In many ways, 2011 has been a quiet year in the hotel industry. With most owners, operators and brand companies focusing on maintaining sales volumes and protecting margins, there was little time and resources for significant product initiatives, new brand development or mergers and acquisitions among chains, management companies or big ownership groups.

Despite the relatively light volume of news this year, 2011 has produced a number of major stories. Today and tomorrow we will recap the top 10 hotel industry news stories of 2011. Here are numbers six through 10:

10. Disney’s Timeshare Snafu in Hawaii. With a lot of fanfare, Walt Disney Co. opened its beachside Hawaiian Aulani resort in August. The 840-room resort, the first major Disney hotel not connected to a theme park, includes a mix of traditional hotel rooms and Disney Vacation Club timeshare units. In selling the timeshare component of the resort, Disney inadvertently underpriced the value of its vacation ownership points, which led to the dismissal of three top Vacation Club executives, including President Jim Lewis. After briefly halting sales of the timeshare product, Disney was able to get permission from the state of Hawaii to increase its fees by 33%. And all wasn’t loss for Lewis, who got a consulting assignment and a positive letter of recommendation from Disney brass.

The Public Chicago

9. Ian Schrager Introduces a New Boutique Brand. No one knew what boutique hotel pioneer Ian Schrager had in mind when he bought Chicago’s legendary Ambassador East Hotel in the spring of 2010. His plan was to recreate the iconic property as Public, the first in a new chain of boutique properties. The 258-room hotel, which Schrager calls “value oriented,” opened in September and features high design, a celebrity chef-driven restaurant and top-notch service but at rates considerably lower than Schrager charges at his other hotels. Schrager followed the Chicago opening with the announcement of development of a 250-room Public on the lower 16 floors of a 56-floor residential building in New York City’s Herald Square neighborhood.

Red Roof CEO Andrew Alexander

8. Red Roof Inn Recapitalizes and Reemerges. It was an eventful year for Red Roof Inns, the Columbus, OH-based economy chain. The company launched new initiatives to boost its base of franchised properties in new markets, especially in the West and in Canada, and introduced the Next Gen II prototype and interior design package. Meanwhile, interim president Andrew Alexander had to wrestle with the company’s serious financial issue: the default on loans on its nearly 200 company-owned hotels. The issue was resolved in August, when chain owner Westmont Hospitality partnered with Five Mile Capital to take ownership of 143 properties. The partnership also promised to spend $70 million in the next two years to renovate the hotels. Earlier in the year, Westmont partnered with Dune Real Estate to take ownership of the other 51 corporate-owned properties. And presumably for a job well done, Alexander was rewarded by the removal of the interim president title.

7. Accor Changes Leadership Amid Rumors of a Sale of Motel 6. In mid-September, Paris-based leadership of Accor dropped a couple of bombs on its Motel 6 unit. First, 26-year Motel 6 veteran Jim Amorosia was named CEO of the brand and its sister flag, Studio 6. He replaced Olivier Poirot, who left the company. And while insisting there is “no fire sale on Motel 6,” Accor CEO Denis Hennequin said the company would listen to offers for Motel 6 and Studio 6. In an interview the following month, Amorosia said the brands will grow through franchising with particular emphasis on urban markets and metro areas. Other targets are Canada and Mexico. The chain also plans to continue the rollout of its Phoenix design package for renovations and new properties.

6. Hyatt Rebrands, Beefs Up Its Extended Stay Portfolio. Hyatt Hotels proved it’s serious about the extended-stay business with the recasting of its 38-unit Hyatt Summerfield Suites brand as Hyatt House, a name that harkens back to the brand’s founding in 1957 as the Hyatt House at the Los Angeles airport. The chain also rebranded as Hyatt Houses the 16 Hotel Sierra properties it purchased from LodgeWorks earlier in the year. Hyatt hired Stonehill & Taylor to create new looks for the brand’s public areas and guest units.