The Wyndham Hotel Group is continuing its expansion in the Middle East with the opening of the Ramada Encore Doha, the region's first Encore property.

Situated in the Al-Asmakh area of Doha, the 111-room hotel is the second Wyndham group property to open in the city and the first Encore branded hotel in the world to be managed by the company. Dining options include The Hub - the Encore brand's signature all day provision - and a lobby coffee bar. Other facilities available are a 24-hour business centre and two meeting rooms, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness room and separate male and female saunas.

Central America has also seen a Wyndham opening since the beginning of the year, with the launch of the Wyndham Garden Hotel Panama City, a 70-room, new-build property in the city's Obarrio district. The hotel, owned by Hoteles Boutique and managed by FR Consulting Group, is the second Wyndham hotel in Panama City, joining the 301-room Veneto - A Wyndham Grand Hotel located on Via Espana.

Facilities include the on-site Tree Restaurant, a 24-hour fitness centre and a business centre. The new openings continue an expansion of Wyndham group titles which in the last three months of 2010 saw Wyndham-branded hotels opening in Baltimore, Chicago and Lake Buena Vista in Florida; a Tryp by Wyndham property opening in Berlin, the first in the city; and Days Inn opening 15 roadside hotels in the UK owned by Roadchef.

The company's Wyndham Grand Collection portfolio gained two new properties over the period - the Mining Exchange in Colorado Springs and the Pittsburgh Downtown - while Wyndham Grand Resort saw the opening of the first phase of the Poipu Beach development on Kauai, Hawaii. In November, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts signed to open the Hangzhou Xixi Resort in China at the end of 2011, a move which followed similar agreements in October for three new properties in Boao - on China's Hainan Island - to open in 2013, 2017 and 2019 respectively.

October also saw Wyndham contracting to manage the Tryp New York City, the first Tryp by Wyndham property in North America and scheduled to debut in Q2 2011. Image: the Wyndham Garden Hotel Panama City