Hotel Openings

🏨 Premier Inn and Lechner Group plan to develop a 202-room hotel in Frankfurt Gateway Gardens, near the airport, with a 40-space underground car park. Construction in De-Saint-Exupéry-Straße is scheduled to start in summer 2025 and finish within 18 months. They also collaborate on a 174-room hotel in Eschborn, starting December 2024, with completion expected in May 2026. Modular construction will be used, allowing room installation in just two months after the ground floor is built.

🍳 Award-winning Chef Regi Mathew, with 30 years of experience and two restaurants in India, opened his first U.S. restaurant, Chatti, in New York City on Feb. 12, south of Times Square. Inspired by Kerala's toddy shops, Mathew researched for over three years, visiting 70 toddy shops and 265 homes in Kerala. Chatti seats 80 guests, plus 70 in a mezzanine party room, and features a 10-seat private dining area. The menu offers seafood, vegetarian and non-vegetarian curries, fermented palm wine-inspired cocktails, and desserts like spicy bird’s eye chile ice cream.

🍴 Restaurateurs John Resnick and chef Eric Bost to open Lilo on April 17 in Carlsbad, Calif., a 22-seat restaurant featuring global coastal dishes, housed in a former boogie board factory. Lilo joins their other establishments: Campfire, Jeune et Jolie, Sister Spot, and Wildland. It offers a 12-course tasting menu starting at $265, created with chefs Dusan Todic and Madeline Biehl. The menu includes canapés and dry-aged dishes, curated by wine director Savannah Riedler and beverage director Andrew Cordero. Design by Bells + Whistles, Lilo is located at 2571 Roosevelt St., open Tuesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. PDT.

📌 stayAPT Suites announced a franchise agreement with Destiny Partners, LLC/Destiny Hospitality, LLC to open five new locations in Pennsylvania. The towns include Lancaster, Reading, York, Bethlehem, and Allentown, with construction of the Lancaster property starting in spring 2025. This hotel will have 94 rooms. Gary A. DeLapp highlighted the expansion's importance. Shakher Patel of Destiny Partners praised stayAPT's business model and guest experience. The brand targets various guests like business travelers and relocating families.

🎶 Under the Counter, a listening bar in Soho, launches Friday, 18th April with a soft launch featuring £5 cocktails on 18th & 19th April from 5-12pm. Executive Chef Kemal Demirasal and Bar Manager Joao Silva bring bold Turkish flavours and high-quality music, with a 30-cover bar and a menu of spice-themed cocktails and shareable small plates. The venue sports a Michell Gyrodec turntable, Klipsch speakers, and will host DJs like Tall Nico and myanalogjournal, operating Thursdays through Saturdays.

🏠 Hilton will debut the Waldorf Astoria Texas Hill Country and its Residences in Fredericksburg, Texas, set to open in 2027. Managed by Hilton, the new resort will feature 60 guestrooms, 37 villas (as 74 additional keys), and 50 private residences. The property will also include five food and beverage outlets, an 11,000-square-foot spa, two pools, and 6,000 square feet of meeting space. Located less than a mile from downtown Fredericksburg, the resort is within a prominent wine region with over 100 wineries.

🎭 Angad Arts Hotel in St. Louis, now part of Hilton's Tapestry Collection, offers 146 rooms and membership access to Hilton Honors. Owned by New + Found and designed by Lawrence Group, with Schulte Hospitality Group operating, the hotel allows guests to choose rooms by color to match emotions. Upgrades include a redesigned 12th-floor check-in, refreshed fitness center, new sundry shop with local items, modernized guest room tech, and bathroom amenities. Local artists within 200 miles feature their art, which is purchasable online.