PROTEA Hotels is extending its award-winning Protea Hotel Fire & Ice in Cape Town in response to market demand, says group marketing & revenue director, Danny Bryer. Construction has already begun on a piece of land adjacent to the 130 room hotel. Bryer says the new wing will add 60 rooms, 12 lofts, another pool and sundeck, a board room and meeting rooms, a fitness centre and underground parking. The construction will have no impact on guests because it is happening next door. The expected opening date of the new wing is September 2009. Protea Hotel Fire & Ice recently won the Best New Hotel Development award at the Tourism Business Council of South Africa 2008 Hospitality Investment Awards. Bryer says the hotel by far exceeded all expectations of its target market, catering to the “forever young” set who are into anything extreme, from abseiling and skydiving to hard rock. He says the hotel has seen a growth in corprorate guests, particularly from Government, and international tourists, groups and international film crews. The hotel was first named Extreme Hotel Cape Town because of a former agreement between Protea Hotels and the Extreme sports brand. It was renamed Fire & Ice when Protea Hotels realised the value of expanding the brand under its own banner. The group is currently looking for suitable locations to expand the brand. Quirkiness best describes the appeal of Fire & Ice.  There is a pool that wraps around the restaurant, a private sound room with the latest gaming technology, a tea-cupped shaped seating area and a smoking lounge with coffin seats and funeral décor called the “Coughin Room”.