Maritim Hotels - A Story of Success
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Maritim Hotels - A Story of Success
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Category: Europe -
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2008-02-22
A fresh breeze at the seaside, sandy beaches and sunshine – when opening the first hotel, a resort at Timmendorfer Strand on the Baltic Sea, a suitable name for the company was soon found - Maritim. What began in 1969 with the unique concept of “accommodation and conference facilities under one roof“ has in the meantime developed into one of Germany’s leading hotel companies.
Philosophy
The Maritim Hotel Company has an excellent reputation in the hotel sector and is the most well-known of all German hotel chains. Maritim stands for high level comfort, first class ambience, culinary delights, personal service and hospitality, combined with relaxation and a wide range of sports and fitness facilities, large conference capacities and event services at the highest professional level. The wellbeing of their guests has always been in the centre of attention of all Maritim hotels.
Right from the start Maritim has specialised in the meetings and conventions sector, gaining a top position in this field within the European hotel market. But resort hotels have also been a strong Maritim product line. Abroad, Maritim hotels can be found in Tenerife, Majorca, Malta, Mauritius, Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt and Latvia. The resort aspect also plays a strong role in the future international expansion.
The Maritim portfolio now comprises of 50 hotels with more than 14,600 rooms. Top sites in central locations – this is one of the most important ideas on which the company is built. Whether in a city or in a resort location, all hotels offer the opportunity of leisure, combined with separate conference areas. After a business meeting, spacious wellness facilities offer relaxation. Activities such as hiking, cycling, golf or diving, fine dining or cultural events are integral parts of Maritim weekend or holiday packages. In Warnsdorf near Lübeck on the Baltic Sea guests can even tee off on a 27-hole Maritim run golf course at Maritim Golfpark Ostsee. It is one of the most challenging courses in the region.
Company History in Germany
With its generously planned conference and event area the first Maritim property, the Seehotel Timmendorfer Strand, laid the foundation for Maritim’s unique success story when it opened in 1969. Soon, further hotels were added on the Baltic coast, followed by resort hotels in the Harz Mountains, the Sauerland and the Black Forest. Maritim is also represented in spas all over Germany, such as Bad Wildungen, Bad Homburg and Bad Salzuflen. All major German cities, from Berlin via Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart to Munich, also boast a Maritim Hotel. The latest projects are the Maritim Hotel Dresden (opened May 2006) and the Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf (opened December 2007).
Conventions and Events with Maritim
Over the years numerous companies and associations have put their trust in Maritim’s conference know-how. Being an experienced specialist in large events, meetings and conferences, the company established itself as a top class partner for customers from the world of politics, business and society. Spacious conference halls and perfect organisation by their staff have helped Maritim to become Germany’s largest private specialist in meetings and events. In many cases Maritim offers the largest capacities in the whole region. Some hotels are directly linked to urban conference centres, as in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bremen, Ulm and Dresden. Most of these facilities are also operated by Maritim. Other conference centres are directly integrated into the hotel building. The largest hall at the Maritim Hotel Bonn holds 2,800 guests. The new elegant Maritim Hotel Berlin, ideally located near Potsdamer Platz in the heart of the German capital, can accommodate events for up to 5,800 participants. Its largest hall alone offers space for up to 3,090 people.
New Convention Hotels in Dresden and Düsseldorf
“Accommodation and conference facilities under one roof“, this is now also possible in Dresden and Düsseldorf. On the banks of the river Elbe in Dresden, in direct neighbourhood of the historic city centre, a first class Maritim Hotel with 328 rooms opened in May 2006 in the historic Erlweinspeicher building. The adjoining International Congress Centre, which is also operated by Maritim, accommodates up to 6,000 people. Maritim is also active at Düsseldorf airport where a new Maritim Hotel, the largest conference hotel in North Rhine-Westphalia, opened in December 2007. It offers 533 rooms and suites plus conference facilities for up to 5,000 people in two large halls and 21 further conference rooms and meeting suites. The largest hall alone accommodates up to 2,450 people. The hotel has direct access to the airport terminal building.
International Expansion
Recently, the company has begun to rapidly expand its international presence. Maritim hotels can now be found in Turkey and in Tunisia. In Turkey, Maritim runs three resorts. The Maritim Pine Beach Resort on the Turkish Riviera, which is also is the largest convention hotel in Turkey, joined the hotel company in 2004. In 2007, two more hotels were added: the five star hotel Maritim Grand Azur in Marmaris and the Maritim Club Alantur in Alanya. In Tunisia guests can choose between the five-star Maritim Hotel Yadis on the beach of Djerba with a 27-hole golf park in the immediate vicinity and the Maritim Alhambra Thalasspa in Hammamet. All resorts offer large wellness and thalasso treatment centres.
From September, 2007, Maritim has also been waving its flag on Majorca. After a phase of renovation, the former renowned Hotel Galatzó in the Southwest of the island near the seaside resort of Paguera reopened as Maritim Hotel Galatzó. It comprises of 186 rooms and suites and a variety of conference rooms. The hotel is built in the traditional Spanish style and located on a hill in a lush subtropical garden, offering a superb view of the Bay of Santa Ponsa. A spa and beauty centre and a tennis and golf school can be found on the premises, three nearby golf courses and the beach are easily reached by the hotel shuttle.
Maritim is also becoming involved with important projects in the hotel and conference business in Egypt. On April 1st, 2007, the company took over the Maritim Royal Peninsula Hotel & Resort and the neighbouring Sharm El Sheikh International Congress Center. The resort is laid out very generously. It comprises of 17 bungalows with 337 rooms and suites. The rooms are combinable to form 24 suites for large parties of guests. The hotel also offers a pool, a spa and beauty centre, sports facilities and three restaurants and bars each. It is located next to a 18 hole PGA Championship golfcout. The congress center is equipped with the latest in conference technology. It comprises of eleven meeting and six VIP rooms as well as a restaurant. The largest hall alone can accommodate up to 2,000 people.
Two more hotels in Egypt joined the Maritim family in November, 2007. The Maritim Jolie Ville Resort & Casino Sharm El Sheikh (396 rooms) and the Maritim Jolie Ville Luxor Island Resort (332 rooms) are now also part of the company portfolio. All five-star hotels comprise of a variety of restaurants, bars, pools, leisure facilities and conference facilities for up to 880 persons. The resort in Luxor is just six kilometres away from the antique Valley of the Kings and the temples of Karnak and Luxor, and the hotels in Sharm El Sheikh are both located directly on the Red Sea coast.
On the sandy beaches of Estepona on the Costa del Sol in Southern Spain, the new four-star plus hotel Maritim Beach Resort & Suites is presently being built. It will open in autumn 2008 and comprise of 151 suites and apartments. The resort will cater to sun bathers, golfers as well as to health fans who will find a professional spa and beauty centre integrated in the hotel.
In time for the beginning of the 2008 Olympic Games the Maritim Hotel Company will open in Beijing another new Maritim Hotel.
The Hotel is located in the modern Chaoyang Business District and is part of the 340.000 square metre project U-Town Lifestyle Centre that will include a state-of-the-art shopping centre, a large cinema complex, entertainment facilities, apartments, residences and offices.
The hotel building is 18 floors high. The top 3 floors are the executive floors with business centre and VIP lounge with separate reception and breakfast room. For the conference space there will be a large 560 square metre ballroom, a so-called „Wedding Chapel“, with glass dome and further conference rooms ranging from 60 to 105 square metres. A swimming pool with spa and a fitness centre will offer the clients the relaxation during their stay. The main restaurant will be further complimented with a theme restaurant offering typical German specialities and ambience.
For the Maritim Group this is the first step into the far east and begins with Beijing with further properties in the area imminent.
New Market Segment Hospital Patients’ Hotel
Maritim is expanding into a new market segment. It is the first German hotel chain to engage itself in an innovative product line and operate a hotel for hospital patients. Partner in this project is the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Lübeck on the Baltic coast. A three-star-plus hotel with 120 rooms will be erected on the campus grounds. The hotel will be planned by Maritim and also ma¬naged by it after opening in 2009. A variety of target groups will profit from the new facility: recuperating patients who no longer require intense medical treatment, ambulant patients and friends and families who come to visit. The patients’ hotel will be an integral part of the hospital and at the same time offer all the commodities of a hotel.
Maritim Planning and Building Competence
The company-owned architects, interior architects and engineers company Reinhardt und Sander Gesellschaft mbH Planung und Baubetreuung has been part of the Maritim success story right from the start. Their staff planned and built the vast majority of the existing Maritim Hotels, as well as the new convention hotels mentioned above. For any future national and international Maritim projects, this architects office will continue to be available for all design-related and technical support and advice.
National and International Sales and Marketing
In addition to the company’s administrative headquarters in Bad Salzuflen, Maritim Hotels also operate a large central Sales and Reservations Office in Darmstadt near Frankfurt. Almost a hundred sales professionals are employed to look after regular customers and to acquire new business. Maritim also has nine international sales offices. They are located in London, Thalwil/Zurich, Utrecht, Paris, Gothenburg, Madrid, Milan, Brussels and in New York.
In a strategic sales and marketing alliance with the internationally operating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc, Maritim is also represented worldwide. This partnership with the 90 Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in Europe, the United States, Asia, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand creates a worldwide network which ensures that Maritim Hotels are being marketed on all five continents.
Maritim Hotel-Reisedienst GmbH, the in-house tour operator, organises and sells travel arrangements for all Maritim Hotels worldwide and also acts as an IATA travel agency. In all leading Global Distribution Systems (GDS) such as Amadeus, Galileo/Apollo, Sabre and Worldspan, Maritim is represented and bookable with its own Chain Code “MM”.
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