Worldwide briefing

Life is sweet for Dolce International

European coffee operator sees heavenly results
Coffeeheaven, the Polish coffee bar chain, has seen strong trading results and significant progress in its expansion plans across Europe. Annual net sales for 2005 increased by 80% compared with the same period a year ago, however like-for-like sales growth was 6%. The number of outlets operated by Coffeeheaven has grown by 60% and now runs 38 premises with a further 15 under contract.

Southern California gets Sheraton.
The Coast Anaheim Hotel in Southern California is to undergo a $32m (£18m) renovation to become a Sheraton hotel, part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. The 490-bedroom hotel, is due to re-open in spring 2006, and will include a redesign of the exiting 20,000sq ft meeting space.

Jumeirah to manage £1b theme park
Jumeirah, the Dubai-based luxury hospitality group has been appointed to operate Aqua Dunya an 8msq ft resort and residential community in the heart of Dubailand. The £1bn development, which is due to open in early 2008, will include the Desert Pearl Hotel, a theme park, conference centre, 170 vacation apartments and 3,400 residential apartments.

Vegas gets bigger MGM Mirage, the Las Vegas casino operator's next development, is to be the $5b (£2.8b) Project CityCentre - a vertical city that the company says "will redefine the Las Vegas experience and influence contemporary urban design throughout the world". The project will include a 60 storey, 4,000 room hotel/casino, two 400-bedroom non-gaming hotels, around 500,000sq ft of retail shop space, as well as dining and entertainment venues and 1,640 luxury condos.

Accor expands in ChinaAccor is continuing its expansion in China with the signing of three management agreements for Sofitels - two in Shanghai and one in Guangzhou, which will be Accor's first property in one of southern China's main commercial hubs. The company also signed a contract to run the 52-room Pudi Boutique Hotel Fuxing Parc Shanghai, which is due to open in January 2006.

Marriott to move into the 21st Century JW Marriott Jnr has announced plans to refurbish all its 628,000 rooms worldwide in a bid to update the brand and appeal to younger generations. He said: "Our brand image is consistency. We realise we're not appealing to Generation X but we have strong loyalty from the baby boomers. We really felt we needed to move into the 21st Century."

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