News

HOTEL BRIEFS

Le Méridien Hotel, London Piccadilly

The 5-star Le Méridien Hotel on London's Piccadilly is up for sale. The Grade II-listed 267-room property will be sold subject to a management agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which aims to continue operating it as a Le Méridien hotel.

Westbury Hotel

London's Westbury Hotel has just completed a £25 million refurbishment to all 246 bedrooms and suites and its fi ne-dining restaurant Artisan. Located in Mayfair, the luxury hotel also offers suites, fully-equipped with the latest technology and audio-visual equipment, for private functions.

Doubletree debuts in London

HILTON'S UPSCALE FULL-SERVICE Doubletree by Hilton brand has arrived in London in the shape of the 112-room Courthouse Doubletree by Hilton in Regent Street.

Only the fifth Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Europe, the London property will soon be joined by another - the name is to go up over the 110-room Hoole Hall Country Club Hotel and Spa in Chester early this year.

Hilton planned for Syon Park

HILTON IS PLANNING a 151-room hotel within West London's historic Syon Park, opening towards the end of the year. The development will feature 1,000m2 of meeting space, several restaurants and bars and a spa, and is being developed by The Ability Group.

NEW RADISSON FOR DURHAM

DURHAM'S NEWLY OPENED 4-star Radisson SAS has 207 rooms and 11 function suites, with the capability of accommodating up to 600 people.

Overlooking the River Wear and the city's cathedral, it has an Italian restaurant, pool and gym.

Grand designs

THE WORLD'S FIRST HOTEL MISSONI - a joint venture between the Italian fashion house and the Rezidor Hotel Group - opens in Edinburgh in May. The 136-room property, on the Scottish capital's Royal Mile, will be followed a month later by the Hotel Missoni Kuwait, a 169-room resort forming part of a new waterfront shopping and hotel complex on the Arabian Gulf. Rezidor plans to open up to 30 Missoni properties over the next 15 years.

Brand new Le Meridien

STARWOOD'S LE MERIDIEN brand officially unveiled its new look at an evening celebrating art, culture and Africa at the Le Meridien Etoile, Paris, last month.

The group has been hard at work evolving the brand since it acquired over 100 hotels in 2005. Eva Ziegler, senior vice president said: "We looked at everything from the experience of arriving at the hotel, to staying and departing".