IKEA to open 100 budget hotels

Swedish furniture giant IKEA said it would invest in 100 budget hotels in Europe in a capital expansion plan that does not tie into its furniture business. The Svenska Dagbladet newspaper reported that IKEA plans to open its first budget hotel in Germany. The Local said Wednesday that IKEA planned to contract an established hotel operator to run the business and that it would not furnish the rooms with IKEA brand furniture. "We will announce the first location for our budget hotel in Germany in the next few weeks and we are in talks with hotel operators to rapidly implement our concept," said Harald Muller of Inter IKEA, the company that controls IKEA's intellectual property. In attempting to appeal to low budget travelers, "We will strip away everything unnecessary such as the in-house restaurants and instead go for a good breakfast, fast Internet, fast check-in and no check out," Muller said.