IKEA Enlists Marriott’s Help In Assembling European Budget Hotels Using Only An Allen Key

IKEA announced last year that it wanted to build a bunch of hotels across Europe, right around the time it unveiled plans for its own district in Hamburg, Germany. And now the company is one step closer to its dream  but it needs Marriott’s help. Ostensibly even it can’t decipher those wordless instructions sheets.

While we’re (mostly) joking about using the allen key, Marriott really is onboard to launch the Swedish company’s hotel chain of about 50 hotels spread across Europe’s major cities, reports the Associated Press. Marriott knows its stuff, as it operates thousands of properties around the world.

The hotels will each have about 150-300 rooms — probably decorated with IKEA furniture, no? — and the first is set to open in Milan, Italy in 2014. Let’s hope customers won’t have to assemble their own furniture before sleeping.

IKEA’s head of Inter Hospitality, said the agreement allows the group “to build a high quality hotel property investment portfolio.”

As for those formerly beloved IKEA meatballs, we won’t count on those showing up in Europe due to that whole horsemeat thing. A continental breakfast might be a safer bet for now.

Marriott to help Ikea launch budget hotels [Associated Press]

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