Worldwide

Hilton International is pulling out of a contract to manage a 241-bedroom hotel in Chennai (Madras), south-east India. It said the decision was the result of "significant disagreements on general working practices" with the owner, Appu Hotels.

Bass Hotels & Resorts is to open a 202-bedroom Holiday Inn in Valencia, western Spain, in July. It will be the first hotel in the city belonging to an international chain.

The company's second Express by Holiday Inn budget hotel in Spain also opens this week, in Alicante, with 120 bedrooms.

Marriott International is to pay $39m (£24.8m) to bring to a close a legal dispute in Texas involving two hotel partnerships it formed in the mid- to late 1980s. The sum covers cash settlement of the claims, legal costs and transaction charges.

More than 100 members of the USA's National Restaurant Association have lobbied members of Congress for legislation that works in the industry's favour. They were supporting social security reform and affordable employee benefits, but opposing an increase in the entry-level minimum wage.

The 24-bedroom Ritz Carlton Schlosshotel in Berlin has employed a "technology butler" to help guests with Internet access and other computer queries. The service is available 24 hours a day.