Le Meridien Adding Four International Hotels

LONDON-Locally headquartered Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts has signed lease agreements for four new hotels, two that will open later this year and two that will open in 2006. The two that will open this year are located in Stuttgart, Germany and Angkor, Cambodia. The two that will open in 2006 are located in Thailand. In Stuttgart, the company has leased a 281-room hotel from that is undergoing a $22.6 million (Euro 19 million) refurbishment by its owner, the insurance company Aachener and Mnchener Versicherungen. The hotel originally opened in 1988 and was formerly an InterContinental hotel; renovations began this month. It is located in the center of the city on Willy Brandt Strasse, overlooking the castle grounds. Amenities will include meeting facilities, an executive lounge, business center, health club with pool, two bars, one restaurant and parking for 180 cars. When it reopens as Le Méridien Stuttgart in November, the London-based hotel company will have eight locations in Germany.”This is an ideal opportunity for us to strengthen our position and expand within the German market where Le Méridien already has high awareness,” says Malcolm Ross, Le Méridien’s regional managing director for Northern/Central Europe. “When the hotel re-opens it will be totally refurbished and reconfigured and will be the only internationally branded five-star hotel in Stuttgart.”The Angkor property is a new hotel in the final phase of construction and due to open in early September 2004 as Le Meridien Angkor. The 223-room property is located between Angkor Wat and the center of Siem Reap. Amenities will include two restaurants, a bar, a lobby lounge, meeting facilities, and a health club and spa. It is owned by TCC Property Management Co. Ltd.The two Thailand properties, also new construction by TCC Property Management, will be located in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. The 350-room Bangkok property will rise on Surawong Road, in Bangkok’s tourist and business hub. The hotel rooms will incorporate the company’s Art + Tech design. Amenities include restaurants and bars, a ballroom, meeting rooms, a business center and a health club and spa. When it opens in the fourth quarter of 2006, Le Meridien Bangkok will become the sister hotel to “Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Meridien Hotel,” which Le Meridien also operates on behalf of TCC Property Management. The 400-room Chiang Mai property will rise on Chan Klan Road, next to the city’s famous night bazaar and main shopping district. The hotel is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2006. Amenities will include a choice of restaurants and bars, meeting and banqueting facilities, swimming pool and a spa facility. Thailand’s second largest city, Chiang Mai is approximately 700 kilometers from Bangkok.Le Meridien opened 17 new properties in 2003. Including the aforementioned hotels, the company currently has 20 more hotels in its pipeline that are scheduled to open over the course of the next three years.