Fairmont Hotels and Resorts explained

Fairmont Hotel & Resorts
Type:Subsidiary
Predecessor:Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts
Fairmont Hotels Management
Foundation:2001
Location City:Toronto, Ontario
Location Country:Canada
Area Served:Worldwide
Industry:Hospitality
Services:Luxury hotels
Parent:Accor

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotel that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada.[1]

The company originated from two hotel businesses established in the late 19th century, the Canadian Pacific Limited-owned Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts, and Fairmont Hotels. In 1999, Canadian Pacific Hotels acquired a majority interest in Fairmont Hotels; with Canadian Pacific Hotels later renaming its entire hotel portfolio under the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts banner in 2001. Shortly after the hotel division was renamed, Canadian Pacific Limited was split into several smaller companies in a starburst move, with Fairmont becoming a separately-traded company.

In 2006, Fairmont was acquired by Colony Capital, who subsequently entered into a joint partnership with the Kingdom Holding Company; consolidating Fairmont with their other hotel brands, Raffles and Swissôtel to form Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI). FRHI in turn became a subsidiary of AccorHotels in 2016.

History

Predecessors (1886–1999)

Canadian Pacific Hotels

See main article: Canadian Pacific Hotels. Canadian Pacific Hotels (CP Hotels) began as a division of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Hotels department. The division operated a series of hotels along CPR's rail lines as early as 1886. Many of these resort hotels were built and operated by the railway's hotel department, while a few were later acquired from Canadian National Hotels, a hotel division of the Canadian National Railway. Over the years, a collection of grand railway hotels was put together throughout Canada, both rural and urban. By the 1980s, CP Hotels' collection included the Chateau Lake Louise, the Banff Springs Hotel, the Château Frontenac, the Empress Hotel, the Palliser Hotel, the Fairmont Royal York, and others. In addition to its properties in Canada, the hotel chain operated a few hotels outside Canada, with properties in Germany, Israel, Mexico, and the United States.

CPR's rival Grand Trunk Railway and later Canadian National Railway copied Van Horne's approach by building hotels such as the Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, Alberta, and the Château Laurier in Ottawa. CPR purchased Canadian National Hotels, Canadian National Railway's hotel division in 1988, making CP Hotels the nation's largest hotel owner. In the 1990s, CP Hotels began to expand and purchased the Canadian Delta Hotels chain and the international Princess Hotels chain in 1998, which became wholly owned subsidiaries of CP Hotels. In 1999, the CP Hotels purchased the San Francisco-based Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain.

Fairmont Hotels

During the 1890s, James Graham Fair bought the land where the Fairmont San Francisco now stands, the first hotel to bear the Fairmont namesake. The nearly completed structure survived the earthquake of 1906. Although heavily damaged by the subsequent fires, the hotel was renovated under the eye of architect Julia Morgan and finally opened in 1907. In 1926, the Penthouse Suite was created with three secret passageways to access it. In 1945, the Fairmont San Francisco was acquired by Benjamin Swig. Beginning in the 1960s, the Swig family developed Fairmont into a small chain of luxury hotels throughout the United States. Operating as Fairmont Hotels Management, the hotel chain acquired, and built a number of hotel properties. The chain acquired the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans in 1965, renaming it the Fairmont Roosevelt, and then Fairmont New Orleans. The Fairmont San Jose was opened by the hotel chain in 1987.[2] The company assumed management of the Plaza Hotel in New York in 1995[3] and purchased the Copley Plaza Hotel in 1996, renaming it The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel. By 1998, the company managed seven properties in the United States.[4]

In addition to those properties, the company also operated the Colony Square Hotel in Atlanta as Fairmont Colony Square Hotel from its opening in 1974 to 1977,[5] and The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia as Fairmont Philadelphia from 1979 to 1980.

Merger (1999–2001)

In April 1999, Canadian Pacific Hotels, Kingdom Hotels International and Maritz Wolff & Co. bought Fairmont Hotels Management L.P., with Canadian Pacific Hotels holding the majority of the shares (67%).[6]

In 2001, Canadian Pacific Limited, the parent company of both Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts, and Canadian Pacific Railway, was reorganized. During this reorganization, Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts was renamed to Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, using the name of the company it had purchased in 1999.[7] The newly re-organized Fairmont company transferred several properties to its Delta Hotels subsidiary, although it retained most of the "signature" hotels and resorts under the new Fairmont banner.

Later that year in October 2001, Canadian Pacific Limited spun off all of its subsidiary companies into separately traded "independent" companies, including Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.[8] Companies like Fairmont Hotels and Resorts were split into smaller companies in a 2001 "starburst" move designed to increase the valuations of its individual divisions.

Fairmont Hotel and Resorts (2001–present)

In the early 2000s, Fairmont multiplied its openings in the United States.[9] In 2001, Fairmont introduced the Willow Stream Spa prototype, a $7 million 2-floor 8,000-square-foot spa located inside the Fairmont Empress Hotel. The signature spa brand was then implemented in many of Fairmont's locations.[10] In July 2001, Fairmont Hotels signed a joint-venture with Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for a minority-stake purchase and the management of a luxury 393-room hotel in Dubai. The Fairmont Dubai property was the first Fairmont branded hotel in the Middle East.[11] In 2003, Fairmont introduced Fairmont Heritage Place, a chain of timeshare hotels, with the first opening in Mexico.[12]

In 2004, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. paid $70 million to take full control of the management company that runs its properties. Then in early 2006, a cluster of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was sold for US$3.9 billion to Colony Capital, LLC.[13] [14] As a result of that purchase, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was united with Raffles Hotels and Resorts and Swissôtel to form Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), though the four chains still operate under their individual names.In April 2010, Kingdom Hotels sold 22% of its shares of FRHI (from 58% to 35%) to Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment, giving them 40% of FRHI and became the second largest shareholder of the company. The remaining 60% belonged to a private shares holding in Sweden, trusted in ACCOR hotels, and other investors.[15] The Middle East became Fairmont's new target market,[16] [17] where Fairmont opened in the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel in 2010 and at the Palm Jumeirah in 2012.[18] In Asia, Fairmont reopened the Peace Hotel in Shanghai in 2010,[19] opened in Baku’s Flame Towers in 2011,[20] and opened its first hotel in India in 2012.[21] In the USA, Fairmont acquired the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, California in 2014.[22]

In 2015, AccorHotels, with the approval and support of the external party, announced the acquisition of FRHI, thus adding Raffles Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont and Swissôtel to its Luxury Hotel Brands portfolio.[23] Acquiring Fairmont Hotels & Resorts enabled the French hotel group to gain greater access to the lucrative North American market.[24]

In 2015, Fairmont stated it would invest in two new hotels in Egypt,[25] in addition to its existing Fairmont hotel located in Cairo.[26]

In 2017, Fairmont opened the Fairmont Quasar Istanbul, its first hotel in Turkey.[27]

In 2019, Fairmont opened its first South American hotel in Brazil.

In 2021, Fairmont opened the Fairmont Taghazout Bay hotel in Morocco,[28] and the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in South Korea.

Properties

The following is a non-exhaustive list of hotels and resorts managed by company.

Photo Name City Country Founded Management assumed by Fairmont
Canada 1887 2001
China 2009 2009
United States 1966 2021
Canada 1890 2001
Canada 1912 2001
Fairmont Copley PlazaBostonUnited States19122001
Canada 1908 2001
Fairmont Hotel MacdonaldEdmontonCanada19152001
Canada 1939 2001
Germany 1897 2007
Canada 1922 2001
Canada 1893 2001
Canada 1930 2001
Canada 1929 2001
Switzerland 1837 2006
United States 1921 2001
Monaco 1975 2005
Egypt 2010 2010
United States 1924 2003
United States 1990 2002
Canada 2010 2010
Canada 1914 2001
China 1956 2010
Canada 1929 2001
United States 1907 2001
Kenya 1904 2004
United Arab Emirates 2012 2012
Canada 1958 2001
Barbados 1987 2001
Singapore 1986 2007
United Kingdom 2001 2006
United States 1985 2002
Bermuda 1885 2001
Fairmont SouthamptonSouthamptonBermuda19722001
Fairmont JaipurJaipurIndia20122012
United States 1907 2001
United Kingdom 1889 2004
United Kingdom 1834 Opening 2024

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Find a Hotel. Discover the best of each destination . Fairmont . 23 January 2022.
  2. Web site: Downtown San Jose's Fairmont Hotel to be sold for $250 million. Digital First Media. The Mercury News. Avalos. George. 15 December 2017. 8 October 2018.
  3. Web site: Trump Sells Majority Stake in Plaza Hotel. 12 April 1995. Los Angeles Times. 8 October 2018.
  4. Web site: Looking Beyond Our Borders. Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts Inc. 1998 Annual Report. 3. 8 October 2018. 1999. Canadian Pacific Ltd..
  5. Web site: After 50 years, is Colony Square finally ready to grow up?. Atlanta. 23 June 2016. Green. Josh. 6 October 2018.
  6. Web site: CP Hotels buys stake in U.S. hotel manager. CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 April 1999. 12 September 2018.
  7. Web site: CP hotels take Fairmont name. The Globe and Mail. 12 September 2018. The Globe and Mail Inc.. 9 December 2000.
  8. News: CP spinoff destined to put Fairmont on the map. The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc.. 12 September 2001. Jang. Brent. 22 August 2001 .
  9. Web site: Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Forbes.com. 5 May 2004. 2 October 2017.
  10. Web site: Willow stream spa, Victoria. Theglobeandmail.com. 31 May 2003. Jeremy Ferguson. 2 October 2017.
  11. Web site: Fairmont Acquires Minority Stake in 393-room Luxury Business Hotel Project in Dubai; Will Manage the Hotel Upon Completion. Hotel-online.com. 16 June 2001. 2 October 2017.
  12. Web site: Fairmont Heritage Place. Fairmont.com. 2017. 1 October 2017.
  13. http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/print/GAM/20060131/RCP31 globeinvestor.com: "Fairmont lagged others in CP 'starburst'"
  14. Web site: Saudi Prince, Colony Capital Buy Fairmont Hotels for $3.9B. Foxnews.com. 30 January 2006. 2 October 2017.
  15. Web site: Kingdom Holding Sells Stake in Raffles . dealbook.nytimes.com. 5 April 2010 . 20 September 2012.
  16. News: Fairmont to hire near 3,000 staff for new hotels. Arabian Business. 18 December 2011. Elizabeth Broomhall. 2 October 2017.
  17. News: Fairmont Raffles eyes new hotels in Saudi Arabia, Qatar. Arabian Business. 2 May 2011. Ed Attwood. 2 October 2017.
  18. Web site: Fairmont to open 20 Hotels in Mideast, Asia. Emirates247.com. 29 July 2010. Bindu Suresh Rai. 2 October 2017.
  19. Web site: Peace Hotel reopens on Shanghai's Bund. Telegraph.co.uk. 28 July 2010. Malcolm Moore. 2 October 2017.
  20. Web site: Fairmont Baku Opens in Azerbaijan's Flame Towers. Lodgingmagawine.com. 1 July 2013. 2 October 2017.
  21. News: Fairmont Opens First Hotel in India . . August 20, 2012.
  22. Web site: Fairmont group and Richard Blum buy Claremont Hotel . Berkeleyside.com. 25 March 2014. Frances Dinkelspiel. 2 October 2017.
  23. News: French hotel chain Accor buys Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel for $2.9B US . . 9 December 2015.
  24. News: Accor's Issenberg talks Fairmont, culture and content . Yeoh Siew . Hoo . . 28 July 2017.
  25. Web site: New Swissotel, Raffles and Fairmont Hotels Planned for Egypt. TravelPulse.
  26. Web site: Experience Egypt and the treasures of the Nile. Tripsmiths Limited.
  27. Web site: Fairmont Quasar Istanbul Opens in Turkey. Gtspirit.com. 26 April 2017. Niels Stolte. 1 October 2017.
  28. News: Fairmont Taghazout Bay opens in Morocco. Hotelier Middle East. 14 July 2021. Josh Corder.