Latest news: Accor's Tribe to China; PPHE deal in London; Hilton grows India team

Tribe to China. Accor has signed the first Tribe Nation hotel in China through a partnership with Guiyang Chengnan Investment and Development Co. Ltd. Tribe Nation Guiyang South will open in January 2025 with 136 rooms in Huaxi District, a National All-For-One Tourism Zone in the southern part of Guiyang. Globally, 50 Tribe hotels are underway, with up to 100 addresses expected to open over the next five years, including Bangkok, Phuket, Manila, and Singapore.

PPHE dual-brand for London. PPHE Hotel Group, London, has received planning consent from Westminster City Council to develop a new hotel within the Park Plaza Victoria London property. The group will convert 6,500 square meters of predominantly subterranean space to a 179-room hotel with a separate and dedicated entrance. The current 299-key Park Plaza Victoria London hotel will continue to operate standalone in its current form. On completion, PPHE will operate a dual-branded hotel consisting of the upper upscale Park Plaza Victoria London and a midscale lifestyle product for which the brand is yet to be announced.

Margaritaville to Honduras. Margaritaville and Karisma Hotels & Resorts will partner with development group Island Shipping, S. de R.L. to develop an all-inclusive resort under the Island Reserve Inclusive Collection: Margaritaville Island Reserve Resort Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras. The new build, slated for completion in 2025, will include 164 rooms, live outdoor music venues, a spa, and branded dining concepts, including LandShark Brewery, JWB Steakhouse, The Beach House, and 5 o'Clock Somewhere Bar.

Mövenpick adds in Poland. Accor will partner with Allenort Group to develop a 176-room Mövenpick hotel in Gdynia, Poland. The complex will consist of two buildings connected by an above-ground walkway, Mövenpick Hotel Gdynia and Waterhall Residence apartments, and is expected to welcome its first guests as early as 2026.

New brand launches from Dubai. Dubai-based Sunset Hospitality Group (SHG) is expanding its hotel business with the launch of Sunset Hotels & Resorts, an integrated global business that will encompass the different hotel brands of SHG. The company currently operates four hotels in Turkey, Spain, and Lebanon, and plans to grow its portfolio to 20 hotels and resorts by 2026. In 2021, SHG introduced METT, its flagship hotel brand, with the opening of Mett Hotel & Beach Resort Bodrum, Turkey. SHG has also announced the introduction of lifestyle brand Somos Hotels with a 250-key property opening in Bali in 2025 and plans for expansion in Dubai, London, Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Barcelona. The group said it will also operate five new hotels in Indonesia, two of which will open in the next six months, adding that additional hotel deals are being negotiated in Italy, U.K., Bahrain, Indonesia, Montenegro, Spain, Morocco, UAE, and Vietnam. To champion this new venture, SHG appointed Jaime Buxo Clos as CEO of Sunset Hotels & Resorts. SHG operates over 50 venues in 16 countries with a portfolio that includes Mett Hotels & Resorts, Azure Beach, Sushisamba, Drift Beach Club, Aura, Dream, L’Amo Bistro del Mare, Goldfish, Isola, Raise Fitness & Wellness, and more.

Life House grows in Pennsylvania. Tech-focused Life House has signed a deal to manage The Darby in Lake Beach, Pennsylvania. Avi Kravitz, co-founder and CEO of the Norman & Jules Toy Store, is reimagining The Darby. Life plans to spotlight the forthcoming pool and fresh F&B concept.

Innisfree adds Hampton in Florida. Innisfree Hotels, Gulf Breeze, Florida, has completed the acquisition of the 94-room Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton in Vilano Beach, Florida, for a reported $21.185 million. The seller was Pharos Sharpvue Vilano Beach Hotel LLC out of Charlotte, North Carolina. It bought the hotel in 2018 for $15.4 million. Innisfree Hotels said it plans to make improvements throughout the property in 2024.

Development in Portugal trades. Global alternative investment firm King Street Capital Management and Kronos Homes, a Spanish real estate investor and developer, have completed the sale of the Palmares Ocean Living & Golf in Portugal to funds managed by Arrow Global. The sale follows six years of extensive investment and development of Palmares by King Street and Kronos Homes since acquiring the resort through a joint venture in 2017. This included the crafting of a masterplan for the resort in 2019 and the addition of a new clubhouse, which is home to the Michelin star Al Sud restaurant. The property is now home to a 27-hole golf course, four kilometres of beach access stretching to Lagos, a boutique hotel and a range of residences. Kronos Homes also manages a large portfolio that includes Vale do Lobo Golf & Beach Resort, where it is investing €500 million for 460 new residences.

PM adds in Dallas. PM Hotel Group, Chevy Chase, Maryland, is taking management of the 210-room Holiday Inn Dallas Market Center. The hotel is preparing to start a full renovation and conversion to a Holiday Inn Express with more than 6,000 square feet of meeting space in January 2023.

Hoplamazian to be honored by Shatterproof. Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in the U.S., will honor Hyatt Hotels Corp. President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian at its seventh annual Hospitality Heroes Reception at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) on January 23, 2024, at the J.W. Marriott in Los Angeles. Hoplamazian has been integral in uniting hospitality leaders to raise awareness and shatter the stigma surrounding addiction. The event will raise vital funds to support Shatterproof’s efforts to transform how addiction is treated in America. Hoplamazian and Hyatt have been longtime supporters of Shatterproof and its mission to end the addiction crisis. Most recently, Hyatt was the Exclusive Presenting Sponsor for Shatterproof’s annual walk in Chicago, where Hyatt is headquartered. Since its founding, more than 100 hotel companies and 500 employees have raised more than $5 million to help advance Shatterproof’s mission.

Scandic rebrands in Helsinki. Scandic Hotels has signed a long-term agreement with landlord Exilion to extend the agreement and rebrand the Holiday Inn City Centre in downtown Helsinki. Since acquiring Restel in 2017, Scandic has operated the hotel under a lease agreement with Exilion and a franchise agreement with IHG. From 2025, the hotel will be operated under the Scandic brand. Today, Holiday Inn City Centre has 174 rooms and as part of the extension agreement, the landlord has undertaken to completely renovate the hotel. Renovation work is expected to begin in September 2024 and will include investments in the facade and interiors as well as sustainability-related upgrades.

Ecolodge concept expands in Oman. Luxury ecolodge brand and management company Envi Lodges plans to add a second property to its portfolio in Oman owned by a consortium of Omani investors. Eco-retreat Envi Al Sifah is set to open in late 2025 with 40 tents and will be located on the shores of Al Sifah, an hour away from Muscat. The announcement comes just weeks after Envi announced its entry into the Sultanate with mountain ecolodge Envi Al Jabel Al Akhdar.

Choice-Sercotel expand deal. Choice Hotels EMEA has signed a new distribution agreement with Spanish hotel chain Sercotel to undertake commercial and marketing activities focused on driving forward incremental revenue. The two groups have collaborated since 2018. The companies have embarked on a European roadshow to showcase their joint portfolio to corporate clients across the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. A key focus for both is MICE and Choice Hotels EMEA and Sercotel will target the MICE industry through a co-branded booth and a client event at IBTM World 2023 in Barcelona.

Hilton grows team in India. Hilton has appointed Zubin Saxena as senior vice president and country head, India. Saxena joins Hilton from Radisson Hotel Group, where he worked for over eight years, most recently as the managing director and area senior vice president, South Asia. He will be taking charge in January 2024 and sitting out of the Hilton corporate office in Gurgaon. Saxena will oversee Hilton’s 25 trading hotels in India and lead the company’s expansion in South Asia with 20 properties in the development pipeline. Hilton said it plans to triple its estate to have 75 trading and pipeline hotels in India.

Vignette Collection deal in Thailand. IHG Hotels & Resorts has extended its partnership with Dinso Resort Co., Ltd. with the planned 2024 opening of the 166-room Dinso Resort & Villas Koh Chang, Vignette Collection. This represents the third Vignette Collection partnership between the two companies in Thailand. Dinso Resort & Villas Koh Chang, Vignette Collection is rebranding from the Emerald Resort Koh Chang to enter IHG’s system in 2024 following extensive renovation and closure since February 2023.  The brand has 18 hotels in its pipeline and looks to reach 100 hotels by 2031.

Oyo relaunches ‘managed by’. Hospitality tech platform Oyo has restarted self-operated hotels in India tagged as ‘Managed by Oyo’ through the company's app and website. It is also seeking partnerships with real estate developers to identify properties for these hotels. As part of the program, Oyo will secure annual to long-term management contracts on the revenue share basis of 200 premium hotels across Indian metros and give its top hotel operators an opportunity to leverage their expertise in maintaining operational excellence and high customer satisfaction. Oyo closed its self-operated hotel model in 2020, just before the start of the first wave of COVID-19. During the pilot phase of the program, Oyo has partnered with 30 realtors and started operations in more than 35 hotels across India. Most of these hotels will be onboarded under the company's premium hotel offerings such as Townhouse, Townhouse Oak and Collection O.

Social Hub gets infusion. Germany’s Aareal Bank gas closed a € 566 million refinancing facility with The Social Hub (TSH), together with two participating lenders, one of which being Rabobank. Operated under TSH’s hybrid hospitality concept offering co-working, events, hotel, extended-stay rooms and student accommodation, the cross-border portfolio comprises 13 properties across the Netherlands, Spain, France and the U.K. Aareal Bank acted as the Arranger, Agent, and Security Agent of the senior loan, which is classified by Aareal as a Green Loan under its own Green Finance Framework. With nearly 7,000 rooms across Europe and another 3,000 in the pipeline, The Social Hub was formerly known as The Student Hotel.