There's now a greater choice of accommodation styles, products and brands across Europe for meeting delegates and business travellers than ever, with new hotel projects at an all-time high. Read about some of the latest and upcoming hotels and venues.
Europe’s hotel sector is booming, with 22% more projects in the construction pipeline compared to 2018. That equates to 1,670 extra hotels and 254,600 rooms [Source: Lodging Econometrics]. The number of new projects is at an all-time high. 390 new hotels and 53,241 rooms will open in 2019 with a further 426 (and 61,490 rooms) to follow in 2020.
Germany leads the way for new hotels, with 319 properties in various stages of development compared to 261 in the UK, 188 in France, 131 in Portugal and 91 in Poland. London remains Europe’s hotspot, with 79 new hotel projects, followed by Paris, Dusseldorf, Lisbon and Hamburg.
Four hotel companies account for 47% of Europe’s new hotel projects. Accor is adding 256 new Ibis, Mercure and Novotel hotels, whilst Marriott International will expand by 208 Moxy, Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn hotels.
Sixteen new Moxy properties are scheduled to open by the end of 2019 whilst the brand made its debut in Georgia last year with the opening of Moxy Tbilisi, a 130-bedroom property located in Saarbruecken Square, close to Tbilisi’s business district. So far, 2019 has seen the opening of Moxy Copenhagen, a 226-bed hotel where the amenities include lightning-fast WiFi, a 43” Netflix-ready TV and a free gym.
IHG's pipeline contains 147 new Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn and Hotel Indigo. The Hotel Indigo Milan - Corso Monforte opened its doors in July 2019. Located in central Milan, the hotel mixes 1950s Italian vintage fashion with contemporary elements across its 75 guestrooms.
Hilton’s Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn and DoubleTree by Hilton have 172 new properties in their pipeline, New Hilton hotels have already opened this year in Poland in Turkey. The Hilton Istanbul Bakirkoy is a 360-bed property close to Istanbul’s Trade Centre and CNR Expo Centre with conference facilities for 1,500 delegates including 15 meeting rooms.
Eastern Europe is a major target for hotel developers. Amongst recent openings in the region are the 190-bedroom Four Points by Sheraton Warsaw Mokotow in the city’s business district and the Radisson Blu Hotel, Sopot, just 12km from Gdansk
Radisson has also opened other renovated hotels. The Radisson Blu Hotel Prague has re-opened after a major refurbishment whilst work has also been completed on the Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel in Stockholm. The 459 bed and 15 meeting room hotel is the latest Nordic-based property to be refurbished by Radisson.
No less active in the development market are World Hotels, who have recently added several unique properties to their portfolio including Hotel C Stockholm which boasts the world’s first permanent ice bar carved out of 40 tons of natural ice from the Torne River.
Another recent addition to World Hotels is the 209-bed Hotel Quirinale Rome is in the centre of the city, close to Piazza della Repubblica, Piazza Venezia and the Trevi Fountain. It is the only Roman hotel with direct access to opera house and has its own private garden.
Many new hotel developments incorporate the elements of communal spaces and connectivity. For example, Louvre Hotels - now the fifth largest hotel company in the world - is currently refurbishing properties across France, putting technology at the heart of the guest experience.
First rolled out at the Jing An Shanghai Campanile hotel, the new design concept is built around an open auditorium in the lobby with large interactive screens and communal spaces in which guests can work or meet, enjoy films or play videogames. When guests get into the hotel lift, facial recognition software provides secure access to the required floor. Once in the room, a robot personal assistant takes care of everything from the brightness of the lights to air quality.
Other recent European hotel openings include:
Barceló first property in Hungary. Barceló Budapest has 179 guestrooms, 3 meeting rooms and a fitness centre open 24 hours a day.
The 139 bedrooms at the new Aloft Madrid Gran Vía in central Madrid offer a loft layout, 49-inch televisions with plug & play connectivity and fast, free Wi-Fi.
One thing is for sure the business travellers and meeting delegates have never had a wider choice of styles, products and brands in both primary and secondary locations across Europe.