Category: HOTELS

AccorHotels has signed an agreement to acquire FRHI Holdings, parent of Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel. With the acquisition, AccorHotels, currently with 3,800 hotels, will become one of the key global players in the luxury and upscale hotel segment.

AccorHotels is buying the owner of luxury hotels including London’s Savoy and New York’s Plaza, in a cash-and-share deal worth $2.9 billion that will also raise the U.S. profile of Europe’s largest hotel group.

The deal, AccorHotels’ biggest, is the latest in a wave of acquisitions in a sector trying to fend off competition from online rivals such as Airbnb and will involve two major Gulf investors taking stakes in the French company.

Source: AccorHotels to acquire Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel

It turns out that the Capella chain is one of a growing number of hotels across the country that are getting rid of traditional check-in and check-out times in order to cater to today’s traveler. And it makes sense–don’t we all have a memory of being tired and bleary-eyed, nearly falling asleep in a hotel lobby while we waited for our room to be ready? It’s one major appeal of staying in an apartment or renting out an Airbnb–if your flight gets in at 6 a.m. and you didn’t sleep a wink, you can walk right in without waiting for a previous guest to vacate or the cleaning staff to finish sprucing up your room. Flexible check-in is also a dream for business travelers, who might have a meeting soon after arrival and would love the chance to shower, change clothes, and drop off their luggage.

Source: Why Hotel Check-Out Times May Become a Thing of the Past | Conde Nast Traveler