GLOBAL UPDATE
THE GOSTELOW REPORT
New York City recently has risen to the top of the “ want ” list of Peter French , president of Raffles Hotels & Resorts , Singapore . French ’ s additional main priorities include London and Tokyo , followed by the Maldives , Myanmar and Doha . It is relevant that Qatar , via its Katara sovereign fund , now owns two of French ’ s signature Raffles properties — Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris and the original Raffles Hotel , Singapore .
Katara also has 30 % of Parisbased Eatertainment Group , which includes Georges V Restauration and Buddha-Bar Hotels , Resorts & Spas . Tarja
MARY GOSTELOW
Visan , whose late husband Raymond Visan conceived and led these brands , is now CEO ( together with Gérard Guez , a Visan business partner from the start ). The next Buddha-Bar hotel could be a 50- to 70-room hotel in the Armenian capital , Yerevan ( the owner of this project is also interested in doing a Buddha-Bar hotel in California , which has a sizeable population of Armenian immigrants ). They are keen to talk to developers in cities such as New York , London and — not surprisingly , since the hotels feature Shanghai-1930s design — Shanghai .
Bangkok-based Minor
International Chairman Bill Heinecke ’ s overall goal for his Anantara brand is a crescent shape , from Africa through to Australia . In Sub-Saharan Africa he is looking in the west , specifically at Nigeria . In the east , he would like Rwanda and more in Kenya and Tanzania , where he already has a 50-50 partnership with The Elewana Collection , Arusha , Tanzania , which has six properties in Tanzania and two in Kenya .
Interestingly , crimes such as the August 25 murder — on site — of the manager of the Kenya lodge Lolldaiga Hills , where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge became engaged , seem to do nothing to dent developers ’ enthusiasm for that country .
LOBBY ARTIST
Guests could visit artist John Waguespack in his “ studio ” in the lobby of The Fairmont San Francisco .
To make hotel stays more experiential and locally infused , showing off the work of local artists has been a hot trend for a few years now . The Fairmont San Francisco took it a step further this past July by allowing artist-in-residence John Waguespack to set up his studio in the hotel ’ s lobby .
Visitors were able to view Waguespack ’ s latest works , including Novum Aurora , which Waguespack created for the hotel ’ s permanent art collection . Novum Aurora is reflective of the hotel ’ s legacy as the birthplace of the United Nations ; in 1945 , world leaders drafted the UN Charter in the hotel ’ s Garden Room .
Waguespack also began work on two pieces in the lobby , and several guests visited him to see how his work was progressing .
16 HOTELS October 2013 www . hotelsmag . com