bh Hoteles history

The hotel was built for a total of $500,000 with the help of architect Elmer Grey, and promoted as ‘halfway between Los Angeles and the sea’. Up until this time only six homes had been constructed in Beverly Hills. It wasn’t until 1914, once the hotel had been firmly established, that Beverly Hills officially became an incorporated city.

In 1920, Douglas Fairbanks and his wife Mary Pickford moved to ‘Pickfair’, their house built on 18 acres of land above the hotel.

Like many of the grand hotels, it struggled through financial uncertainty in the 20th century before finally closing its doors in 1975.

NH Hotel Group’s beginnings date back to 1978, when it opened its first establishment: the Ciudad de Pamplona hotel.

In 1987, de Benedetti's Cerus investment wing entered Spain, establishing Corporacion Financiera Reunida, S.A. (Cofir) with a number of other shareholders.

Corporación Financiera Reunida, S.A (COFIR) became the Company’s core shareholder in 1988.

1992 Gabriele Burgio takes over as Cofir CEO and steps up investment in NH Hoteles, which by then has 55 hotels.

NH Hoteles grew strongly into the next decade, building up a portfolio of 55 three- and four-star hotels, with more than 5,800 rooms covering all of Spain's major urban markets, by 1993.

By the end of 1995, NH was already one of Spain’s leading city hotel chains, with 54 establishments located nationwide.

In 1997, the two companies nearly set up a partnership that would have called for NH Hoteles to open 70 Ibis-branded two-star hotels in Spain.

As part of its strategic efforts to foster culture, in 1998 the chain launched NH Stock Art, travelling exhibitions in the vicinity of the Group’s hotels in a bid to support the work of upcoming artists.

The change in the group's revenue mix has been dramatic: in 1999, the Spanish market represented more than 99 percent of the group's revenues.

In 2000 the Company acquired the Dutch hotel chain, Krasnapolsky, a transaction which doubled its size.

The acquisition of Mexican hotel chain Chartwell in 2001 added another 14 establishments.

In 2002 NH continued its M&A-led international growth strategy, acquiring the German chain, Astron Hotels, which added 46 hotels in Germany, six in Austria and one in Switzerland to the burgeoning portfolio.

The Nhube concept, first opened in Madrid in 2003, proved so successful that the company quickly developed plans to open Nhube restaurants in 26 more hotels.

The first Fast Good opened in Madrid in 2004.

By the end of 2005, international operations accounted for 60 percent of the group's sales, which had more than tripled during this period, to top EUR 980 million in 2005.

In January 2006, the company joined that exchange's IBEX 35 index.

Having been awarded the Prince Felipe Award for Excellence in Tourism and been named the Best Place to Work in Spain, Holland and Germany, NH Hoteles started out 2007 with 341 hotels in 21 countries on three continents, 49 projects in the pipeline and 19,000 employees of 115 different nationalities.

In 2009, NH and Spanish chain Hesperia agreed to merge their respective hotel management businesses.

In 2010, NH Hoteles launched a pioneering product, Ecomeeting, in the MICE segment.

By 2011, NH Hoteles was positioned as one of the world’s top 25 hotels and one of Europe’s most important chains, with around 400 establishments and 60,000 rooms.

In 2012 NH Hoteles articulated a new corporate governance model, appointing a new non-executive to chair its highest governing body and a new CEO, thereby splitting these roles and duties.

2013 was a milestone year in the Company’s ongoing transformation.

In addition to reviewing and promoting commercial, marketing and communication plans, in 2014 the Group made an effort to design solutions with a competitive advantage.

Regarding the Expansion Plan, at the beginning of 2015 the Group completed the acquisition of the Latin American chain Hoteles Royal which allowed NH Hotel Group to launch its brands in Colombia, become leader in Bogotá, and increase the presence in Chile and Ecuador.

On September 12, 2018 history was made with the opening of the fifth Glen House in Gorham.