MANDARIN ORIENTAL TO OPEN RESORT, RESIDENCES IN BALI: Mandarin Oriental Group will be managing a luxury resort with private residences in Bali, Indonesia. Situated on Bali’s southern coast on the Bukit peninsula, Mandarin Oriental, Bali is scheduled to open in 2027. The property is located on a cliffside plateau of elevated terraces and offers panoramic views of the Indian Ocean and direct access to a secluded and protected beach. Mandarin Oriental, Bali will feature 110 suites and villas, a restaurant and bar, a Chinese restaurant, a speakeasy bar and a beach club; along with infinity pools, an spa, fitness center, kid’s club, sports courts, an organic garden and a sustainability lab. The branded residences will have 68 private villas, ranging from three- to six-bedrooms, spread across an 8-hectare site above the hotel. Home owners will enjoy access to a dedicated clubhouse with lounge facilities, co-working areas, function spaces, function areas, as well as a gym and pool in addition to the resort’s facilities. The property will be designed by architects Design Lab, with Jeffrey Wilkes designing the interiors and Bill Bensley in charge of the landscaping.
SUPER 8 CELEBRATES 50 YEARS WITH $8.88 ROOM RATE: Super 8 by Wyndham is celebrating its 50th anniversary by reviving its $8.88 room rate for a limited time. The inaugural room rate, a nod to the number eight in its name, was part of the brand’s efforts to offer comfortable and affordable accommodations. The historic room rate (plus tax) will be available for sale from August 8 at 8 am ET and only 888 room nights will be available. Purchases will be made in the form of 15,000 Wyndham Rewards points, enough for at least one free night at Super 8 hotels. The points are redeemable for a minimum of 18 months after purchase. Following a recent, more than $140 million overhaul of the brand by franchisees, Super 8 rooms now offer modern furniture, bedding and a range of amenities, all built around the brand’s signature offering — unique headboards featuring huge, bed-to-ceiling, hyper-local black and white art reflecting each hotel and its unique destination. Super 8 opened its first hotel in Aberdeen, S.D. in 1974, at a time when a gallon of gas cost 53 cents and a bag of beef jerky was a buck. In five decades, the brand has become one of the world’s largest budget hotel chain with more than 2,600 hotels globally.
MARRIOTT’S INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT HUMAN TRAFFICKING SURVIVORS: Marriott International has announced a pilot launch of HotelHelp, a rooms donation program for survivors of human trafficking. The program currently works with Marriott’s portfolio of hotels that donate short-term emergency stays and established care providers, who book these rooms for the survivors they are assisting. HotelHelp is being piloted in five cities in the U.S. — Atlanta, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle and Washington, D.C. — and will be present in 25 North American cities by January 2025. In the long-term, Marriott intends to expand the program to global locations, to other hotel companies and serve other vulnerable communities that require short-term accommodation. The model derives inspiration from HospitalityHelps, an online booking channel created by HotelSwaps along with PKF International and the Bench to provide short-term hotel stays for Ukrainian refugees. During the first three months of the war in Ukraine, HospitalityHelps booked more than 100,000 room nights across 630 hotels – which included over 8,700 room nights in 87 hotels within the Marriott portfolio throughout Europe.
1508 TO DESIGN IHG HOTELS IN NEPAL: IHG Hotels & Resorts and the Shangri-La Hotel & Resort Group has appointed 1508’s Bangkok studio to design the interiors of three hotels in Nepal. The three hotels are Hotel Indigo Pokhara Gharipatan, InterContinental Resort Pokhara Begnas Lake and InterContinental Resort Chitwan, Meghalaya. The signing will help IHG add nearly 500 rooms to its luxury lifestyle portfolio in Nepal and the launch of the Hotel Indigo and InterContinental brands in the country. Currently under construction, the three properties are expected to open within the next two years.
