Deluxe hotel chains, boosted by the overall strength in the hotel industry, are shuttling billions of dollars into global expansion and renovation projects, in some cases at what the companies are calling unprecedented levels.
Luxury hotels have benefited from increased demand boosted by the resurgence of corporate profits
(BTN, March 6), and hoteliers within that tier are capitalizing on that demand. New property openings are imminent both domestically and internationally for the major luxury chains, including some properties that will be the second or more for a chain in certain markets.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. has seen a significant increase in its business travel usage as it has expanded into major markets, said John Harper, vice president of Ritz-Carlton's international sales offices. During the past seven years, the number of Ritz-Carlton properties nearly has doubled from 35 to 61, including in such major business destinations as New Orleans, New York and Washington, D.C., and that trend is continuing, he said.
"These are key markets," Harper said. "It's kind of changed our relationship with these business accounts, and we've been able to work with them more and more."
In less than a week, Ritz-Carlton will open a hotel in the Financial Street area of Beijing, and further openings are scheduled in Tokyo, Toronto and Moscow, where the property will be the city's first luxury hotel. Ritz-Carlton also is completing its second properties in Dubai, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Harper said.
Ritz-Carlton aims for the design of new properties to be specific for the market. Some hotels, such as the one in Beijing, are designed especially for business travelers, he said. That means the rooms will have proper lighting, desks and laptop space for travelers.
"Our hotels going forward will reflect more of the environment that they're located in," Harper said. "If we build a resort hotel on the beach in California, it's going to look like a resort hotel on the beach in California."
Four Seasons Hotels, which ranked at the top of the deluxe tier in Business Travel News' annual U.S. hotel chain survey this year
(BTN, March 6), began the year by announcing intentions to increase its global reach with four new developing projects scheduled to open across the globe during the next few years. The projects include a fourth hotel in China, the Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai at Pudong, and a hotel in Taipei with 275 rooms and suites and 50 serviced apartments catering to business travelers, according to the company. Both are expected to open in 2009. More immediately, Four Seasons will open a hotel in Mumbai in the Worli district, a growing business and entertainment center for India.
At the same time, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is in the process of several multimillion-dollar renovation projects across the country. The largest is a $100 million makeover to the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in South Florida, which has been closed since July for renovation. It will add two new golf courses, renovated rooms and suites and a new spa and fitness center.
"It's a very significant expenditure at Turnberry in the context of improving the physical aspect of the property," said Brian Richardson, Fairmont's vice president of brand marketing and communications. "There's no shortage of things happening."
Other recent renovation projects for Fairmont include a $32 million redesign of the Fairmont Newport Beach in California, a new spa at Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello in Quebec and restoration work at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.
Starwood's St. Regis Hotels and Resorts plans to open a 166-room property in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this December. Other properties slated for opening in the next few years include locations in Mexico City, Singapore and Bal Harbour, Fla.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group's Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong reopened Sept. 28 after a $140 million renovation project had kept it closed for nine months.
The hotel now features 502 guest rooms and suites, nine restaurants and bars, a spa and a skylit fitness facility. In addition, Mandarin Oriental has nine hotels under development, including properties in Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Las Vegas.
The growth trend is not limited to the largest deluxe chains. Several new properties are in the pipeline for Dallas-based Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, including two in the United States that are scheduled to open in 2008. One is The Mansion on Peachtree, a 42-story hotel and condominium with 127 guest rooms, including 32 suites and a 15,000-square-foot spa, scheduled to open in March 2008 in the high-end Buckhead area of Atlanta. The other, the Rosewood Sandhill, is scheduled to open later that year in Menlo Park, Calif.
Internationally, Rosewood has projects underway in Los Cabos, Mexico, and in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Like the Menlo Park project, the Los Cabos hotel also will bear Rosewood in its name as the company works to increase its visibility in its products, said Rosewood COO Bob Boulogne.
"Rosewood has gone through a bit of a transformation in the last couple of years with incorporating our brand into the names of properties," Boulogne said. "We'll always maintain our respect for those individual brands."
Renovation projects include several suites at The Carlyle in New York and an ongoing overhaul of the rooms and landscaping at Ty Warner's San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, Calif., which Rosewood began managing in March.
Properties under the umbrella of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, an association of more than 120 independently owned hotels and resorts, recently have or soon will complete renovation projects. Properties with newly completed room renovations include the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver, the Peabody Memphis and the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass.