HOTEL NEWS

HILTON has opened the Doubletree by Hilton London Greenwich. Previously a Mercure hotel, the 147-room property is close to Deptford Bridge station on the DLR, and less than a kilometre from Greenwich rail and DLR stations. The group has also launched its 14th hotel brand. Tapestry Collection by Hilton is an “upscale” concept positioned just below its Curio brand. Seven US hotels have signed letters of intent to join, with the first expected to join the Tapestry Collection by the third quarter of this year. W HOTELS is to open properties in Budapest and Prague in 2020. The 162-room W Budapest will be housed within the late 19th-century Dreschler Palace on Andrassy Avenue, while the 154-room W Prague will be partially housed within the renovated Grand Europa hotel on Wenceslas Square. ALMANAC HOTELS, a new luxury group, will open its first property this summer – the 92-room Almanac Barcelona, on the corner of Gran Via and Carrer de Pau Claris, close to the Passeig de Gracia. Hotels in Budapest, Prague, Vienna and Zagreb will follow in the next few years. VIRGIN HOTELS will break ground on its second US location in New Orleans’ Warehouse District in April, with an opening scheduled for early 2019. It already has a property in Chicago. CARLSON REZIDOR GROUP is to open 17 Middle East/Africa properties this year – in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – adding more than 3,000 rooms to its portfolio across the region. MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL has opened the Renaissance Lagos Ikeja. The 155-room hotel is 5km from the Nigerian city’s international airport, and has an outdoor pool, gym, steakhouse, all-day restaurant and a 24-hour bar. INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP has announced three new US properties for its Kimpton Hotels brand. The Everly, at the base of the Hollywood Hills, and La Peer hotel in West Hollywood are set to join the brand this spring, to be followed by a Palm Springs property later this year. ACCORHOTELS is to rebrand the Hilton London Stansted Airport as a Novotel property this summer following a renovation. Located about five minutes from the terminal, the hotel was purchased by the Arora Group last year. MINOR HOTELS is to open the first European property under its Avani brand next month, with the refurbishment and rebranding of the group’s Tivoli Jardim Lisboa. The Avani Avenida Liberdade Lisbon will feature 119 rooms, all with balconies, while the lobby will be redesigned.