Steigenberger adds five-star hotel in Egypt and other international hotel news

Steigenberger adds five-star hotel in Egypt
The Steigenberger Hotel Group has expanded its presence in Egypt by adding Hotel Nile Palace to its portfolio. Located in the heart of Luxor, 302-room hotel includes three restaurants as well as two cafés and three bars, including a pool bar. Sporting facilities include a heated outdoor pool, a tennis court and a Fitness and Wellness area. The hotel's own ballroom, the largest in Luxor, and the four conference rooms can hold more than 1,000 people. With the new Steigenberger Hotel Nile Palace the Steigenberger Hotel Group is expanding its Egyptian range of hotels through its subsidiary Steigenberger Middle East Hotels & Resorts. The company has been here since the Steigenberger Golf Resort opened in El Gouna in 1999.

IHG to open Norman Foster designed hotel in GermanyInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a franchise agreement to open a new hotel in Dresden, east Germany. Situated in the heart of the city's historic centre, the 200-room InterContinental Dresden will open in 2008. The conversion of a previously empty building is being overseen by British architect Lord Norman Foster and will include a sixth floor summer roof terrace as well as a wellness centre, meeting rooms, a fine dining restaurant and lobby bar. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts currently operates six, five-star hotels in Germany in cities including Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Berchtesgarden and Dusseldorf.

Accor launches web service for French PolynesiaAccor Asia Pacific has launched a new web service, accorhotels.pf/ , to promote its four Sofitel and two Novotel resorts in French Polynesia. Stephane Sonnet Accor's regional director of sales and marketing for French Polynesia said the new regional website initiative will provide direct access to dedicated hotel websites for Accor's portfolio of six resorts located on Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora and Rangiroa "While 85% of clients still purchase a Tahiti holiday via traditional tour operators, our research suggests that the majority of these travellers still select their hotel of choice from research made online."

Rezidor to open Park Inn in Makkah The Rezidor Hotel Group is to bring its mid-market hotel brand Park Inn to the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia in 2009. The Al Diyafa Park Inn Makkah will be in the Al Zahir area approximately three kilometres from the Haram, the mosque of the prophet. It adds 221 rooms to the Rezidor portfolio and will offer a restaurant, a lobby lounge, a business centre, seven meeting rooms, two courtyards, a gym and 103 car parking spaces.

Prem Group buys four-star hotel in Liège Irish hotel management company Prem Group has acquired the Bedford Hotel Liège in Belgium from local owners for €13.5m (£9.15m). The four-star hotel and conference property is located on the banks of River La Meuse near to the town centre. It features 149 rooms and will be operated under the Ramada Plaza brand. Alexis Delprat, head of European hotels at Savills, who brokered the deal, said: "Prem Group has taken the opportunity to acquire this centrally located property to expand its presence in Europe and particularly in Belgium where it is about to be one of the largest hotel owner operators."

By Kerstin Kühn

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