The Presidente InterContinental Cozumel Resort & Spa will reopen on October 1 following an extensive $25 million redevelopment project that will reposition the resort as a five-star luxury property, according to Grupo Presidente, operators of Presidente InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.
The exclusive resort will boast completely redesigned rooms and suites, featuring luxurious furnishings and wide-screen plasma televisions. Grupo Presidente has decided to reduce the property´s total room inventory from 253 rooms to 220 rooms, allowing resort staff to provide an even more personalized level of service. A new room category, Ocean Suites, has also been created. These opulent one and two bedroom suites will provide guests unparalleled views of the Caribbean Sea.
Members of the American Hotel & Lodging Association were invited last week to join leaders from other business groups at a meeting with President Bush at the White House to discuss issues involving immigration reform. Also in attendance were Vice President Dick Cheney, White House Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.
The meeting comes at time when the White House and lawmakers in Congress are at odds over the issue.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced that it will manage a new, luxurious hotel currently under development in Barcelona. The project provides the Group with a unique opportunity to expand its luxury brand in Europe and in particular, into one of Europe´s foremost travel destinations.
The hotel is being developed by the Reig Capital Group, a private Andorran investment company with projects in the tourism sector. Internationally renowned interior design firm Yabu Pushelburg has been appointed on the project.
Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts launched its new Family Concierge service at its five Paradisus Resorts in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
In-room amenities include tyke-sized bathrobes and slippers, a Sony PlayStation (optional) and a juice-stocked mini bar. Parents communicate with the family concierge via walkie-talkie to coordinate resort activities and excursions.
Kor Hotel Group, the Los Angeles-based luxury hotel operator, brings its management finesse to the thriving, international milieu of Mexico´s Mayan Riviera. The company is to acquire the five-star Ikal del Mar resort located near the picturesque village of Xcalacoco on the Yucatan Peninsula, ten miles north of Playa Del Carmen.
“The Ikal del Mar resort will allow us to enhance our presence on Mexico´s quickly-developing Mayan Riviera, an area characterized by increasingly high-end U.S. and foreign travel,” said Brad Korzen, CEO of Kor Hotel Group. “The resort´s close proximity to our upcoming Tides Playa del Carmen and Viceroy Riviera Maya Resort and Residence emphasizes even further the extent of our involvement in the region. This stunning property is an ideal addition to our growing portfolio of international hotels and resorts.”
British tourists are able to take advantage of falling hotel prices in the last part of last year, while Glasgow offered some of the best value-for-money hotel deals in Europe, a survey by Hotels.com found.
Average one-night hotel prices in Glasgow in the period October-December were £64, an 11 percent drop on the same period in 2004. This puts the Scottish city only a short way behind the best value-for-money city in the survey –Budapest- where the average price in the last three months of 2005 was £60.