July 15, 2008
Features
Scaling Up To China
You don't realize how fertile a territory lodging is in China until you go there. What I saw of the country during a recent trip was persuasive: Construction...
Franschise Fact File
Name of Chain Minimum Rooms Initial Fee Royalty Fee Advertising/Marketing Fee Reservation Fee Ave. Per Room Construction Cost aloft hotels Circle 90 N/A...
Investment in a New Brand Takes More than Money
Imagine having a set of large posters taped side-by-side on a wall. Now take three darts and throw them at the first poster containing 15 color squares....
Special Focus on Guestroom Design
Every hotel courts business travelers and the InterContinental San Francisco is no exception. The new hotel took it a step further, asking for input on...
Departments
Time to Talk Taxes Again
I seem to come back to this topic every six or seven years, often when the economy is in the dumps, as it is now. Here's the scenario: the economy falters...
W Hotels Singing New Tune
The song will not remain the same at W Hotels Worldwide. Grammy-nominated singer Natasha Bedingfield kicked off W WonderLust Live at the W New York-Union...
New HI Signs Going Up
By early June, 60 Holiday Inn hotels had raised the brand's new sign, and chain officials say one-third of the chain, or about 1,000 properties, will...
Budgetel Offers Jump Start Incentives
The Atlanta-based Budgetel Franchise System last month announced a limited-time jump start incentive program aimed at attracting new franchisees to the...
Branding Briefs
Accor A recently converted Motel 6 franchise opened in Rome, GA. Sadguru Sai, Inc. owns and operates the property. America's Best Franchising The company...
Choice Refines Independent Offering
Choice Hotels has fine-tuned its brand lineup with the launch of the Ascend Collection as a successor to the Clarion Collection subbrand. The company...
Upscale Getaways Sweeten Profits
By adding the luster of Godiva Chocolatier and Robert Mondavi Private Selection to its Signature Package Program, Meyer Jabara Hotels, a Connecticut-based...
Thriving in an On-Hold Market
A recent Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels survey shows a third of hotel investors intend to hold their assets in the short term until they can achieve the pricing...
Transactions
Breakwater Edison The Breakwater Edison hotel, an amalgam of the Breakwater and Edison hotels in South Beach, FL, has been sold to Nakesh. Jones Lang...
South Atlantic Leads Openings
Nearly one-fourth of new hotel room openings in 2008 will be in the South Atlantic states, according to Lodging Econometrics. More than 31,000 rooms will...
Sentiment Declines Among Execs
The current Lodging Executives Sentiment Index (LESI) reads 45.8, down from 51.7 last period and from 72.1 during the same period last year. The LESI...
Hospitality People in the News
Ross Klein and Amar Laivani left Starwood Hotels and Resorts to join Hilton Hotels Corp. as, respectively, global head of luxury & lifestyle brands and...
Wyndham Readies Pocono Resort
Wyndham Worldwide, and its vacation ownership unit in particular, have been busy in the timeshare and resort segments in recent months: Last month, Wyndham...
As Times Change, So Must Our Strategies
When people find out how long I have been selling, they ask how selling differs from when I entered the field. One frequent question is how often you...
How to Find the Upside in a Down Economy
In recent years the hotel industry enjoyed exceptional revenue growth, high single-digit ADR improvement and consistent occupancies. Almost any marketing...
The 3M's of Momentum
As the negative economic situation threatens travel markets, do you have clear strategies in place for driving your sales team to maintain forward momentum?...
Remco Partnership is a Big Win for La Quinta
In the summer of 2007, La Quinta Inn & Suites partnered with industry-leader Remco Software in a chain-wide PMS software upgrade. La Quinta switched from...
Hotel Industry Booming in China
China is a paradox, a blend of communism and capitalism. The harder the government seems to pull back, the faster Western hotel companies push forward....
Guestroom Phone: Dodo Bird?
Guestroom 2010, the IBM-sponsored display at the recent 2008 Hospitality Information Technology Exposition & Conference in Austin, TX, was, as usual,...
Unlocking the Future in Halifax
Founded in 1749 as the first British town in Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia already has plenty of history. With the opening of the new Holiday Inn Express...
Vendor News
The Association of Starwood Franchisees & Owners-North America chose Onity as an associate member and appointed Daniel Foxworth, Onity's director of sales/hospitality...
