Jumeirah group to manage luxury hotel in Turkey

Luxury hotel management company Jumeirah has signed a management agreement with Turkey-based Demsa Group to manage Istanbul's historic Pera Palace Hotel. Dubai Holding unit Jum-eirah Group will assume management of the luxury museum hotel from May 1, 2012 and the property will be known as Pera Palace Hotel, Jumeirah, the group said in a statement yesterday. In efforts to expand its reach in Turkey, Jumeirah is in talks to operate another Demsa Group-owned property — the Macka Hotel, located in Istanbul's upscale Nisantasi district, according to a Bloomberg report, quoting Demsa chairman Cengiz Cetindogan, who said that Jumeirah is currently in negotiations with the Turkish company. Located in the Beyolu district of Istanbul, the Pera Palace Hotel has 115 rooms, including 16 suites. The hotel's usage rights were transferred to Demsa Group in late 2011. The hotel was built in 1892 to accommodate passengers on the legendary Orient Express train from Europe, according to its website.Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah is the second management agreement announced by the hotel group this year after Jumeirah Bali, and takes the total number of luxury hotels, resorts and residences operated by Jumeirah globally to 19. The group is due to open its Spain property — Jumeirah Port Soller Resort & Spa, Mallorca in the coming weeks, having announced it in 2008, according to the company's spokesperson. Jumeirah Grand Hotel Via Veneto in Rome began operating as a Jumeirah in January, followed by London's Grosvenor House Apartments in February. Both projects were announced late last year. The coming six months will also see the group opening Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan, Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel and Spa, Kuwait, and Jumeirah Creekside in Dubai. From the start of 2011 to the end of 2012, the group will have more than doubled the number of hotels it manages and almost quadrupled the number of countries in which it operates, Jumeirah said in a statement. Meanwhile, New York's Jumeirah Essex House, an 81-year-old luxury hotel worth an estimated $375 million (Dh1.38 trillion) to $500 million, is being put up for sale by the owner, Dubai Group, the investment firm owned by Dubai Holding, said last week, quoting chief executive Fadel Al Ali.