Ikea to open budget hotel chain
18th August 2012
Flat-pack furniture giant Ikea is laying plans to open a series of budget hotels throughout Europe
The Swedish company is going to use its knowledge of interiors to create a chain of cheap but stylish hotels across Europe.
The hotels will not use the Ikea name and will actually be run by an already established hotel operator. “It's not an Ikea hotel. It's a continuation of our normal investments in real estate,” said Harald Muller, a business development manager from Inter Ikea's property division.
Inter Ikea owns Ikea’s intellectual property rights; they are currently looking at various European sites. The first hotel is due to open in Germany but the specific location is still to be confirmed. A provisional date of 2014 has been set for the hotel to open its doors.
Other likely sites for the hotel are Britain, Scandinavia, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, and Poland.
Inter Ikea has made a series of recent investments and have purchased shopping centres, commercial outlets, and more recently 1,200 homes near the Olympic Park in Stratford, London.
An official announcement is expected to be made in September.