GLA Hotels has opened Selman Marrakech hotel in Morocco - its first managed property in the Moroccan resort city. The 56-room Selman Marrakech was designed by French architect Jacques Garcia and is owned by the local Bennani Smires family of entrepreneurs. Facilities include the 1,200sq m (12,900sq ft) Espace Vitalite Chenot spa, which houses seven treatment rooms, four hydrotherapy rooms, a hammam, two outdoor heated pools and a relaxation pool.

Image: JW Marriott's new hotel in Santo Domingo Marriott International has announced that its luxury hotel brand, JW Marriott, is planning to open a new 131-bedroom property in the Dominican Republic - its first in the Caribbean. JW Marriott Santo Domingo is to be operated by the group under a management agreement with Grupo Velutini, the Panama-based subsidiary of Fondo de Valores Immobiliarios. A spa will form part of the

Image: The Yhi Spa's planned Vascular Path Meliá Hotels and Resorts, the Spain-based hospitality group, has announced its debut in the United Arab Emirates with the soft launch of the new 164-bedroom Meliá Dubai hotel. Located in the centre of Bur Dubai, the Marco Mangili -designed property is to open in two phases and includes the Titanic by Marco Pierre White restaurant offering European cuisine. The second phase will add

Image: Hyatt Regency Riyadh is to open in Q3 2013 Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced the signing of a new management agreement that will see a new 257-bedroom Regency-branded property open in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Due to launch in Q3 2013, Hyatt Regency Riyadh will be group's seventh hotel in Saudi Arabia and will include a male spa housing six treatment rooms among its facilities. The hotel - the result

Image: The Shard under construction last month HRH Prince Andrew will be among the dignitaries in attendance at the launch of The Shard - one of Europe's tallest mixed-use skyscrapers - in central London, UK, on 5 July. Qatari Prime Minister His Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani will be inaugurating the 310m (1,016 ft)-high development – designed by Renzo Piano – along with the Duke of

Hyatt Hotels Corporation is to open its first hotel in Cambodia after announcing the signing of a management agreement which will lead to the rebranding of a property in Siem Reap. The 107-bedroom Hotel De La Paix Siem Reap is to close on 30 June in order to receive an extensive renovation before reopening as the Park Hyatt Siem Reap during Q1 2013. Facilities at the hotel currently include the

Planning has been approved for a landmark £50m waterfront scheme at Ocean Village in Southampton. Southampton City Council planners approved MDL Marinas' 'super-yacht'-inspired project which includes a luxury spa hotel, a Michelin-starred restaurant and a rooftop champagne bar. MDL Marinas has teamed up with Harbour Hotels on the plans. The ground floor of the hotel will include a large open plan lounge, restaurant and bar which will extend out onto

The Seri Chenang Resort and Spa will open on the Malaysian island of Langkawi on 30 June. The privately-owned, RM5m (US$1.6m, 1.2m euro, £1m) boutique resort will offer accommodation in six luxury villas and also features a large spa villa. Created by the resort's owner, entrepreneur Dato Zainal Abidin, the design of each villa has been influenced by the architecture of traditional homes from six separate Malaysian states. The individual

Chapter Hotels, the UK-based hospitality operator unveiled in 2010, has announced plans to open its second property within a 19th century former Exeter hospital building on 25 June. The 59-bedroom Magdalen Chapter is to occupy the city's West England Eye Hospital after a sympathetic restoration led by Bath-based architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. Facilities will include The Spa, which will boast four treatment rooms offering massages and mini-treatments from locally-based

Atkins, the UK-based design and engineering consulting firm, has completed the masterplan for a major new world-class healthcare facility in Oman, The Medical City (TMC). TMC is the largest private healthcare infrastructure development in the country and is fronted by Apex Medical Group, with the complex to occupy an 800,000sq m (8.6 million sq ft) site by the Arabian Sea. Facilities will include a 375-bedroom hotel and a spa, although

Singapore-based developer KOP Properties has received planning permission to convert the landmark 10 Trinity Square building in central London into a new luxury development. Work is expected to get underway on the transformation of the Grade II*-listed property during the third quarter of this year, with the Woods Bagot -designed project also involving Beijing, China-based Reignwood Group. A 120-bedroom hotel; a spa; a members' club; 41 serviced residences; a restaurant;

Xiangshan Hot Spring and Wellness Center, a new US$25m (€19m, £16m) oceanfront spa and 'bathing attraction', is scheduled to open in China in August 2013. Located next to the Hilton Ningbo Xiangshan Resort, the centre is designed by US-based WATG and Thailand-based GOCO Hospitality and will incorporate a 6,000sq m (64,583sq ft) standalone building. The building will house 24 treatment rooms - including two suites and a spa pavilion. Meanwhile,

The Oetker Collection is to expand its portfolio of "masterpiece hotels" with the launch of the new Palais Namaskar Hotel and Spa in Marrakech, Morocco tomorrow (6 April). Built to follow the principles of Feng Shui, the hotel is nestled amid 50,000sq m (538,196sq ft) of scented Balinese-inspired gardens that are complemented by waterfalls and lakes. Facilities include the 650sq m (6,997sq ft) Le Spa Namaskar, which includes four individual

Austria-based Loisium Wine and Spa Resorts will open its second spa hotel in Ehrenhausen, Southern Styria, Austria in June. The 105-bedroom hotel will include a Wine Spa, two wine-themed restaurants and a wine bar. The 1,400sq m (15,000sq ft) spa will have eight treatment cabins - including two couples' suites - a relaxation area, a sauna area with five saunas, heated outdoor pool with experience showers and a fitness zone

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced the launch of its first Park Hyatt-branded property located in an Indian city with the 185-bedroom and 24-suite Park Hyatt Hyderabad. The eight-storey hotel has been designed by John Portman and Associates and includes The Spa, which is inspired by the royal Nizams of Hyderabad and has five treatment rooms. Each of the treatment rooms are equipped with separate bath areas, while a Swedish sauna;

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has opened a new Vivanta by Taj-branded spa resort in northern Kerala, India. The 25-acre (10-hectare) The Vivanta by Taj, Bekal resort is home to the Jiva Grande Spa, which is spread over 165,000sq ft (15,000sq m). Spa facilities include single and double treatment rooms; beauty treatment rooms; meditation and yoga pavilions; relaxation pools; and a large health and fitness club. All treatment rooms have

International resort operator Club Med has announced the reopening of its resort in Phuket, Thailand, following the completion of an extensive renovation of the property. The resort is located amid 25 hectares (62 acres) of palm grove on Kata Bay beach and has received a comprehensive redesign led by France-based Marc Hertrich and Nicolas Adnet. Club Med Phuket has been transformed under the Magic of Lights theme, which is derived

Vietnam's Six Senses Con Dao Resort has been named among the winners at the MIPIM Awards 2012. Six Senses Con Dao in Ba-Ria, Vietnam, was named Best Hotel and Tourism Resort. It was designed by Stéphanie Ledoux and Réda Amalou's France-based practice, AW2. Indochina Land was the developer behind the resort, which comprises a Six Senses Spa with four indoor treatment rooms; a Thai therapy room; and three outdoor treatment

International spa company ESPA has announced the first of its planned cultural partnerships for 2012 with the sponsorship of the annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in Hyde Park, London, UK. The pavilion is a temporary structure commissioned annually by the Serpentine Gallery to provide a showcase for contemporary architectural practice. This year, the gallery has been designed in partnership by Chinese artist and architect Ai Weiwei and Swiss architects Herzog &

A new 81-bedroom hotel is to open at the independently-owned Mere Golf Resort and Spa near Knutsford, Cheshire, this weekend to mark the completion of a £15m redevelopment. Mather and Co worked on three parts of the scheme, which has included the interior design of the new hotel - an extension to the resort's original golf club building. The Cheshire-based consultancy also carried out interior design work on a 1,253

Sofitel Luxury Hotels, a division of France-based hospitality group Accor, has announced the opening of its latest So-branded hotel with the new Sofitel So Bangkok, Thailand. Thai architect Smith Obayawat and five Thai interior designers teamed up with France-based fashion designer Christian Lacroix to devise a concept based around five elements. All 238 bedrooms and suites incorporate the elements of water, earth, wood and metal, while the dining and restaurant

Architects Foster + Partners have confirmed that the Hermitage Plaza, a mixed-use development planned for Paris, France has been granted 'permis de construire' - the final approval. The result of a close collaboration with EPAD, the City of Courbevoie, Atelier de Paysage Urbain and Département de Hauts-de-Seine, the project is intended to inject life into the area east of La Défense by creating a sustainable, high-density community. The project incorporates

Bianca Sharma, a US-based businesswoman, is to launch a new boutique hotel and spa within a former a 17th century monastery on Italy's Amalfi Coast in May. Sharma, who is also a director of the Sharma Foundation, acquired the building after visiting the region in 1999 and has taken more than 10 years to transform the historic property. Howard Consulting has worked on the conversion of the building into the

London's historic Café Royal will reopen in June as a member of The Set, a newly-unveiled hotel collection established by Alfred and Georgi Akirov, following an extensive renovation. David Chipperfield Architects and Donald Insall Associates have overseen a comprehensive facelift of the Regent Street property, which has been carried out over the last three years. Among the new additions to the 159-bedroom hotel is the 800sq m (8,611sq ft) Akasha

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced that one of its affiliates has signed a management agreement for Thailand's landmark Park Hyatt Bangkok, which is due to open in 2014. The deal has been signed for Central Embassy - a wholly-owned mixed-use scheme owned by the Central Group of Companies - and will see the hotel located in the heart of the city. Park Hyatt Bangkok will be housed in an iconic

A new spa including seven treatment rooms and relaxation areas is to open in Suffolk, UK, after plans to convert an existing art gallery were given the go ahead by the local authority. Lavenham's Wildlife Art Gallery is linked to the historic Swan Hotel building and is to be transformed into the 528sq m (1,732sq ft) spa, with the gallery to move to another site. The scheme also incorporates two

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has announced a new 344-bedroom property will open at the 103-storey Guangzhou International Finance Center, China, later this year. Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou will occupy floors 69-98 of the Wilkinson Eyre Architects -designed tower, which stands 440m (1,444ft) tall and overlooks the Pearl River Delta. Among hotel's facilities will be the Hua Spa, which will be situated on the 69th floor and will comprise nine