Mandarin Oriental Hawaii: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group will open a new luxury hotel and branded residences in Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The project, which has a target opening date in early 2020, will be the anchor of Mana`olana Place, a 36-story mixed-use tower with gardens and public plazas, currently being developed by Los Angeles-based Salem Partners.
Accor moving in on Travel Keys: AccorHotels began negotiations for the acquisition of Travel Keys, a top player in the private vacation rental market. The transaction is expected to close within the year.
InterContinental data breach: InterContinental Hotels confirmed a data breach from payment cards used at 12 of its U.S. hotels. The company said the breach only affected payment cards used at the restaurants and bars of those hotels and that cards used at the front desks were not affected.
Two Roads: Two Roads Hospitality, Denver, has assumed management of its first Destination Hotels collection resort in the Caribbean, the Royal Isabela golf resort on the ocean in northwest Puerto Rico.
Phuket tourism up: With total airport arrivals surpassing 7.5 million passengers, Phuket, Thailand experienced a sharp year-on-year rise of 18% compared to 13% the previous year. The increase is largely attributed to the resurgence of the Russian source market, which last year jumped by 51%. The rebound was prompted by the strengthening of the ruble against the Thai baht in addition to the political volatility in the Middle East that shifted Russian tourists to the island during high season.
Deutsche expands in Egypt: Deutsche Hospitality acquired two Egyptian hotels: the 401-room Taba Hotel & Nelson Village in Taba and the 304-room Cairo Pyramids Hotel in Gizeh. Both hotels will undergo extensive renovation works until the end of the year and will then be operated under the brand “Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts.”
Dubai fire: Dubai’s Emaar Properties will recover Dhs$1.22bn (US$332.2m) from an insurance claim for the Address Downtown hotel which caught fire on New Year’s Eve 2015.
Al Bustan renovation: Ritz-Carlton will renovate one of its major properties in Oman, the Al Bustan Palace. Design firm WATG and its interior design studio, Wimberly Interiors, were appointed to oversee the project, which includes a complete refurbishment of 200 guest rooms and 50 suites, as well as the resort’s main guest arrival porte cochere, meetings and events spaces, lobby lounge, grand ballroom and all-day dining restaurant.
Nanking Massacre book, update: Dozens of protesters marched through the streets of Tokyo’s Shinjuku district carrying banners to protest a hotel chain receiving heat for books its president wrote denying China’s Nanking Massacre ever happened.
More from the South China Morning Post
Rezidor in Dubai: The hotel group signed two new Radisson Blu hotels in Dubai. The signings were made in partnership with Bin Haider Group and follow Rezidor’s recent announcement that it will open 14 new hotels in the UAE by 2019.
SilverBirch: An unidentified international private equity firm and its Hong Kong/Canadian subsidiary, Leadon Investment, acquired SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts in a CAD $1.1 billion (US$843.2 million) all-cash transaction.
Arabella Hotel Sedona: Arizona’s Arabella Hotel Sedona will undergo renovations on the eight-acre grounds and interior of the 144-room hotel, including enhanced landscaping, new décor in the hotel’s trailhead rooms and guestroom bathroom renovations. San Diego-based hotel management company RAR Hospitality will lead the renovations.