First Conrad Hotel Comes To Tokyo

Tokyo Hilton International and Japanese real estate company, Mori Trust, signed an agreement for Hilton to manage Japan's first Conrad hotel. The 296-room Conrad Tokyo will be located in the heart of Tokyo's Shiodome precinct.

"We are pleased that Hilton, one of the world's leading hotel brands, has selected our latest and most impressive project in Shiodome as the site for Japan's very first luxury Conrad hotel. We hope that this partnership will lead to a range of mutually beneficial projects between Hilton and Mori Trust," says Akira Mori, president and CEO of Mori Trust Co., Ltd.

The Conrad Tokyo will be located on the top 10 floors of a 37-story multi-purpose tower. Catering to both the corporate and leisure market, it will feature 231 deluxe rooms boasting an impressive minimum room size of 517 sq. ft. (48 sq. m), 10-ft. (3-m) high ceilings and full ceiling-to-floor front windows. In addition, the hotel will have 65 superior suites. Other facilities include three restaurants, a grand ballroom, which seats 400, a junior ballroom and three boardrooms. The Conrad Tokyo will offer the largest banquet facilities in Shiodome. Guests also will have access to a 27-yd. (25-m) lap pool, a 15,769-sq. ft. (1,464-sq. m) gym and spa center and a wedding chapel. The hotel is scheduled to open in Spring 2005.

Nanning Hotel Adds Tower

Nanning, China The 5-star, 431-room Nanning Hotel is adding 36 guestrooms to its property. The guestrooms will range from 463 sq. ft. to 786 sq. ft. (43 to 73 sq. m). The new Fortune Tower will be the hotel's VIP wing when it opens in late 2004. Wang Yi, and his international team from Beijing 345 Hotel Design & Consultancy Co., Beijing, will design the Fortune Tower. The new 258,000-sq. ft. (24,000-sq. m) tower will also include a café, an Italian and Chinese restaurant, nightclub, swimming pool and spa. The Administration of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region owns the hotel, and an independent team employed by the Administration manages it.

Largest Convention Hotel Planned For Bangkok

Bangkok Central Hotels & Resorts, Bangkok, announced plans to build the Central World Plaza Hotel. Scheduled to open in early 2006, it will be one of the largest 5-star hotels in Asia Pacific at a cost of US$64 million (Baht 2.5 billion).

"The 500-room Central World Plaza Hotel will have a convention space totaling 172,000 sq.ft. (16,000 sq. m) and is expected to capture 25% of the market share from the international MICE market in Thailand as well as to become the stage for concerts, trade fairs and sport events," says Gerd Steeb, executive vice president of Central Hotels & Resorts. "Our convention hotel will be the first of its kind in Bangkok, as other exhibition and convention centers do not have a hotel. It will truly be a convention hall of international standards and will attract high-end MICE visitors from Asia, Europe and the United States," Steeb says.

The unique convention center will offer a 50-ft. (15-m) high ceiling (more than the industry norm); a multitude of other ballrooms and meeting rooms space and up to 20 separate meeting rooms; visual equipment plus multi-lingual simultaneous translation services; movable auditorium seating for shows and concerts; fully equipped secretarial rooms; selected meeting rooms equipped with safes for meeting delegates' valuables and multiple broadband Internet connections in every meeting room.

The interior and exterior design of the property will be chic, modern and of international standards. Brennan Beer Gorman, New York, has been appointed architect of the project.

Hilton To Operate Second Hotel In Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain Hilton International announced it has signed a lease agreement with Apex Inmobiliaria (Iberdrola Group) to operate a new 5-star hotel in Barcelona's Diagonal Mar area, next to The Forum 2004 building. Hilton will operate the hotel on a 20-year lease.

The 23-story hotel will offer 434 guestrooms and is scheduled to open in 2005. It will include conference and banqueting suites offering 16,000 sq. ft. (1,500 sq. m) of floor space, two restaurants and an open-air swimming pool. Other amenities include a fitness center and an executive lounge.

"Hilton believes in the potential strength of the Barcelona market in the years to come, especially the newly developed forum area, Diagonal Mar, with a unique infrastructure for congresses and leisure in Europe," says Theo Kreutzer, Hilton International's vice president of Western Europe and the Mediterranean.

First St. Regis Retreat Will Open In Anguilla

Anguilla, BWI Temenos Anguilla, a St. Regis Retreat, will open in mid-2006 with a world-class hotel, spa, oceanfront villas and a limited number of estates. The St. Regis Retreat will be noted for its architecture, design and one-of-a-kind amenities. The new three-bedroom oceanfront villas will be an addition to the existing ultra-luxurious three-villa resort.

The 97-room hotel will reflect the Greek Mediterranean architecture woven throughout the entire Retreat. No structure is more than two stories high, and all guest-rooms are just steps away from the ocean. The hotel promises to exceed 5-star standards and expectations with St. Regis introducing its philosophy of "home to a certain world" to every aspect of the community.

One of the key highlights of Temenos Anguilla will be the Temenos Golf Club, an 18-hole, 7,200-yd. (6,583-m) championship golf course, the first on the island, scheduled to open in 2005.

St. Regis Hotels & Resorts is the prestige brand of New York-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

London Welcomes New Park Plaza Hotel

London Park Plaza Hotels Europe announced plans to build the Riverbank Park Plaza hotel on the South Bank of the river Thames. According to Park Plaza, it will be the largest new hotel to open in the city of London in 30 years. The building has been designed by Renton Howard Wood Levin Architects, London, and features include a multi-storied atrium lobby and a concept restaurant and bar.

Scheduled to open in the Spring 2005, the 4-star hotel will have 396 guestrooms and 66 suites; it will become the flagship London property for the Park Plaza brand.Other amenities include conference facilities for up to 800 guests, theater-style seating for 780, private parking for guests, and a state-of-the-art health and fitness club.