InterContinental Hotels & Resorts extends its German reach with a Lord Norman Foster designed hotel conversion in Dresden

By: Daniel Ford

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the owner of the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand, has announced the signing of a franchise agreement with Hotel am Zwinger Betriebsgesellschaft mbH to open a stylish new InterContinental hotel in Dresden, Germany.

Situated on the Kleine Brudergasse, at the heart of Dresden's historic city centre, the new 200-room, InterContinental Dresden is set to become a sophisticated destination venue for business and leisure travellers when it opens in 2008. The conversion - of a previously empty building - is being overseen by world renowned British architect, Lord Norman Foster, whose design plans ensure the hotel maximises the natural attributes of the site.  These are, most notably, a sixth floor summer roof terrace offering breathtaking views across the city centre to the River Elbe, the opera house and the Frauenkirche, coupled with a substantial wellness centre, well positioned meeting rooms for between 20 - 150 people, a top quality California cuisine restaurant and dynamic lobby bar.
"Germany is proving a highly successful, rapidly growing market for us', commented Jennifer Fox, Chief Operating Officer, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Europe.
"Dresden, with its strong cultural tradition and highly regarded industrial and technical centres of excellence, is an appealing addition to our current portfolio of six top class hotels in Germany. We are delighted to be working with one of our key strategic partners, Herr Dieter Bock of Hotel am Zwinger Betriebsgesellschaft mbH and his architects Lord Norman Foster and Bernd Hollin, to bring to life a new, fashionable, InterContinental destination hotel that will do justice to Dresden," she concluded.
Dresden is extremely well served by a new international airport, modern motorways and high-speed trains, offering travellers easy access and connections across the whole of Europe. While the city has a strong attraction for corporate plus conference and meetings business due to its profile within the high-tech arena, it also has plenty to offer leisure and incentive visitors thanks to its historic city centre, Semper Opera House and position within the beautiful, UNESCO-protected, River Elbe landscape.
Herr Dieter Bock said: "We are confident that joining InterContinental Hotels, as a truly international brand, will substantially enhance the customer base of this outstanding project, thereby attracting new guests and visitors to both Dresden and this new 5 star hotel."
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts currently operates six, five-star hotels within Germany, all with an individual style and offer; InterContinental Berlin, InterContinental Cologne, InterContinental Hamburg and InterContinental Frankfurt, plus, most recently, the highly individual InterContinental Dusseldorf which opened late 2005 plus the InterContinental Berchtesgarden, Germany's only mountain spa resort.