business hotels

Marriott became the world's leading hotel group after its merger with Starwood. This acquisition led to the creation of a mega loyalty programme, Bonvoy, which builds loyalty around experiences. How is this development in line with the times? Belinda Pote - Since the merger with Starwood, our portfolio now encompasses 30 hotel brands...

Singaporean group The Ascott Limited is continuing to expand in France, basing its development on a new management method - franchising. At the start of the year, the world leader in long-stay hotels had already initiated this development by announcing an agreement with the Aegide group, which specialises in serviced retirement homes. This partnership...

According to analyses by STR, a consultancy specialising in hotels and real estate, Addis Ababa has had the highest rate per room in Africa over the last twelve months. From July 2018 to June 2019, the average price in the Ethiopian capital - measured in constant currency, which eliminates the effects...

Both IWG and WeWork facilitate professional nomadism by enabling their members to find a corner of the office as they travel, hosting them in one or other of their many business locations across every continent. Wojo (formerly Nextdoor) also intends to join this circle of global players. While...

La Défense is continuing to diversify its hotel offer, with almost 1,000 new rooms soon to be added to the 2,600 already in existence. As part of its drive to become a true lifestyle centre, the Paris business district is turning to brands with resolutely contemporary concepts. After Citizen M in 2017, it's the turn of...

Is your appointment as Accor Regional Director for West and Central Africa just an HR issue, or is it part of Accor's new organisation on the African market? Daniel Karbownik - It's more a question of 'internal cooking', even if the Accor group has indeed reorganised itself in Sub-Saharan Africa, to make it the priority destination...

Wojo aims to become the European leader in coworking over the next few years. How are you going to roll out your offering so quickly? Stéphane Bensimon - We currently have ten sites, eight in Paris and two in Lyon, and we have 5,000 members and over 350...

The Ascott Limited group is to roll out its top-of-the-range Ascott brand in Europe, with a residence due to open in Frankfurt's business district at the end of 2022. Until now, the world leader in extended-stay hotels has relied mainly on its mid-range Citadines brand, as well as on the luxury Crest Collection with a third establishment...

The Japanese Henn Na hotel in the Hen-Ten-Bosch theme park near Nagasaki recently hit the headlines with its redundancy plan. The establishment did not hesitate to brutally sack half its staff because of deplorable service. There were no union protests against this mass dismissal: the employees in question...

The acquisition of Fairmont, Raffles and Mövenpick, partnerships with SBE, Rixos and Banyan Tree, the development of Sofitel and Pullman: for the past three years, Accor has made no secret of its ambitions in the luxury and top-of-the-range hotel sector. As a mirror image of this strategy, the French group intends to use these prestigious establishments to consolidate its position...

Airbnb continues to weave its web in the hotel world. After acquiring the HotelTonight booking site, the leader in private flat rental is to invest between 100 and 200 million dollars in the Indian hotel group Oyo. In doing so, Airbnb joins other investors who have injected a billion euros into the development of...

It all began in 1924, just after the Great War, when Seattle was gaining notoriety, thanks in part to its port, which had become the second largest in the United States after New York. As a result, travellers flocked to the city, but they lacked a prestigious address. It was the Olympic Hotel that marked the beginning of the boom...

IDENTITY CARD Currency: the dollar (US$). 1 euro = 1.14 US $ (March 2018). Area code: +1 (United States); 206 (Seattle) Time difference: - 9 h. GETTING THERE AER LINGUS, the Irish airline, has been operating four weekly flights between Paris and Seattle since May 2018, with a stopover in Dublin. The attraction: this is the only European airport with a...

An increasingly diversified portfolio of brands: Best Western is putting this new commitment into practice in a number of ways. Firstly, in the budget segment, the group of independent hotels has launched the Sure Hotel by Best Western brand licence. The hotelier has also strengthened its lifestyle offering with its new Sadie brands in the top end of the market...

Breaking down barriers and making the lobby a real place to live: this desire, which is increasingly shared by hoteliers, has been given concrete expression within the Pullman brand through The Junction concept. First introduced last year at the Pullman Bangkok King Power, it is now being offered for the first time in Europe at the Pullman Paris Centre-Bercy and...

At the end of last week, Best Western announced the acquisition of WorldHotels, a voluntary chain with a strong business focus. Comprising almost 300 upmarket independent hotels, the brand is present in most of the world's major business centres, with its offering divided into three collections - Luxury, Elite and Distinctive. Best Western continues...

And yet the French hotel industry is still going strong. In a turbulent social climate, it even broke records in 2018. Strikes at SNCF and Air France in the spring, the yellow waistcoat movement at the end of the year: all these factors did not prevent the industry from posting clear growth in revenue per room (+6.4 1TP3Q) according to the...

A new feature of the Google Assistant, unveiled at CES, could soon make life easier for business travellers, particularly when staying in hotels. Interpreter mode, currently being rolled out on Google Home devices and Smart Displays, will enable them to converse with concierges or receptionists...

Hampton by Hilton has set up in Paris, making its debut in France at the same time. The mid-range 'plus' brand of the American group, which has more than 2,410 hotels worldwide, has not previously had a presence in France. For its debut, Hampton by Hilton has chosen a fast-developing business district, the...

The Hilton Group is making it easier to access series and films broadcast by Netflix. Thanks to a partnership with the subscription-based streaming service, travellers will be able to watch their favourite programmes directly on the television. This move is part of the development of the Connected Room concept, which is already available in around ten hotels in the United States and...