The pandemic may have delayed certain projects, but far from it, it has not put the brakes on hotel development. Business travellers will be able to experience this for themselves when they travel around Europe, finding new hotels here and there in business destinations, particularly among the historic brands of the major groups. In the autumn, for example, the Hilton brand is expected to open at Rome, in the EUR business districtThe Hilton Rome Eur La Lama is a hotel with direct access to the La Nuvola convention centre. In a more economical style, later this year the Italian capital will welcome an establishment of the brand B&B Hotels close to the Fiumicino Fiera convention centre and the international airport. A business chain that will continue to expand its European network in 2022, notably in Italy, in Genoa city centre, but also in Vienna in Austria, in Germany with seven expected openings, and in Poland and Belgium, in Hasselt, Mechelen and Namur.
While Accor has a 262-room ibis budget on the way to Manchester airport in mid-2022, the French group has a number of other projects for its brands that are well known to business travellers, such as the Mercure Amsterdam North and Novotel Liverpool Paddington Village, which will be the tallest hotel in the British city. A BarcelonaThe Pullman Skipper, close to the Gothic Quarter and the Barceloneta beach, will become a Sofitel hotel by the summer, while the Pullman brand will be opening in Georgia at TbilisiThe Paragraph Freedom Square, part of the Axis Towers complex, is expected to set a new benchmark for the Georgian capital, with 226 rooms, a rooftop swimming pool and a conference room billed as the largest in the city centre. Tbilisi will also see the debut in the second quarter of the Paragraph Freedom Square hotel, part of Marriott's Luxury Collection.
New developments in the East for luxury brands
The luxury brands of this American group are also setting their sights on Eastern Europe in 2022, with other hotels in the process of opening, including a St. Regis housed in the top floors of the Kula Belgrade towerthe Serbian capital's future tallest skyscraper. Marriott, partner of the jeweller Bulgari for the development of its hotel collection, will also see the inauguration of the Bvlgari Moscowthe eighth link in the chain that also appeared last year at ParisAvenue George V. For the occasion, the luxury brand will occupy the walls of the former residence of a noble family located 300 m from the Kremlin and transformed into an exclusive 65-room hotel. The Radisson group is also making the capitals of Eastern Europe a priority for expanding the network of its luxury brand. Radisson Collection with on the shelves these first months Tiranathen TallinnAll this is in addition to the forthcoming opening of the Radisson Collection Gran Via in Bilbao.
Western Europe has not been forgotten in this new wave of hotels. Among the major openings announced for 2022, that of the Raffles at The OWO at London at the end of the year is one of the most eagerly awaited, not least because of the prestige of the brand now being developed by the Accor groupBut above all because of what the place represents. The former Whitehall War Office, once frequented by Winston Churchill and, more romantically, by James Bond, will be open to the public for the first time following its transformation into a hotel with 120 rooms and suites and 11 restaurants and bars, heralded as exceptional. In the British Isles, two exclusive establishments are also due to open in Edinburgh 100 Princess Street, revisiting a historic building on the city's famous thoroughfare to create a 30-room luxury pied-à-terre, and the urban version of the top-of-the-range Scottish resort Gleneagles, which is the same size.
If a hotel Rosewood is expected in Vienna in the second half of the year, luxury brands in particular are converging on Rome. While waiting for a Bulgariannounced for 2023, followed by a Orient Express planned for 2024, the current year will already see the IHG group do double duty in the Italian capital with the opening of an ultra-exclusive Six Senses urban resort. Business travellers will also find the InterContinental brand on Via Veneto in autumn 2022. Housed in an early twentieth-century neo-renaissance palazzo, the InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace will offer 160 rooms and suites, a restaurant, a bar and a panoramic rooftop.
All roads lead to Rome
Also in the autumn, the Edition brand, jointly developed by Marriott and boutique hotel pioneer Ian Schrager, will open in Rome, not far from Via Veneto and Piazza Barberini, in a building with rationalist architecture transformed into a hotel with 95 rooms and suites and a host of restaurants and bars, in keeping with this concept that is both luxury and lifestyle. In the meantime, Edition will also be offering a new address in Madrid in the first quarter, in a building next to the Puerta de Sol, which formerly housed the Mont de Piété foundation. A 180° turn for this future chic and trendy 200-room venue.
Also of note in the Spanish capital is the expected European debut this year of the American lifestyle brand Thompson Hotels, which is now part of the Thompson Hotels Group. of the Hyatt Group. Paris is not standing on the sidelines of this new wave of contemporary top-of-the-range hotels, with the unveiling at the end of the year of the first Delano Housein the very chic 8th arrondissement, preceded by SO/ Paris in mid-2022, in the 4th arrondissement, a new trendy address from the Accor group.
Because, in addition to luxury, 2022 will see the continuation of several trends that are already well established in the hotel world, in particular a continued strong focus on lifestylebut also the continued growth of collections hotel groups to attract independent hotels with character, as well as the attraction of long-stay accommodation for extended business trips, which has been further strengthened by the crisis.
As far as collections are concerned, Marriott's Autograph banner will be opening in the first quarter at KrakowThe hotel is housed in a 14th-century building that was once a church, then a hospital, before being converted into a 125-room design hotel. Hilton's Curio Collection is also due to open in Poland this summer with the Hotel Saski, and has a number of other projects in the pipeline. Just established in the heart of Lisbon with the opening of the Emerald House at the beginning of January, next April it will add a seventh member in London, the Lost Property St Pauls hotel, close to the famous cathedral of the same name and the City. A ReykjavíkNext spring, a second establishment will be added to the Curio range, the Iceland Parliament Hotel, and in the autumn, the collection will welcome under its banner a historic establishment from Florence currently undergoing renovation, the Anglo American Hotel, which dates back to 1792 and was once home to Leo Tolstoy and Maria Callas.
From collection to collection
As for Accor, the MGallery brand will add several addresses to its network in 2022, notably in France at Cap d'Antibes Juan les Pins, Issy les Moulineaux and Troyes, and in Italy, in a palace in the centre of Cagliari. in Israel. MGallery will not only be opening in Jerusalem, but also in Tel Aviv, in the trendy Neve Tzedek district, with the 44-key MGallery Elkonin, a Joël Robuchon signature restaurant and a rooftop bar.
Competitor to all these hotel brands positioned on the beautiful independent hotels, Preferred Hotels From September 2022, a new hotel will be available at OsloThe Sommerro is the result of the metamorphosis of a listed Art Deco building - the former headquarters of the Oslo Lysverker electricity company - into a 231-room design hotel, with a host of bars and restaurants and large areas dedicated to meetings and events.
The Norwegian capital is also expecting the arrival of two Radisson Red hotels, one at the airport in the first quarter, the other in an emerging district of the city in the summer, as part of the innovative and sustainable Okern Portal development. At the same time, the Radisson Group's lifestyle brand will also be setting up in Vienna next February, in the lively Leopoldstadt district. In spring, the Austrian capital will also see the inauguration of Hotel Indigo, part of the IHG Group, with a 158-room hotel in the Naschmarkt district, the result of the conversion of a former car garage redesigned and themed around the secret gardens hidden behind the district's buildings.
The flagship lifestyle hotel brands will also continue to expand in 2022, with Mama Shelter expected in March in the La Défense district of Paris after setting up in Lisbon in January, while a fourth citizenM will be available later this year in London, near Victoria Station. In Moxyis to Athens Marriott's lifestyle brand is set to open its doors at the beginning of the year, just a stone's throw from Syntagma Square.
Like lifestyle, long-stay accommodation is on the up, particularly among hotel groups that are increasingly interested in this segment. Accor is to open a Novotel Living à TallinnThe Staybridge Suites brand in Estonia, with a 124-key residential offer, includes a co-working space and a restaurant. Within the IHG group, the Staybridge Suites brand will be entering the French market with its first property at Cannes this year. For their part, Marriott, which has been rolling out the Residence Inn brand for a number of years, will be adding a new address at The HagueHyatt will take advantage of the start of the year to acquire a hotel complex in the London suburb of Stratford, where it will install its Hyatt House brand, as well as a Hyatt Regency. The Louvre Hotels group has recently added to the list of hotel groups interested in this buoyant segment, a move that will materialise this year with the opening in Poland of the upmarket Royal Tulip Warsaw Apartments, part of the Unique Tower property complex.
Similarly, the extended stay accommodation specialists maintain their momentum development. While Citadines is set to have just one new establishment in Europe in Vienna, the Citadines Danube City, due to open in late 2022/early 2023, Adagio will be stepping up its international expansion with residences expected in Rome, Glasgow and HamburgIn the east of the continent, Locke will also be present in Warsaw, Kiev and Sochi. Another development expected in 2022 is that of Locke aparthotels outside the UK, with lifestyle urban residences in Munich and Berlin.
