New Luxe Hotels for China, Slovenia and Moscow
Le Méridien says it plans to open two new properties, one in Taipei and one in Xiamen, China. Le Méridien Taipei will be the brand’s first hotel in Taiwan and will open in early 2011 in Hsinyi, Taipei’s bustling central business district. Le Méridien Xiamen, China will open in 2009 in Xianyue Hill, one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods….
Kempinski Hotels reports that it has signed a deal to manage the 100-year-old Hotel Palace in the center of Portorož. The goal is to make the property, which will retain its historic center and boast a newly built section when it reopens in early October, the leading luxury hotel in Slovenia.
Portorož has long been known as a natural spa destination and the Hotel Palace since 1910 has hosted the VIPs who have visited the resort. History has it that when it opened, the Hotel Palace was, together with Hotel Excelsior in Venice, acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and biggest hotels on the Adriatic Coast. It has been declared a cultural monument, yet closed in 1990. It’s been undergoing a total refurbishment since 2003 under the care of its owner, Istrabenz Hoteli Portorož. Its historic ballroom and Presidential Suite have also been restored….
Raffles Hotels & Resorts has gotten a foothold in Moscow; it will open a 130-room hotel in the Kitay-Gorod district three minutes from Red Square in 2011. The hotel is being developed from what was the former private residence in the mid-17th century; it subsequently was extended to include shops and furnished apartments.
Not surprisingly, Raffles Moscow will be all luxury; it will include a RafflesAmrita Spa, which will be one of Moscow’s largest, as well as six restaurants and bars as well as an indoor pool.
The hotel will be part of a larger development that will include apartments, galleries and an 18th-century Russian Orthodox Church. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company opened a hotel in Moscow last year to great success, according to sources.
Raffles, meanwhile, previously announced it will open a hotel in Paris to manage Le Royal Monceau hotel, which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment.