IHG Confident Despite Downturn
NEWS: Company’s Relaunch of Holiday Inn Still Top Priority CEO Andy Cosslett closed his speech at the opening general session of InterContinental Hotel Group’s annual Americas Investors & Leadership Conference Wednesday by quoting General George Patton: “Success is how you bounce off the bottom.” Cosslett said the company’s massive relaunch ...
Hyatt IPO Starts at $25
Hyatt Hotels this morning announced its initial public offering of 38,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at $25 per share. The stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘H.’...
Kindred Resorts Join Forces
NEWS: Seven Luxury Hotels Form Partnership for Sales & Marketing
The independent hotel has always faced an uphill battle, but as the downturn continues to deepen, especially at the luxury level, the mountain is even steeper. To help make the climb, seven luxury properties have banded together to form Kindred Resorts & Hotels. ...
Best Western’s Breakfast Blues
NEWS: Chain Seeks to Improve Product, Presentation, Presence
The most important meal of the day is causing problems for Best Western. Calling it “one of the brand’s competitive weaknesses,” chain executive Ron Pohl recently told Best Western members they need to focus on “the 3Ps: Product, Presentation and Presence. We must be consistent in offering our brand standards and present them well.”...
Best Western Bids to Build Market Share
NEWS: Loyalty Program is Top Marketing Priority
Market share, the holy grail of hotel marketers in a down economy, is a top priority for Best Western, and the chain is backing its efforts with lots of money and a marketing strategy that focuses on loyalty, partnerships, promotions, social media and advertising....
Best Western Looks For Product Definition
NEWS: Chain Ponders Descriptor Strategy
David Kong wants the world to know Best Western is neither segmenting its brand nor launching new ones. “It’s really a marketing communications strategy,” the chain’s president and CEO emphatically told members last week in describing a proposed “descriptor” initiative that, if adopted, would better differentiate the group’s properties for consumers. ...
Creativity Is Critical For Growth
NEWS: Companies Look For Development Alternatives
Traditional financing may be difficult to secure, but hotel companies are looking for alternatives to keep their growth engines humming. “While there is a complete lack of financing today for new construction, some money is available for conversion projects,” said Yoav Gery, Marriott’s senior vice president of boutique development, at last week’s Lifestyle/Boutique Hotel Development Conference...
Boutique Design About Creating an Experience
NEWS: Sense of Place Also an Important Factor
Not a panel or session went by the inaugural Lifestyle/Boutique Hotel Development Conference last week without referencing great design. It’s the one thing everyone agrees helps define the boutique concept. "It’s the evolution ...
Boutique Marketing Requires Emotional Connection
NEWS: ‘Love Mark’ Should Be Focus of Marketing Efforts
A boutique hotel is nothing without a “love mark,” that essence of the property that creates an emotional connection to guests. So said Douglas Carrillo, partner and senior vice president of sales and marketing for Desires Hotels, during a panel discussion at last week’s Lifestyle/Boutique Hotel Development Conference in Miami. Carrillo said...
Financing Boutique Hotels a Challenge
NEWS: Tax Incentives Can Provide Needed Equity
Bob Sonnenblick, chairman of real estate development firm Sonnenblick-Del Rio LLC, said if you hit a homerun with a boutique project and it becomes the “hip” hotel, the results will be off the charts, but if you miss, it can be a costly mistake. Like with any segment in the lodging industry, the problem is finding the money ...
Service Key to Boutique Vibe
NEWS: Being Genuine, Not Scripted Gives A Property Its Soul
If design is where a boutique or lifestyle property starts, service is often where it ends. Service is the critical infrastructure that gives a property its vibe and culture, according to panelists at last week’s Lifestyle/Boutique Hotel Development Conference at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach. “We’re selling experiences, not ...
Rowley: Good Design Has Won
NEWS: Conference Keynoter Says Boutique Business Proves That
Cheryl Rowley quoted the movie Back to the Future, got emotional while reminiscing about Bill Kimpton and declared good design has prevailed during her keynote address at the inaugural Lifestyle/Boutique Hotel Development Conference....
Investors Still Bullish on Boutiques
NEWS: Properly Run Boutiques Create Higher Margins
When the market to buy and build hotels returns to normalcy, the boutique and lifestyle segments may lead the way. That was one conclusion from a panel discussion during this week’s Lifestyle/Boutique Hotel Development Conference at the ...
Boutique Business Still Buzzing
NEWS: Conference Shows Passion, Profits Central to Growing Segment
Maybe Richard Russo, the director of development for Morgans Hotel Group, best answered the question posed in the title of the opening general session of the inaugural Lifestyle/Boutique Hotel Development Conference held Tuesday at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. It was titled “Why Invest in a Boutique/Lifestyle Hotel?” and Russo explained ...
Innovation Is Key to Hotel Recovery
NEWS: Thayer Lodging Chief Sees a Bumpy but Bright Future
The path back to prosperity for hotels and hotel companies is clear but treacherous, lodging company mogul Fred Malek told an audience of hotel asset managers last week in Arlington, VA....
Hotel Show Highlights Hospitality Products
NEWS: AH&LA Holds Fall Conference in Conjunction With IH/M&RS
Next month’s International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York City will showcase the latest and most innovative products and services available to the hospitality industry. The 94th edition of the show will be held Saturday, Nov. 7 through Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center....
Hotel Slide Is a Reset, Not a Cycle
NEWS: Focus On Costs, Advises Magnuson
What the U.S. hotel industry is experiencing today isn’t simply the downside of a highly cyclical business, emphasizes Thomas Magnuson, but rather a massive fundamental shift. “It’s a reset,” declares the CEO and principal of Magnuson Hotels, ...
Concord Hospitality Launches Equity Fund
NEWS: A $300-Million Pool To Buy Distressed Hotels
One man’s crisis is another’s opportunity. And in this economic environment, those companies with spotless operating records and clean balance sheets are best able to take advantage of the situation. That’s what Concord Hospitality Enterprises hopes to do with a $300-million private equity fund ...
New Tool Aids Hotel Investment Decisions
NEWS: New York City Tops Initial Lodging Market Potential Index
It’s generally accepted that hotel development, investment and acquisition follows three basic steps:
1. Identifying market areas that show long-term potential for hotel investment;
2. Choosing a lodging product that takes advantage of the dynamics of the local supply and demand characteristics; and
3. Searching for and selecting a suitable site.
...
VOIC Report: Timeshare Looks to Rebound
NEWS: Credit Crisis Forces Shift in Business Model
A surprisingly upbeat group of timeshare developers and wannabes met this week in Orlando. While attendance was down a little at this year’s Vacation Ownership Investment Conference, the mood was upbeat, with many speakers and attendees proclaiming an industry rebound is in the offing—not this year, but sometime in 2010....
Full Impact of Slump Still to Come
NEWS: Plummeting NOI Could Lead to Wave of Defaults
The U.S. lodging industry finds itself in uncharted waters due to a global economic and financial crisis that has taken a severe toll on the net operating income (NOI) of hotel owners, setting the stage for a wave of loan defaults and foreclosures.
...
Conference Targets Boutique/Lifestyle Hotels
NEWS: Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau Hosts Inaugural Event
While new hotel development is difficult to achieve these days, one class of properties still popular with owners and developers is the boutique/lifestyle hotel. ...
Element Adds Charging Station
NEWS: Starwood Hotel Provides Outlet for Electric Vehicles
The Element Hotel in Lexington, MA got some extra power in late July. The 123-unit property, the chain’s first, recently added a charging station that guests and travelers ...
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