This roundup features the latest hotel deals and developments in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Radisson to Open in Benin City
Radisson Hotel Group has signed a deal with the government of Edo State, Nigeria, to open the 169-room Radisson Hotel Benin City, its 12th hotel in the country, but its first in Benin City. It is due to open before the end of 2024.
Ritz-Carlton Comes to Cairo
Marriott International has signed an agreement with owner Palm Hills Developments to open the 150-room Ritz-Carlton Cairo, Palm Hills, in Egypt’s capital. The property, which has views of the Great Pyramids of Giza, also will have 50 serviced residences and is due to debut in 2027.
Abu Dhabi Development Fund To Invest $161 Million in Egyptian Hotel Renovations
The Abu Dhabi Development Fund via its Abu Dhabi Tourism Investment Co. plans to invest $161 million in its Egyptian portfolio. That includes a $41-million renovation due to be finished in December 2024 of its 298-room Mövenpick Sharm El Sheikh. That hotel will add 120 rooms. Another project is the $40-million overhaul starting in April of a 469-room hotel in Hurghada that will likely be rebranded as a Mövenpick. In addition, $80 million is earmarked for a hotel it also owns near Cairo’s Giza Pyramids, anticipated to open in August 2026 under another Accor brand, Sofitel.
Dorchester Dubai Debut
The Dorchester Collection is opening its first hotel in the Middle East, The Lana, Dubai, on Feb. 1 next year. In the Business Bay district of the city, the hotel will have 225 rooms.
Van der Valk Acquires Spa Radisson
Family office Van der Valk has acquired the 120-room Radisson Blu Palace Hotel & Spa in the Belgian town of Spa. which is the home of the Belgium edition of Formula 1.
Gelba Buys 12 Swedish Hotels
Stockholm-based family investment fund Gelba Fastigheter AB acquired 51% of Host Property AB from Host AB and its parent firm Flying Elephant AS. Host AB has retained the minority share in the portfolio, which has eight hotels and 997 rooms in the First Hotels brand. No price was disclosed, but sources stated the portfolio had been valued at 688 million Swedish krona ($66 million). Gelba Fastigheter now has a portfolio of 12 hotels, all in Sweden.
Rock Holdings Invest €70 Million in Kempinski Ski Resort
Romanian owner Rock Holding plans to to invest €70 million to refurbish the Kempinski Poiana Brasov, a ski and mountain resort that will be Kempinski Hotels’ first offering in the country. The Transylvania hotel will have 120 rooms.
Arrow Global Acquires Portugal’s Palmares
Manchester fund manager Arrow Global has invested €400 million in acquisition and development costs in Lagos, Portugal, resort Palmares Ocean Living & Golf, which features 27 holes of golf and a 20-room boutique hotel. The sellers are King Street Capital Management and Kronos Homes.
Andronis Hotels To Expand to Greek Island of Paros
Family-office firm Andronis Hotels, which has several resorts on the Greek island of Santorini, plans to expand on another Greek island, Paros, with the acquisition of a 44-suite hotel that is to reopen in May as the Andronis Minois following a refurbishment completed in 2023.
ENVI Doubles Omani Presence
Luxury ecolodge brand and management company ENVI Lodges plans to open two hotels in Oman in 2025 — the coastal, 40-tent ENVI Al Sifah and the mountainside, 40-tent ENVI Al Jabel Al Akhdar. The company has no existing hotels but a pipeline of 2024 openings, including two in Zanzibar and one in Saudi Arabia.
IHG Opens Jeddah Holiday Inn
IHG Hotels & Resorts and owner Saleh Alsalamah & Partner Companies have opened the 148-room Holiday Inn Jeddah Corniche. It is the third for the brand in the Saudi Arabian city.
Hilton On Turkey Spree
Hilton has signed agreements in Turkey to open a spate of hotels across five of its brands, including the 240-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Suites Istanbul Altunizade, to open in 2024; 491-room Hilton Istanbul Airport, to open in summer 2025; 93-room Les Temps Istanbul Karakoy, Curio Collection by Hilton, also for 2025; and the 51-room Ritus Hotel Istanbul Sultanahmet, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, a 2025 brand debut in the country. Hampton by Hilton hotels are also planned in the cities of Ankara, Antayla, Adana, Istanbul and Sisli for a country total of 22 hotels.
PPHE To Expand London Hotel
PPHE Hotel Group has received planning permission from Westminster City Council to develop a 179-room hotel within its existing Park Plaza Victoria London hotel. The mostly subterranean addition will operate as a standalone hotel from its 299-room sibling.
Scandic To Rebrand Helsinki Holiday Inn
Scandic Hotels has signed a long-term agreement with owner Exilion to rebrand the Holiday Inn City Center, Helsinki, and extend its management of the 174-room hotel. A name change will start in 2025.
IHG Goes Skiing
IHG will manage the 77-room Six Senses Kitzbühel Alps, Austria, but no opening date has been announced.
Malta For Barceló
Spanish firm Barceló Hotel Group has opened the 183-room Barceló Fortina Malta in the coastal Maltese town of Sliema.
Novotel Arrives in Valencia
Owners Pictet Group and Hesperia Group plan to open the 370-room Novotel Valencia in the second half of 2024. In Valencia, Spain’s Turia Garden area, the hotel will be a renovation and rebranding of the existing Expo Hotel.