea Hotels participates in the climate initiative CO2 neutral websites, which means that carbon emissions from the website and its users have been neutralized by the construction of new renewable energy sources, CO2 reduction ventures and the purchase of certified CO1 offsets. SHA has more than 40 donor and affiliate members with a reach of 7 million rooms.