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JW Marriott

Colombia’s Hotel Boom Continues

República-Portafolio-Dinero, June 23, July 30 and August 12-18, 2010

Two years after having announced its arrival in Colombia, Marriott opened its doors in mid-2010 to its second hotel in Bogotá through the JW Marriott brand, considered the most luxurious brand of the hotel group.

Executives of the chain argued that the improvement in security and the economy continue to be the two most important aspects to investing in Colombia, and announced the development of new hotel and commercial projects in different cities around the country.

Currently, the multinational is studying projects of large magnitude in the Courtyard category, with more discreet luxuries, in Cali, Bucaramanga and Cartagena. In Cartagena they are looking at the possibility of finding a lot to develop, preferably, within the historic, walled city.

Another case is that of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which announced the signing of an agreement with Espacios Urbanos S.A., headquartered in Colombia, to manage a new property of InterContinental in Cartagena, Colombia. The hotel will be the 23rd property of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in Latin America and the Caribbean (19 open and 4 in construction).

The project’s inauguration is expected at the beginning of 2010. It will have 280 rooms and will be located in the Bocagrande neighborhood, just two miles from the historic, walled city.

The hotel will be one of the pillars of Nao Fun Shopping, a mixed commercial complex of 215,000 square feet, which will include a casino, high-end shopping, a movie theater and restaurants.

A third case is that of the hotel brand Holiday Inn Express, which announced the construction of its second hotel in the city of Bogotá. The construction will begin in the first semester of 2011, will have 95 rooms, and will open its doors at the end of 2012.

Similarly, the French hotel group Accor constructed its first Hotel Ibis in Bogotá with an investment of USD 16 million. Furthermore, it announced the opening of a second hotel in Medellín with an investment close to USD 14 million.

After the arrival of Ibis, the hotel group Accor will once again be making headlines with the inauguration of two more brands: a Hotel Novotel in Bogotá and a Hotel Pullman in Cartagena.

Including the Ibis hotel in Medellín, the construction of which is expected to begin shortly, the Accor Group has plans ready to construct nine hotels in Colombia. In the case of the Hotel Ibis, the group is contemplating opening hotels in Pereira, Bucaramanga and Cartagena.

Finally, very close to the Cerrejón mine in the Guajira, in the municipality of Albania, Oxo Hotel along with Contempo, Abacus Capital and Edificadora Gómez will develop a hotel that will be the first “Leed” certified hotel in Colombia, which is the US “green seal” that certifies the environmental sustainability of the project.