HOTEL NEWS

HILTON WORLDWIDE has launched two UK properties: the Doubletree by Hilton Kensington, after a £10 million refurbishment and rebrand of the Regency, and Hampton by Hilton Oxford. KING STREET TOWNHOUSE has opened in Manchester’s Upper King Street area. Housed in an 1872 Grade II-listed property, the 40-room boutique hotel has a bar, restaurant and roof terrace. IHG has begun operating the Intercontinental Bordeaux Le Grand Hotel. Previously the Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux and Spa, the 130-room property is housed in a 1776 Place de la Comédie building. CARLSON REZIDOR has launched the 236-room Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Ljubljana in the Slovenian capital’s central business and shopping district. STARWOOD has introduced its first St Regis property in Macau. The St Regis Macao, Cotai Central has 400 rooms. TAJ has launched its sixth Bengaluru hotel. The 154-room Taj Bangalore is near Kempegowda International airport and has a spa and several restaurants. INDIA’S THE PARK HOTELS has taken over its first international property, in Morocco. The 89-room Sahara Palace in Marrakech’s Palmeraie district has a 3,800 sqm spa and a yoga temple. THE LEELA has bought Ambience Group’s five-star deluxe hotel in East Delhi. The 480-room Leela Ambience Convention Hotel Delhi is close to Old Delhi as well as the central business districts of Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida. 25 HOURS will open a second Hamburg property in March. The 49-room 25 Hours Hotel Altes Hafenamt is next to the boutique brand’s 25 Hours Hotel Hafencity. THOMPSON HOTELS will launch the Beekman New York in Lower Manhattan on May 1. The 287-room property at 5 Beekman Street will feature a restaurant by Balthazar’s Keith McNally. TRAVELODGE is to open 19 hotels in 2016, including four in London (Belvedere, Finchley, Finsbury Park and Raynes Park), plus Bristol and Glasgow. FOUR SEASONS is debranding its London Canary Wharf property from the end of April. The new operator had yet to be announced as we went to press.