The Courtyard Charleston/Summerville in South Carolina, US is to be the first hotel built using Marriott International's 'green' hotel prototype. The development, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), will dramatically accelerate the company's goal to have 300 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotels by 2015. Marriott's prototype is the first in the hospitality industry to have been pre-approved by USGBC as part of its LEED

Luxury hotel operator Dorchester Collection is set to open a new country house hotel and eco-luxury spa, Coworth Park near Ascot, in September 2010. Set in 240 acres of Berkshire parkland, the 70-bedroom Coworth Park hotel is a restored Georgian Manor House and will be marketed as one of the UK's most environmentally-friendly hotels. Facilities include two restaurants, a fine-dining restaurant in the main house and a more informal restaurant

Work has begun on the £15m Hotel Indigo in Liverpool. The 151-bed, four-star hotel - which is partly being funded by a £10m package from the Co-operative Bank - is being built by Wigan-based contractor Denizen. The hotel will be owned and operated by north west development group Sanguine Hospitality. Nick Taplin, Sanguine's managing director, said: "Merseyside's tourism economy is worth over £1.4bn and rising. In spite of one of

The Heritage Wing of Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, which was damaged in a terrorist attack in November 2008, is to re-open on 1 July. The structure has undergone a complete restoration and refurbishment programme and the hotel - owned by Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces - has been renamed The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. Refurbishment work has taken place on the hotel's bars, restaurants and banqueting spaces,

The 82 room Arch London has opened in London's West End. The hotel is housed in a row of nine Georgian Grade II listed townhouses and features 82 rooms and suites over six floors. It also has a lounge and study, a cocktail bar, a restaurant and a library serving afternoon teas and martinis. The architecture was by Graham Seabrook Partnership, with interiors by RDD. The interiors mix modern technology

Plans to demolish Sunderland’s Rainton Meadows arena and build an £8.5m hotel, shopping and leisure development have been announced. The 2,000 capacity venue in Houghton le Spring, Sunderland, is owned by Roseberry Leisure, which according to the Sunderland Echo, now wants to knock it down in favour of a 120-bedroom hotel, a 90,000sq ft supermarket and a 3,000-seat arena at the Rainton Bridge Business Park. The firm has been working

Plans to transform a cinema and nightclub complex in Aberdeen into a hotel have been submitted. The proposals, drawn up by Glasgow-based Keppie Design, feature a new nine-storey hotel at the former site of the Chicago Rock and Jumpin’ Jaks properties. The Union Street building was also the former home of the Capitol Cinema. Keppie architect Jane Brewster said the plans could “bring life” back to the area.

Construction work on a new 73-bedroom base2stay hotel in Soho, London, is poised to get underway early next year after the project was given the green light by the local authority. Westminster City Council's planning committee approved plans for the five-storey development, which has been drawn up by London-based ADAM Architecture and incorporates a neo-classical design. base2stay - the hotel concept first unveiled in Kensington, London, in 2006 - was

Rezidor has reopened the former Hotel Ukraina in Moscow, USSR, as the Radisson Royal Hotel Moscow. The 206m-tall building is one of what are known as Josef Stalin's 'Seven Sisters' (Stalinskie Vysotki) skyscrapers, built between 1947 and 1953. Comprising a 34-story hotel building and two 11-storey apartment blocks, it stands on a bend in the Moscow River, across the water from the White House Parliament building. Following a three-year renovation,

The Armani Hotel Dubai in the UAE - the first hotel developed as a result of a collaboration between fashion designer Giorgio Armani SpA and Emaar Properties PJSC - has officially opened. Occupying floors concourse to eight and levels 38 and 39 within the the US$1.6bn (£1.05bn, €1.21bn) Burj Khalifa tower - the world's tallest building - the hotel offers 160 guest rooms and suites and eight restaurants. Leisure options

Electric Hotel - a new 'pop-up' temporary dance work designed to involve the audience in a voyeur role - is set to embark on a UK tour from 7 May. London's Sadler's Wells theatre and outdoor festival consortium Without Walls co-commissioned the performance, which will be taking place in a number of public open spaces. Debuting at Millennium Place in Norwich between 7-9 May, the Electric Hotel concept will see

English Heritage has pledged support for the £5.5bn renovation of London's Battersea Power Station, in a letter to Wandsworth Council. The news will be a welcome boost to Irish developers, Treasury Holdings, who, with their Rafael Viñoly-designed scheme, are the latest in a long line of firms that have tried to rejuvenate the site. The letter said: “As a long-standing 'Building at Risk', we welcome the plans for the reuse

Hotel operator Fairmont has revealed that London's Savoy Hotel will not reopen until late summer after a major renovation of the 120-year-old property hit further delays. A spokesperson for the company said it had yet to confirm a specific date for the relaunch, which was originally scheduled for May 2009 after the hotel closed in December 2007 to allow work to take place. Initial costs for the renovation project, which

Australia-based operator Art Series Hotels, unveiled its latest property on 10 March with the launch of the company's flagship Olsen Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. The AU$90m (£54.2m, €60.1m, US$82m) hotel, which was designed by Melbourne-based architects Rothelowman, is situated on the junction of Toorak Road and Daly Street in the suburb of South Yarra. Dedicated to Australian artist Dr John Olsen, the 16-storey property boasts 229 bedrooms, a glass-bottomed swimming

Architectural practice Foster + Partners has confirmed that the Hermitage Plaza mixed-use development for La Défense in Paris will open by the end of 2014. Designed by Foster + Partners, the twin tower buildings of Hermitage Plaza will take the form of interlocking triangles which face one another and enclose a large public piazza. As the towers rise, they will turn outwards to offer sweeping views across the city from

Small and medium-sized leisure businesses should find it easier to secure bank loans and funding, according to plans outlined by chancellor Alistair Darling in today's budget announcement. The budget - the last by chancellor Alistair Darling before the expected general election in May - will see Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds make £94bn available in business loans. Darling added that "at least half" of this will be made available

Wyndham Hotel Group and Cardiff-based developer Bayscape have unveiled plans for the construction of a new £60m waterfront hotel in Cardiff Bay. The two companies have signed a 25-year management deal for the 32-storey Wyndham Cardiff, which will become the tallest building in Wales at 127m (417ft) high. Located on a site adjacent to the International Sports Village and the new 350-berth Cardiff Marina, the property has been designed by

Hotel operator Park Plaza has launched the art'otel Cologne in Germany. The new build, 218-bedroom property is the seventh in the art'otel portfolio of boutique hotels. Facilities at the hotel include the Chino Latino restaurant and six meeting rooms. The chain's unique selling point is the interior design, which includes a vast amount of original art being exhibited at each hotel. For art'otel Cologne, Park Plaza worked with the Korean-born

Hotel operator Yotel has announced plans to move away from its international airport locations with the opening of a 669-bedroom property in the centre of New York, US. Inspired by first-class airline cabins, the Yotel Times Square pod hotel is set to boast 170sq ft (15.8sq m) rooms fitted with rain showers, mood lighting and the group's 'techno wall' - including flat screen television. The new property will form part

Property firm Heron International has unveiled plans to open a new restaurant and sky bar at the top of Heron Tower, set to become one of the tallest buildings in London. The 46-storey development, which is currently under construction, has been designed by architect Kohn Pedersen Fox and will be 230m (755ft) tall. Due for completion in March 2011, the tower will boast a 13,423sq ft (1,247 sq m) restaurant

The 878-room JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles - a cornerstone of the city's US$2.5bn (£1.6bn, €1.84bn) L.A. LIVE sports, residential and entertainment district - has opened. The 4m sq ft property, which plans to be LEED-certified, shares space with the 123-room Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles and The Ritz-Carlton Residences in a 54-storey tower designed by Gensler. One of the tallest mix-use buildings in downtown Los Angeles and situated opposite the Los

Ross Sanders, the founder of pub company Urban & Country Leisure (UCL), is to open a night club in London called "DIU". The entrepreneur has raised £2m in funding for the new venture, which will be run as a separate entity to the UCL estate. Located on Greek Street in the capital's Soho district, the club is scheduled to open in March. The interior of the club has been designed

Property company Frogmore has been given the green light to develop a new 80-bedroom hotel in central London, which will be run by restaurant operator D&D London as part of a 35-year lease agreement. Plans for the 72,000sq ft (6,689sq m) property, which were drawn up by Allies and Morrison, were approved by the London Borough of Islington and include a bar and grill and a rooftop restaurant and bar

InterContinental Hotels Group has opened what is its first sustainable hotel in Canada and the first of its type in Quebec. The Holiday Inn Express and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe has been built to meet the criteria of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System for its sustainable practices. In addition to featuring a high efficiency energy distribution system, an ultra-insulated building, and LED and low voltage

Jamie Oliver and New York chef Adam Perry-Lang are to open a new restaurant at One New Change in the City of London. The business will be headed up by restaurant operator, Kevin Bacon. The new venue, situated opposite St. Paul's Cathedral and due to open in October 2010, is as yet un-named and will also have a retail outlet. The One New Change building will also be offering eight

Glasgow's Grand Central Hotel, which was acquired by operator Principal Hayley, in spring 2009, is set to reopen in September, following the completion of a major £20m refurbishment scheme. When complete, the 350,000sq ft (32,516sq m) property will boast 240 bedrooms, a Champagne bar overlooking the city's Central Station, a deli, a restaurant and a bar, as well as 21 meeting rooms and the revamped Grand Ballroom of Glasgow. A

Hotel and restaurant group Whitbread has revealed plans to open its second green Premier Inn hotel and its first low-carbon restaurant. The launches are part of the group's Good Together corporate sustainability programme, which aims to cut carbon emissions by a quarter (26 per cent) by 2020. Whitbread will build a environmentally-friendly, 60-bedroom Premier Inn hotel in burgess Hill, West Sussex. Scheduled to open in Autumn 2010, the hotel has