A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to mark the start of work on a major £180m regeneration scheme in Canning Town, London. The 680,000sq ft (63,174sq m) Rathbone Market development will include 49,000sq ft (4,552sq m) of retail space and cafés and a new market square. Sisk has been appointed by English Cities Fund (ECF) to deliver the scheme, which will also include a 21-storey building to provide an 'iconic

The Rezidor Hotel Group has revealed that the 138-room Hotel Missoni Belek, Antalya, Turkey is to open in 2013. The Hotel Missoni brand debuted in 2009, with each hotel being personally designed by Rosita Missoni of the Missoni fashion house. The first property opened in Edinburgh, Scotland, and others are under development in Kuwait, Oman and Brazil. Hotel Missoni Belek, Antalya - with 110 guestrooms and 28 villas - will

A 200-bedroom, 22,000sq m luxury hotel is being planned for the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park in Abastumani, Georgia. Located on the southern slope of the Meskheti Range, the Aghobili Hotel has been designed by Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects in collaboration with consulting engineers Buro Happold. Aghoboli, which will integrate part of an existing hotel, will also boast conferencing facilities, a spa with mineral water pools and a swimming pool. Anders

A new beachfront spa is to be created at the independently owned Le Sereno hotel on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy as part of a wider US$10m (£6.4m, EUR7.7m) investment plan. The Spa at Le Sereno is being developed in partnership with product house La Ligne St Barth and is set to incorporate a mixture of indoor and outdoor spaces. Two individual spa suites; a couple's suite; and a

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has completed work on a refurbishment of the spa facilities at its property in Miami, US. The remodelling of the spa, which was carried out to help mark its 10th anniversary, has been designed by Robert D Henry Architects. A spa welcome reception and a retail boutique form part of the venue's public areas, while the private areas incorporate separate relaxation lounges for men and women.

India-based Taj Hotels, a subsidiary of the Indian Tata Group, has reopened Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, India, as a luxury spa hotel. Originally built in 1884, the former royal residence is spread across 32 acres of gardens and has undergone a 10-year restoration. The palace offers 60 luxurious rooms, a 10,000sq ft (930sq m) Royal Jiva-branded spa, two restaurants and an outdoor pool. The initial design of the Spa was

Emirates Sunland Group (ESG) has announced that its AED2.3bn (€480m, US$630m, £402m) Palazzo Versace Dubai is now 80 per cent complete. The luxury hotel will boast 169 private residences and 213 super-luxury hotel suites, with a range of furniture and furnishings exclusively designed by Versace. Facilities will include a Salus Per Aquum-branded luxury spa, health club, ballroom, restaurants and convention facilities and Versace boutique, all set in landscaped grounds. The

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has approved developer Peel Holdings' plans for the £4.5bn transformation of Wallasey and Birkenhead Docks. Wirral Waters is one of the largest planning applications in the UK and was given the go ahead by Wirral Council in August, but had to go before the government. However, Pickles' decision to opt against calling in the scheme for further review means that a public inquiry will not be

Outline planning permission has been granted for the development of a new £55m golf, hotel and residential development near Broughty Ferry, Dundee. Local entrepreneur Mike Forbes' proposals for The Angus, which have been drawn up by architects Archial, have been given the green light by planning officials at Angus Council. An international competition-standard, 18-hole championship golf course designed by Darren Clarke is at the heart of the scheme, along with

The first property in Marriott's Editions boutique hotel chain has opened on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. The hotel has been designed by architects George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg and the team also inlcuded landscape designer Deborah Nevins. The brand, first announced in 2007, is being rolled out in partnership with hotelier Ian Schrager who is acting as creative director. Further editions will open in Istanbul in 2011, then Barcelona, Bangkok,

Albert Roux and Michel Roux Jr have unveiled a new restaurant at The Langham, London - the first time the father and son pair have worked together in 19 years. Roux at The Landau - the David Collins-designed signature restaurant - follows the opening of Roux at Parliament Square in May. Chris King has been appointed chef de cuisine at the new restaurant, having completed an apprenticeship and worked at

Hyatt Hotels and Extell Development Corporation are to introduce the Park Hyatt luxury brand to New York with a newly-constructed hotel designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc. Park Hyatt New York will be located at 157 West 57th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, opposite Carnegie Hall. Slated for completion in 2012, the 210-room hotel will be part of a 90-storey mixed-use tower that will

Chef Marcus Wareing will open a flagship restaurant at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London in London’s Kings Cross. To be called Gilbert Scott - after the architect who designed the 1873 Victorian St Pancras building - the 120-cover, 6,700sq ft British brasserie will be Wareing's second in London. The building – including the restaurant – is due to reopen as the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel on 5 May. David

An entire Roman landscape has been discovered a few feet underground at Grade I listed Syon Park, West London. The find, by Museum of London Archaeology, followed excavations in August 2008 ahead of the construction of the new London Syon Park, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, set to open in early 2011. Revealed were a section of a road linking London with Silchester; a rural settlement; a tributary of the Thames;

Preparatory work is now underway in the Southwater area of Telford, Shropshire to clear the site ahead of a major £250m regeneration scheme. Tree works are being carried out around the edge of Southwater Lake and outside Meeting Point House to allow earthworks to be undertaken ahead of the main build phase. Telford and Wrekin Council (TWC) is yet to appoint a main contractor for the Southwater development, which will

London-based Arab Investments' City and Country Hotels is to launch a new 36-suite luxury hotel in Knightsbridge, London. The Wellesley hotel will be marketed as the capital's first six-star hotel and will be developed at a cost of £36m by Fox Linton and Rhimesong. The property was formerly commercial offices in Arab Investments property portfolio. The hotel is scheduled to open in November 2012 and will include a 28-cover Italian

Starwood Hotels & Resorts' brand St. Regis has debuted in the Caribbean with the opening of The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico. The 483-acre (195.5 hectares) resort is located on a former coconut plantation, between the El Yunque rainforest and the Espiritu Santo River, and features - among other things - its own private bird sanctuary with Audubon's Gold Signature Sanctuary certification. Designed by architects Hill Glazier, the

Plans for the development of a new four-star hotel adjacent to the O2 Arena in Greenwich, South London, have received the green light from councillors. AEG Europe, the operator of the O2 Arena, submitted its plans in February for the 452-bedroom hotel, which will also include 100 serviced apartments overlooking the Thames. The Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands-designed hotel is to boast a ballroom and special events space; a restaurant; a 447sq

The independently-owned Mere Golf and Country Club near Knutsford in Cheshire will launch a £4m day spa early next year. The Spa at The Mere will boast seven treatment rooms, a large indoor pool, hammam, rasul, a hydrotherapy area, an aroma steamroom, a caldarium and a salt infusion room. The holistic treatments will be supplied by Carita and Aromatherapy Associates and packages include facials, massages, body wraps, hot stones, mud

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG) has signed an agreement to manage a new, luxury hotel currently under construction in Pudong, Shanghai. Scheduled to open in 2013, Mandarin Oriental Pudong will feature 362 guestrooms and 210 serviced apartments and will form part of 'Harbour City' a 25-hectare mixed use development in the heart of the Lujiazui Central Financial District. The hotel has been designed by architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica and

Leisure sector organisations have issued a mixed response to the chancellor's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) published yesterday (20 October). George Osborne announced a 25 per cent cut in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) budget, which will run over the course of the review period to 2014-15. Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted it was a 'good settlement' and will help enable the government to "protect our sporting and

Conference and events business imago, a wholly owned subsidiary of Loughborough University, is preparing to re-open The Link Hotel clos to the university campus. The £1.5m project has resulted in the former Quality Hotel being completely refurbished. As part of the work, the interior of the hotel has been designed by former Loughborough University student James Deakin, who is currently brand manager for hotel interior specialist Furnotel. Kay England, chief

The iconic Shanghai Club Building has reopened as a Waldorf Astoria hotel following a comprehensive redevelopment of the property. The 269-bedroom Waldorf hotel commands the space that previously housed the prestigious Correspondent's Club, which in its heyday boasted bowling alleys, restaurants, an oyster bar, games rooms, barber's shop and two wine cellars. Its fabled Long Bar, extending 35 metres, was once the longest bar in the world. The neo-classical building

UK-based architect Dexter Moren Associates (DMA) is to begin work on the £100m, 350-bed Wadi Alswani luxury resort on the Libyan coast later this year. DMA was chosen for the project after attending a visit to the country organised by British Expertise - a private sector member organisation for British companies set up to assist UK companies to find work abroad. The Wadi Alswani Resort will provide 350 luxury rooms

Holland-based hotel operator citizenM is to launch its third property - and its first outside Amsterdam - on 9 September with the opening of a 198-bedroom site in Glasgow. Located on the corner of Hope and Renfrew Streets in the heart of the city, the group's new property has been developed in partnership with the Amsterdam-based architectural firm, concrete. Guests will enter the eight-storey citizenM Glasgow through a double-height, glazed

A 50,000sq ft (4,645sq m) sports, lifestyle and entertainment complex will be a feature of the new 369-room JW Marriott Marquis Miami when it opens in October. The facility - on the hotel's 19th and 20th floors - will include a 10,000sq ft (929sq m) multi-use arena which can convert into an NBA approved basketball court, a full- size tennis court or an event space. Also on offer will be

US-based luxury hotel operator Morgans Hotel Group has announced that it has had to procure additional funding to complete the development of its Mondrian hotel in SoHo, New York, US. Morgans has amended the debt financing on the property with its lender - subsidiaries of CapitalSource - to "provide for extensions" of the maturity date of the mortgage loan. In addition to the new funds, Morgan's partner in the joint