The Messe Innsbruck is currently being refurbished. The £22.7m upgrade is due to be completed by December 2011. There will be seven large halls plus six conference rooms.
Hilton Worldwide has opened its first hotel in Jordan with the launch of the DoubleTree by Hilton Aqaba. The 173 room property is located in the central business district of the city and overlooks the Red Sea.
Hyatt Hotel has announced plans for a 330-room Hyatt Place to be built near Amsterdam. When the hotel is completed in mid 2013, it will be the first Hyatt Place Hotel to open in Europe. The hotel will be close to Amsterdam airport and 12 kms from the exhibition and congress centre, Amsterdam RAI.
The Hotel Due Torri in Verona has completed a refurbishment and now offers seven meeting rooms. The ground floor and lobby area have been given a more contemporary style and the Due Torri Lounge & Restaurant has been added.
Attractions operator Merlin Entertainments Group’s EDF Energy London Eye held a launch event for its latest event space, the Silver Barracuda vessel. The river cruiser is moored on the South Bank, adjacent to the London Eye, and can be used to host events independently or alongside nearby attractions the SEA LIFE London Aquarium and the London Eye. The Silver Barracuda can accommodate up to 230 guest’s reception-style or 140 seated for dinner.
The newly refurbished Wimbledon building in Lensbury’s Conference Centre has been re-opened, following 5 months of work and £2 million worth of investment. This major upgrade will bring the Wimbledon Building up to the same standard as the Twickenham Building which was refurbished in 2009 providing a conference facility with 32 contemporary meeting rooms.
One of Brighton’s best kept hotel secrets is to get a new lease of life. The 12-bedroom Blanch House in Atlingworth Street, Kemp Town, was purchased last week by independently owned Seventeenten Hospitality Ltd – with the aim of respecting the Regency townhouse’s heritage as one of the city’s first boutique hotels and further developing it as a warm, contemporary establishment offering a professional and personalised service, stylish accommodation and quality breakfast, at prices to suit most people’s pockets. Scheduled to open in July, Blanch House – located ten minutes walk from the centre of Brighton and a stone’s throw from the seafront – is currently undergoing a major refurbishment which also will enable it to become a top class venue with a ‘green’ ethos for weddings, civil partnerships, private functions, conferences, meetings, training, product launches and art exhibitions.