Last December, the scaffolding came down on one of Paris’s palace hotels, and the Hotel de Crillon (www.crillon.com) unveiled the results of an ambitious project: the 18th century façade was completed restored, its sculptures and colonnades buffed, scrubbed, and touched up. The  original inspiration for the white house, the Crillon was designed by the architect [...]

TravelKeynote.com  has learned that Hotel Splendido (www.hotelsplendido.com) in Portofino, Italy, is adding five “grand” suites to its inventory in May. Each suite will have a terrace, says Giulio Gentile, director of communication at Orient-Express Hotels (www.orient-express.com). Details of the size of the suites is not yet available, nor are other details, says Gentile, but they [...]

MGM Resorts International reported a $0.23 per share loss for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to a loss of $0.29 per share for the fourth quarter of 2010. The current quarter results include MGM China Holdings, Limited (“MGM China”), which the Company began consolidating as of June 3, 2011.   Key results for the [...]

Major news for England‘s hotel scene this week: Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and Edwardian Group Limited have announced they will rebrand all Radisson Edwardian Hotels, a portfolio of 13 hotels in the United Kingdom, to the Radisson Blu brand by the second half of the year.   The affected hotels have more than 2,500 rooms [...]

Viceroy Hotel Group is springing forward this year with the launch of a brand new resort in the Maldives. We hear the Viceroy Maldives will open the doors to its 61 villas on April 2.   Each of the resort’s beachfront or water villas sit directly on the beach or on the water. Private plunge [...]

Real estate developer and television star Donald Trump announced Monday his company is buying South Florida’s Doral Doral Latest from The Business Journals Trump closes Doral resort dealDonald Trump quizzes Doral staffersDoral’s White Course property may be rezoned and redeveloped Follow this company golf resort out of bankruptcy.   The deal is worth $150 million. [...]

  A view of the sprawling, glass-enclosed grounds of the Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., about a 30-minute drive from Washington D.C.   In a sign that hotel rates for groups are on their way up, Gaylord Entertainment’s four massive hotels booked fewer group roomsin the fourth quarter of [...]

Guess who is coming to New York? Viceroy Hotel Group, known for some of the hippest and sleekest hotels on the market, has added the Cassa Hotel to its Urban Retreat Collection. The hotel, which was acquired by HNA Group at the end of December 2011 for $265 million, officially transitioned to Viceroy management on [...]

The Hyatt Hotels Corp. is gearing up for a major expansion in Saudi Arabia.   The American chain has just one hotel open in Saudi Arabia, the Park Hyatt Jeddah – Marina, Club and Spa, which opened in 2009.   But over the next few years, another six Hyatt-branded hotels will join that Park Hyatt. [...]

  An artist’s rendering of the redesigned facade.   The historic New York Helmsley Hotelin Midtown Manhattan will be making history again, becoming only the second Westin in the city later this year.   Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Host Hotels & Resorts today announced the launch of a $65 million renovation of the [...]