Worldwide briefing

Plans for new Berlin Hotel
Park Plaza Hotels has revealed plans for a new four star deluxe hotel in Berlin's city centre near Alexanderplatz. Work has already begun on the 167-bedroom Wallstreet Park Plaza which is located on the site of the huge office building Wallhofe. Austrian architect Johanne Nalbach has been in charge of the conversion which is designed to resemble the New York Stock Exchange. The development, which will be the fourth Park Plaza hotel in Berlin, includes a 66-seat cinema, health club, meeting rooms, lobby, bar, restaurant and terrace.

Online tracking index launched A new index has been launched by Supranational hotels to track trends in online hotel bookings. The quarterly index, which currently takes its information from 100 hotels in 12 European countries, found that allocating smoking rooms was the most difficult issue to accommodate online due to fluctuating demand. At the moment the proportion of hotel reservations made online can vary between 5% and 60%. The average is 20%, but hoteliers are also predicting a growth of between 5% and 10% this year.

Interconti sells Amsterdam hotel The American Hotel in Amsterdam has been sold by Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) for £25.5m to the Eden Hotel Group. The deal marks IHG's first European disposal, following plans to sell off 10 hotels in Australasia this week. Jones Lang LaSalle handled the deal which included opportunities for rebranding. IHG has four other hotels in Amsterdam.

Choice Hotels expands further into Ireland Choice Hotels Europe has opened a four star 191-ensuite hotel in Cork, Ireland. Opened last month, the Clarion Hotel Cork, overlooks the River Lee, and features a spa, 18m indoor swimming pool, children's pool, sauna, gym and five therapy/treatment rooms. It also offers conference and event suite which can be divided into four meeting rooms for 90 delegates. European culinary delights can be found in the Sinergie Restaurant while Asian food including a live wok station and snacks served all day at the Kudos Bar.

Starwood appoints former Coca-Cola executive Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has appointed former Coca-Cola president and chief marketing officer Javier Benito to revamp its marketing and brand strategies. The hotel chain wants to break from being seen as functional to emotionally and culturally pleasing and wants Benito to lead the way using fun and wacky ideas. He has extensive product launch expertise as well as seven years experience at Proctor & Gamble. Benito will be responsible for redefining the brand positions for 750 hotels in more than 80 countries which include Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, The Luxury Collection, St Regis and W Hotels.

Conde Nast Traveller favours Mandarin Spas

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