Hotel Openings

🏩 IHG Hotels & Resorts prepares to open Crowne Plaza Podgorica, its seventh Montenegro hotel and second in the capital, by end of 2024. Owned by BIG CEE, the 122-key hotel will be part of the Capital Plaza, near Deloitte, PWC, and The World Bank. The hotel, offering meeting spaces and a restaurant, augments the brand's aim to hit 100 European hotels by 2025. Crowne Plaza Podgorica joins a Montenegrin pipeline with InterContinental Resort Cjan, Crowne Plaza Kolasin, and Holiday Inn Mojkovac slated for the next 3-5 years, contributing to a 19-hotel European and 146-hotel global expansion.

🍴 Lora, a Mediterranean-influenced restaurant, partners with Studio Paskin and will open in Barcelona this winter. It serves family-style dishes, featuring a wood oven and coal-fired grill, open from midday to late. Highlights include Whipped Feta and Spiced Lamb flatbreads, carabinero prawns, and Pata Negra Pork Chop, as well as a 12-hour Persian Shoulder of Lamb. The 330-seat venue, designed by AvroKO and Carte Blanched, boasts a central bar, sunray-effect tiled flooring, and a terrace overlooking the marina. Lora is part of SLS Barcelona's six new concepts at Port Fòrum.

🍴 Chef Michael White, known for Michelin-starred NYC restaurants, is opening Mika, his first standalone restaurant in Florida, Coral Gables, this December. Mika, located in Plaza Coral Gables, boasts an 8,195-square-foot interior plus a 600-square-foot private dining room. The menu features coastal Mediterranean cuisine, utilizing local seafood and produce, and offers White’s specialties like langoustine carpaccio. The wine selection includes a 1,700-bottle cellar. White, alongside partners Alex Pirez and Matt Safchik, aims to provide humble hospitality with exceptional food in a neighborhood setting.

🥃 Shelley Sandzer secured debut space for whiskey lounge bar and restaurant, Odyssey, at 1 Hoxton Square, London. Spanning 3,000 sq ft, Odyssey features a two-floor layout with 190 covers, over 600 bourbon varieties—the largest collection outside the U.S.—and a vegan ‘Whiskey Sour’ on draft. The venue aims to sell its branded whiskey aged onsite and complements Shoreditch's diverse night-time economy. Recent Shelley Sandzer deals include Wingstop UK and Heavenly Desserts' new units in Ealing.

🏖️ The View Agadir, located along Morocco's Atlantic coast, offers guests over 22°C temperatures for winter getaways with culinary excellence, entertainment, and relaxation. New Year's Eve features gourmet menus at Mima Kitchen and Le Sensya, a Michelin-starred chef's Italian and Neapolitan specialities, and a Gala Dinner under the stars. Buddha-Bar hosts events on December 18th, 26th, and 31st with DJs and live performances. Kids enjoy a Black & White Gala Dinner and activities like surf competitions. Reservations: reservations@theviewhotels.com.

🍞 Rachel's Kitchen, a healthy all-day café in Las Vegas, was created 18 years ago, preceding chains like Cava and Sweetgreen. Founded by Debbie Roxarzade, who started her career in Los Angeles, the brand now has nine units. Roxarzade opened the original 1,000-square-foot Rachel's Kitchen in 2006 in Summerlin, outside of Las Vegas. After a challenging start and recession delays, the first franchised location opened in 2010. Expansion continues with a recent grand opening in Frisco, Dallas-Fort Worth, aiming for at least five Dallas-area locations in the coming years. The company seeks franchisees committed to community work.

🏨 Neri&Hu completed the Artyzen New Bund 31 hotel in Shanghai's Pudong District, part of the Qiantan development, which includes an office tower and shopping centre. The hotel features 202 guest rooms, direct connection to the New Bund Performing Arts Centre, and a scallop-shaped concrete facade. Amenities like reception, lounges, and gardens are located on the fifth floor. The guest rooms' design is inspired by traditional Chinese gardens, with a color palette to match. Neri&Hu, founded in 2006, also recently completed a residential block in Taiwan.

🍕 Milton’s, an Italian-American trattoria, opened on September 27 in Houston’s Rice Village, founded by Benjy Levit and Seth Siegel-Gardner. Located above Local Foods, the venue was previously Eau Tour, launched in spring 2023. The redesigned 2,000-square-foot space features a bar seating 11 and a dining room for 60 guests, with an enclosed patio for private dining. The menu highlights housemade pastas and a signature 100-layer lasagna. A revamp of the adjacent Lee’s Den bar is expected in winter, and a new project with Rice University involving The Brochstein Pavilion is set to debut in the fall.

🏨 Studio Collective recently opened The Hotel at The Moore in Miami Design District, featuring 13 unique suites on the building's fourth floor, ranging from 700 to 1,000 square feet. The Moore building, completed in 1921, also houses the Elastika restaurant with a Zaha Hadid sculpture since 2005, and a private members club offering various themed dining rooms and lounges. The district continues to evolve with new architecture and boutiques.

📍 IHG Hotels & Resorts launched Garner in August 2023, a midscale conversion brand, signing 76 properties in the first half of 2024, 58 in Europe. Globally, 41% of IHG's openings and 55% of signings in early 2024 were conversions. Garner Hotel Reading Centre (53 rooms) and Garner Hotel Preston Samlesbury (80 rooms) in the UK are set to open by late 2024. Garner is expanding in Germany with over 50 hotels, including in Hamburg, Mannheim, Berlin, and a new 245-room property in Hamburg's Usedomstrasse. In Austria and the Netherlands, Garner debuts with a 106-room hotel in Vienna and a 165-room hotel in Maastricht, respectively. A 126-room Garner property will open in Istanbul, Türkiye, in 2025. As of June 30, 2024, Garner has 79 properties globally with four operational.