The Grace Hotels Group, best known for its award-winning boutique hotels on the Greek islands, has begun its expansion into the Americas with the announcement of the Grace Cafayate hotel, spa and residential villas development in Calchaqui Valley in the northwest of Argentina. The hotel and villa complex, which will have up to 52 keys, will form part of ‘La Estancia de Cafayate’, a secluded 1,250 acre residential and sporting estate in the heart of an area famed for its spectacular scenery, outstanding wines and equestrian sports.
Trump Hotel Collection announced that Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama will debut in spring 2011, marking the collection’s first foray into Latin America. Trump Ocean Club will be perched above Panama Bay. The building -- the vision of venerated architect Arias Serna Saravia and developer Newland International Properties Corp. -- stands 70 stories tall, a tower evoking a majestic sail fully deployed in the wind. The artistry of its design is destined to make it an architectural icon for both Panama and all of Central America.
Hoteliers in Europe have seen revenue per available room (revPAR) growth accelerate each month since December last year, with September posting the strongest yet, up 16.8 percent. This enabled the region to secure a 9.5 percent revPAR rise year-to-September to $87, compared to $78 during the same period in 2009. Occupancy was the main driver of growth, up 5.6 percent to 64.2 percent (60.8 percent in 2009) while average room rates declined slightly, falling just short of the $135 mark.
The Romanos, A Luxury Collection Resort in Costa Navarino, Greece, a Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Luxury Collection will open the Villarrica Park Lake Hotel & Spa in Chile. Located 435 miles south of Santiago, in the southern Chilean Lake Region, Villarrica will join the San Cristobal Tower Hotel as the second Luxury Collection property in Chile and the seventh Starwood property in the country.
Puntacana Resort & Club, the exclusive resort property in the Dominican Republic, has been named Golf Resort of the Year by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators in the ‘Rest of the World’ category.
InterContinental Hotels Group continued its growth in Latin America’s largest nation with the opening of its first hotel in the city of Cuiabá, Brazil -- the Holiday Inn Express Cuiabá. The hotel is the 13th IHG property in Brazil and the 39th Holiday Inn-branded hotel in Latin America, with nine additional Holiday Inns currently under construction.