Worldwide briefing
Teen concierge for young hotel visitors
Teenage concierges will be employed during the summer at a number of Four Seasons Hotels. The initiative was launched on 1 July and allows young guests to get the "low down" on things to do in the city from a young person who lives there. Four Seasons have noted an increase in young guests since 2001 and wanted to better suit their needs. Teen concierges will be available at Four Seasons hotels in New York, London, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and Toronto.
New hotel for St Kitts Construction on the Cable Bay Hotel and Villa Development in Frigate Bay is due to start in January 2006. The $70m (£40m) project will be run by Newfound Property International, an international resort sales and marketing company. The 300-room resort occupies 39 acres and will comprise of 160 villas. 300 people are expected to be employed during the construction phase, and rooms will be available by March 2007.
First Marriott Hotel in Algeria Marriott International has agreed to manage a new 274-room hotel in Algiers, due to open in 2007. The hotel company signed an agreement with Societe de Development Hotelier. Hotel facilities include four restaurants, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a private beach, tennis courts, a bakery and a 15,000sq ft ballroom.
New hotels and franchises for Starwood
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has announced a new franchise agreement for the 65-room "Fairways" and 91-room "Clubhouse" on Bear Mountain in British Columbia. The two hotels will be collectively known as the Westin Bear Mountain Victoria Resort and Spa. The Fairways phase of the resort opened in December 2004 and the Clubhouse phase is due to open in May 2006. The hotel company has also announced the opening of two new airport hotels near the Baltimore-Washington International airport. The Sheraton Baltimore-Washington airport hotel has 203 rooms and set to open in the autumn 2006. The Westin Baltimore-Washington airport hotel has 260 rooms and will open in spring 2006.
Stabilising occupancy levels for Spanish hotels
According to MKG Consulting, stabilisation in occupancy levels in Spanish corporate chain hotels may indicate "a turnaround", following a drop in revenue per available room (revpar) in 2004 caused by overcapacity. Despite this prediction revpar for Spain was still 4.5 percentage points down during the first half of this year, although this compared with a drop of 7.3 percentage points in 2004.