financial excesses

HOTEL NEWS
Swissôtel in Mecca
The first hotel to be operated by the international hotel chain
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts in the Middle East is currently
under construction. Plans schedule for the Swissôtel Mecca
in Saudi Arabia to open in January 2011. The new 53-story
Swissôtel Mecca will have 1,571 rooms, among these 88
suites; half of all rooms and suites will feature a view on the
Holy Mosque. Four restaurants with authentic Arabian and
European cuisine, an Executive Lounge, two conference
rooms with a size of 75 square meters each and a business
center round out the range of facilities.
"Style at a Steal"
A new Aloft-Hotel has opened its doors for guests in Abu
Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. This is the first
property operated by the Starwood brand Aloft in the Near
East and the second one outside Northern America. With their
concept "Style at a Steal“, the hotel has defined modern
tourists and business travelers as well as convention delegates
as relevant target groups. The Aloft Abu Dhabi is annexed
to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and has 408
loft-style rooms and suites. For meetings and conventions,
the hotel holds available a banquet area with two rooms,
high-tech presentation technology, free WiFi and event-staging
space. In addition, there’s a unique event location on the
hotel roof for up to 1,100 persons: the garden terrace with
pool.
Ifen Hotel in Hirschegg reopened
The prestigious Ifen Hotel in Hirschegg in the Kleinwalsertal
valley in Austria will celebrate its reopening on June 25, 2010
and from then on will greet its guests as Travel Charme Ifen
Hotel. Situated at an altitude of 1,111 meters, this will be a
5-star refuge to relax, convene, and enjoy. The hotel takes up
the architectural style and lines of the prior hotel dating from
the 1930’s. 125 rooms and suites, two restaurants with an
open-view kitchen and panoramic terrace, a lounge and bar,
the PURIA Premium Spa, a playroom for children, two function
rooms and an underground garage are some of the hotel’s
distinguishing features.
Barceló in Ankara
The Barceló Ankara Altinel opened its doors for guests on
March 1 of this year. Located at the center of the Turkish
capital, this is the international Barceló hotel chain’s fourth
property in Turkey. The new hotel in Ankara offers its guests
172 rooms and suites, a wellness zone, two restaurants, a bar,
parking facilities directly at the hotel, free W-LAN Internet
connectivity throughout the entire building as well as numerous
options for meetings and conventions on an area of
altogether more than 2,000 square meters.
Five new Marriotts for the Middle East and Africa
Marriott International will build five new hotels in the Middle
East and Africa, and in doing so will premiere in the three
countries Algeria, Ghana and Morocco. Among the new hotels
are the Algiers Marriott Hotel (227 rooms) as well as the
Algiers Marriott Executive Apartments (180 residential units),
which are both scheduled to open in Algeria in 2012; the Sahl
Hasheesh Marriott Beach Resort (294 rooms) in Egypt, which
will emerge in 2011 from conversion of the current The Old
Palace Resort; the Accra Marriott Hotel, Ghana, which is
scheduled to go into operation with 209 rooms in late 2010 in
Subsahara Africa as well as the Marrakech Marriott Palm Golf
Hotel (216 rooms) in Morocco, which is supposed to open in
2012.
Once a monastery, today a hotel
A former monastery perched on a cliff at the famous Amalfi
coast in Southern Italy is the newest addition to the Spanish
NH Hoteles (Madrid) hotel group’s portfolio. NH Hoteles
opened the Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi surrounded by
lime trees and sumptuous bougainvillea bushes; the region
has been classified as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. The
5-star hotel with 53 rooms and suites is situated in San
Cristófaro bay only 75 kilometers from Naples. Owing to its
spectacular location, the resort is a member of the NH Collection,
which according to NH operates the most beautiful
resorts in spectacular locations throughout the entire world.
Maritim satisfied with operating results
In spite of difficult economic parameters, Maritim was able to
generate satisfactory results in fiscal year 2009. With EUR
415.8 million, total sales in 2009 were EUR 46.9 million (approximately
10 percent) lower than in the preceding year. In
view of the economic crisis, this is certainly a showing that
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