Virgin Galactic believes it has the necessary financial muscle to achieve commercialisation of its space tourism flights, after merging with investment partnership Social Capital Hedosophia (SCH). The transaction, which is due to complete during the second half of 2019, will deliver US$1.3bn (€1.16bn, £1.04bn) of equity to Virgin Galactic, made up of US$1bn (€890m, £800m) in common stock of the combined company (at US$10 per share) and up to US$300m

The Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) Angkor – once the official residence of the French governor of the Cambodian protectorate, and a pied-à-terre for journalists and émigrés – is set to reopen its doors this spring, following a US$60m (€52.7m, £45m) renovation. Designed to evoke the "tropical modernism" of present-day Siem Reap, the mansion-like hotel will be managed by international hospitality group Avani Hotels and Resorts and feature 60 new rooms

Luxury group Pavilions Hotels & Resorts will soon debut the Himalayas Lake View – the first tented eco-villas in Nepal. Designed by Wonaw & Associates and Coconut Groove Interiors, the eight villas – which range between 40 and 82 sq m – are located on the shore of Phewa Lake in Pokhara. The resort provides a number of wellness and leisure offerings, such as Ayurvedic massages, access to a nearby

Turkish architects Project Design Group have designed the KentPlus Yalova Wellness Spa Resort in Armutlu, Yalova in Turkey, which is due to open at the end of this year. The project includes three five-star thermal hotels with more than 1,300 bedrooms and more than 1,000 apartments for timeshare and full-time living. A Physiotherapy Medical Centre will provide thermal water healing, together with detox, physiotherapy and rehabilitation services. The complex will

Marriott International’s W Hotels brand has re-entered the Australian market with the opening of the W Brisbane, a new hotel that features fast-paced urban style and modern design with a “decidedly cheeky Aussie point of view”. Owned by Shayher Group, the 312-bedroom W Brisbane is located riverside in the city’s central business district. With interiors from Nic Graham & Associates, the hotel embraces Brisbane’s connection to Australian identity and uses

Marriott International has announced plans to debut its Westin brand in the UK, with Westin London City scheduled to open in 2020. Owned by 4C Hotel Group and managed by RBH, The Westin London City will boast a prime riverfront location in the heart of the City of London. The company said the hotel signing illustrates that the demand for wellbeing continues to propel Westin’s growth. Westin also has upcoming

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is to expand its luxury estate in the UK after securing a deal to rebrand and operate 13 upscale hotels. IHG will operate the properties on behalf of French real estate group Foncière des Régions (FdR), which acquired the hotels from an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group for a reported US$1.1bn (£830m) earlier this month. The deal will see IHG introducing its boutique brand, Kimpton Hotels

The Ace Hotel Group has announced it will open its first property in Japan, with architect Kengo Kuma commissioned to design a “monument to the beauty and unique legacy of Kyoto”, transforming the city’s 92-year-old former Central Telephone Office. The company has partnered with the Japanese NTT Urban Development Corporation to open the Ace Hotel Kyoto in winter 2019. Located on the former grounds of the imperial palace, the project

W Hotels Worldwide, owned by hospitality giant Marriott International, has opened a boutique property in Panama – the first W in Central America. The W Panama is situated in the newly-opened, 50-storey Evolution Tower located near Uruguay Street in the Panama City’s business district. The hotel’s design – created by Studio Gaia and the internal design team of W Hotels – was conceived to “blend centuries of history and culture

The hospitality arm of luxury goods giant Bvlgari has announced plans to open a hotel in Paris in 2020, bringing its international collection to eight properties. Italian design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Parisian architects Valode & Pistre are converting a historic building on Avenue George V – adjacent to the Champs Elysees in the famous and fashionable Triangle d’Or area of the French capital – into the 66-room

Rosewood Hotel Group has launched a new hotel brand, Khos, with a focus on the modern business traveller and inspired by “the energy, art, innovation, creativity, style and dynamism of modern-day Asia”. Derived from the Mongolian word meaning 'pair', Khos will be a global brand, with locations in capital cities, urban portals, business centres and resort destinations. The first Khos hotels will be announced in 2018 and opened later in

Como Hotels and Resorts is opening its third location in Bali in February 2018, the Como Uma Canggu. With 119 bedrooms, the Como Uma Canggu will be the brand’s 14th location worldwide and will include a Como Shambhala Retreat with seven treatment rooms. Asian-inspired therapies – including the signature Como Shambhala Massage, a deep-tissue massage – will be offered, along with yoga and Pilates classes and personal training at the

Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has blasted minimalist hospitality design trends in an interview with CLADglobal. Wanders – best known for his colourful and often surreal hotel collaborations with the likes of Morgans Hotel Group, Park Hyatt and sbe – argued that architects and designers working in the hotel sector “should add fun and value to people’s lives”. “If you love design enough to give your life to it – studying

European real estate investment platform Henderson Park has acquired two Hilton-operated hotels in London and Birmingham – signalling the group’s entry to the rapidly-growing UK hotel market. The deal, believed to be worth around £500m (US$646m, €545m), will see Henderson Park take control of two of the UK’s largest hotels. The Hilton London Metropole is the capital’s second largest hotel by room count and one of Hilton’s flagship hotels, housing

Northumberland’s long-awaited Landscape Discovery Centre and Youth Hostel at Hadrian’s Wall – known as “The Sill” – will open to the public this weekend (29 July) after more than three years of development for the British heritage attraction. Designed by Newcastle-based architects Jane Darbyshire and David Kendall (JDDK), the £14.8m (US$19.4m, €16.6m) project was given the go-ahead in October 2014, with the public opening to take place during National Parks’

Hospitality group AccorHotels has announced Dubai as the first Middle East location for its Mama Shelter hotel brand. French designer Philippe Starck will craft the interiors of the hotel, following the brand’s “trendy, boutique” image. It is set to open before 2020. AccorHotels announced Mama Shelter’s regional arrival during a panel at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference at the Madinat Jumeirah centre last month. “The idea is to create something

Acclaimed interior designer Lyndon Neri has told CLAD that our notions of personal space should be challenged, and urged designers to celebrate the idea of community. “Sometimes our celebration of isolation makes us insular and I think that’s dangerous,” he said in an exclusive interview. “We’re trained to think that we need to be separate. When we come home from work, we close our front door, we make sure we

Lux* Hotels is set to open a new resort and residences in Bodrum, Turkey next month, and has several projects in the pipeline, including new locations in the Maldives, Reunion Island and China. Lux* Bodrum is the company’s first resort in the Mediterranean, and has won the Silver Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design Category at Milan’s A’Design Awards. “Contrary to the traditional Mediterranean concept, we have taken

W Hotels Worldwide has launched a new concept for its European and North American hotel properties: a private music studio, writer’s room and lounge for musicians and producers to use while on the road. The W Sound Suite will soon open at the W Seattle, allowing hotel guests “to book the studio and live out their rockstar dreams.” The first of the suites opened at the W Bali Seminyak last

Asia’s best designed hotels have been celebrated at an awards ceremony held in Singapore. Winning design practices at the inaugural AHEAD Asia awards include Blu Water Studio, LTW Designworks and Tony Chi. Entries were assessed on aesthetics, guest experience and commercial viability by a panel of industry and design leaders. AHEAD – which stands for The Awards for Hospitality Experience and Design – is a new platform that has consolidated

The Delta Development Group has signed an initial agreement to drive forward plans for a Dutch-inspired theme park and leisure destination near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The scope of the project has also widened to include plans for on-site hotels providing up to 4,000 rooms. Delta signed the deal with the City of Haarlemmermeer, a large suburb south of Amsterdam and the municipality where Schiphol Airport is located. Concept drawings

Wanda Hotels & Resorts will become the first Chinese hotel management company to export one of its brands overseas, following an agreement to open a Wanda Vista property in Istanbul, Turkey. The company will act as the hotel operator, while Turkish development firm Mar Yapi will fund the project. It will be located close to the city’s busiest shopping district and a five-minute drive from Ataturk International Airport. Wanda Vista

W Hotels Worldwide has announced it is planning to to open a property in Melbourne, Australia, in 2020 as part of an ambitious and controversial mixed-use scheme. The lifestyle hotel brand, now part of Marriott International, has partnered with real estate firms Daisho Development Melbourne and Cbus Property to open the W Melbourne within Collins Arch – the forthcoming mixed-use AU$1bn (US$765.5m, €713m, £613.5m) luxury development designed by SHoP Architects

Luxury lifestyle hotel brand 1 Hotels has announced it will add a New York property to its portfolio in February 2017. 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, designed by local architecture studio Incorporated, is located at Pier 1 on Brooklyn Bridge Park, just south of the iconic river crossing. Designed following LEED guidelines to reflect the brand’s commitment to “environmentally responsible hospitality,” the 10-storey property features extensive use of reclaimed materials, including

The hotels of 2060 will self-assemble and morph from one design to another based on the votes of their guests, a leading futurist has predicted in a study on how the hospitality industry is likely to change over the next 43 years. Dr. James Canton of the Institute for Global Futures – a think tank that advises Global Fortune 500 companies on emerging trends in innovation and technology – predicts

Wellness resort operator Six Senses has revealed details about its upcoming five-location Bhutan project, scheduled to open in the second half of 2017. Each of the five individual satellite resorts are in separate locations, but packaged as a journey under one name: Six Senses Bhutan. With just 82 suites and villas distributed between five intimate lodges, the journey is designed to show guests the heritage and hospitality of the Kingdom

On the heels of its announcement of a new Luxury Brands Group, hotel giant Marriott International has outlined some of the nearly 30 new luxury hotels set to debut in 2017 under the St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Edition and JW Marriott brands. Tina Edmundson, global brand officer for Marriott, said that luxury travel has been up nearly 50 per