Hotel Openings

🏡 In 2023, IHG launched its midscale conversion brand and entered Italy by transforming Pacini Group's Smooth Hotel Rome into Garner Hotel Rome Aurelia, which was completed in January 2025. The hotel offers 58 rooms and is located on Via Aurelia, west of Rome. IHG operates 30 hotels in Italy across seven brands, with 10 additional properties in development. Garner Hotels has signed 76 global properties in six months; 58 are in Europe, including over 50 in Germany, a 53-room hotel in Reading, UK, and a 106-room hotel in Vienna, Austria. A 126-room Garner hotel near Istanbul's international airport is set for 2025. 🏨

🏡 Cycas Hospitality is set to manage a hotel in Sintra, Portugal, marking its entry into the Iberian Peninsula. The hotel, part of Marriott International's Autograph Collection, is scheduled to open in summer 2026. Cycas now manages 55 hotels across 13 European countries. The Sintra property will feature 89 rooms, accommodating 260 guests and including a honeymoon suite with a sea view. The project, a joint venture between Patron Capital and Quest Capital, respects the site's heritage, once a holiday complex for Companhia União Fabril (CUF) employees, and integrates designs by architect António Lino. Facilities will include wellness spaces, multiple dining options, and event hosting capabilities. The Autograph Collection boasts over 290 properties globally. Patron Capital has invested in Portugal since 2015 and plans to continue with its real estate fund, Fund VII.

🍴 Joomak Banjum opened in 2021 in NYC’s Koreatown, gained acclaim and a Michelin star in 2022, but closed in spring 2024 due to high rent. Chef Jiho Kim reopened Joomak on January 29 at Maison Hudson in the West Village, featuring a 27-seat space designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen. The restaurant offers a $280 eight-course tasting menu and a $250 vegetarian option, with dishes like osetra caviar and Peking-style duck breast. An à la carte menu is planned.

🏨 Gulph Creek Hotels launched Moxy Allentown Downtown in Allentown's Downtown West district, introducing a social-first hospitality experience focused on the city's entertainment heritage. The hotel features unique elements like a Zoltar fortune-telling machine, Tipsy the Tiger, and guestrooms with functional workspaces and rotary phones for bedtime stories. General Manager Adam Hluschak emphasizes its engaging atmosphere for travelers. The opening was marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony with local leaders present.

🏨 Sonesta International Hotels Corporation executed 23 new franchise agreements in Q4 of 2024, contributing to 71 total agreements in 2024. The agreements span nine brands, including Sonesta ES Suites (5), Sonesta Essential Hotels (5), Americas Best Value Inn by Sonesta (4), among others. The company’s expansion covers various market segments across the United States, with a focus on franchisee-friendly growth and diverse brand offerings.

🌇 Between October and December 2024, Preferred Hotels & Resorts added 10 new properties: in Austria (Kitzhof – Mountain Design Resort, 160 rooms), Spain (César Lanzarote, 20 rooms), Switzerland (Appenzeller Huus – Huus Loewen, 120 rooms), Germany (Das Achental, 130 rooms), India (Aurika Mumbai International Airport, 325 rooms; Aurika Udaipur, 139 rooms), Colombia (Hotel Las Islas, 55 rooms), USA (L'Ermitage Beverly Hills, 114 rooms), Panama (Gamboa Rainforest Reserve, 166 rooms), and Chile (Hotel Magnolia, 40 rooms). CEO Lindsey Ueberroth emphasized the growth and unique travel experiences offered.

🌳 Treehouse Hotel Manchester, under SH Hotels & Resorts, opens March 19 with 224 rooms, including 9 suites and 3 accessible rooms, located on Deansgate. The second U.K. Treehouse property offers dining venues such as Pip by Mary-Ellen McTague, Sister Moon by Sam Grainger, and the rooftop bar The Nest & The Hideout. Features include a 43-seat screening room, gym, event spaces, and cultural events by Luke Cowdrey and Justin Crawford. Bookings now open, following the brand's London launch in November 2019 and U.S. expansion in 2023.

🏠 IHG Hotels & Resorts is expanding its European presence by bringing the Vignette Collection brand to France through a partnership with Global Hotels & Resorts. The new development, scheduled to open in 2026, in Théoule sur Mer on the French Riviera will include the Tiara Miramar and Tiara Yaktsa hotels, enhancing the company's luxury and lifestyle portfolio. The Vignette Collection aims to contribute to the region's hospitality sector, with France now hosting 70 operational IHG hotels and 12 in development. The collection has over 50 signed and pipeline properties globally, with a goal of 100 hotels in a decade. The French Riviera property promises guests luxury amenities like dining options, beaches, pools, a gym, spa, and bar, alongside walking trails and water sports.

🏖 Accor, a French hotel group, is set to enhance Elatos Resort on Mount Parnassus, Greece, by including it in their luxury Emblems Collection. This collaboration with Lampsa Hellenic Hotels aims to develop luxury tourism in Greece. The resort's relaunch, post-transformation, is scheduled for Q2 2026, targeting an international clientele. Accor currently has 46 job offers available.

🏠 Sage Hospitality Group added Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco Hotel to its portfolio, marking the second collaboration with Park Hotels & Resorts after Hilton Denver City Center last December. Located in San Francisco's Fisherman’s Wharf, the Hyatt Centric is a full-service hotel offering 316 guestrooms and suites, a 24-hour fitness facility, an outdoor heated pool, meeting/event space, and two full-service restaurants. Sage now manages five properties in San Francisco, along with Sonoma and Napa Valley locations.