Homewood Suites Opens Hotel in Fort Wayne Following Two-Year Construction Delay
While development in several property sectors has slowed to a trickle, the extended-stay segment of the hotel industry remains quite active. Homewood Suites by Hilton opened its newest hotel Friday in Fort Wayne, Ind. — after a nearly two-year construction delay — and has approximately 80 others in the development pipeline. Launched in 1989, the Homewood Suites brand now has 308 hotels open....
San Diego Marriott Renovated, Rebranded Marquis
It will take nearly five years to completely renovate the 27-year-old San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina. The $200 million renovation and upgrade started in 2009 with the elevators and will finish in 2014 when meeting space is complete. ...
New Orleans Hospitality Industry Rises to Pre-Katrina Levels
If there was any doubt New Orleans was back, 2010 Super Bowl LXIV showed the world a thriving post-Katrina city. The number of visitors is now creeping closer to pre-storm levels. In 2004, a whopping 10.5 million people visited the city. In 2010, those numbers hit 8.3 million....
Ex-Hammons Executive Tarwater Lands Development Post
Scott Tarwater, a veteran hotel industry executive and former right-hand man to legendary developer John Q. Hammons, has a new job. Tarwater, who left the Hammons organization last fall in a management shakeup, is now chief development officer for O’Reilly Hospitality Management, an ambitious and well-funded lodging development and management company based in Missouri....
The Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing for Hotels
So, what is the “cloud”? Believe it or not, most hoteliers don’t fully understand what the cloud is. Yet the cloud is in the news daily. It touches all of our lives, but in its present form is the cloud and the security measures to protect users ready for prime time? The consensus is ”cloudy”. Here is what a survey released recently by a major respected firm reported:...
Fair Franchising Remains Number-One Issue for Asian-American Hoteliers
While the Asian American Hotel Owners Association seeks to stay relevant by tackling a broad range of industry issues, the group’s agenda remains squarely focused on one supreme topic: fair franchising. That was evident last week in Las Vegas as the 11,000-member association met to talk about a number of key issues—OTAs, purchasing power, education and, of course, the politics of the group—with the chief among them how to get a better shake from franchising companies, particularly the large legacy brand organizations....
The Evolution in Hotel Technology
When I first started writing about the hotel industry, technology was a subject that hardly ever came up. In fact, most hotel GMs were probably either afraid technology would replace personal service or perhaps replace them....
Back To Its Roots: Vantage Debuts 1000th Hotel at AAHOA Conference
The AAHOA annual convention has been good for Vantage Hospitality. A little more than 11 years ago, the company introduced its first brand, Americas Best Value Inn, to the industry at a AAHOA annual meeting. Yesterday, at the opening of the trade show during this year’s AAHOA conference in Las Vegas, the now two-brand company announced the opening of its 1000th property. ...
Kimpton Reaches 51 Hotels in 30 Years
This spring, Kimpton Hotels — now numbering 51 properties in 24 cities with more than 10,000 rooms total — celebrated 30 years of boutique evolution. Niki Leondakis, president and chief operating officer, talked with Lodging Hospitality about the San Francisco-based company’s growth....
Preparation for the Hurricane Season Includes Insurance and Risk Reviews
Once again, the Atlantic hurricane season is upon us. With it comes a sense of apprehension for all along the coast, especially for those in the hospitality industry. For many, a few months’ income will make or break a business, so a severe storm brings potential ruin for a business that is not sufficiently insured. While business owners cannot predict a storm, they can protect their businesses financially; understanding both the insurance product and a business’ risk is essential....
Restructuring CMBS Loans Is An Uphill Battle
Ann Hambly compares the challenge of modifying a CMBS loan to climbing a mountain. “You could maneuver it on your own,” says the CEO and president of 1st Service Solutions, “but I liken it to using a Sherpa. You could maybe get to the top of Mt. Everest by yourself, but would it be better to take someone who’s been up there 2,000 times?”...
NYU Conference Goers Look for the Bright Side
If the mood at last week’s New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference was any indication, the hotel industry is ready to believe full recovery is here, or at least very close. ...
Hotel Investment Executives Remain Bullish
In an era of nonstop 24-hour news, even the slightest discouraging word can put a damper on the mood of an industry. Thus, nearly 2,000 executives gathered earlier this week in New York for the New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference fresh from a news cycle headlined by a less-than-positive report on jobs growth and downright bad news on housing starts. As a result, the mood at the conference, at least initially, was one of caution: everyone agreed hotel industry fundamentals are gathering significant steam, but the state of the U.S. economy had some speakers and attendees wondering about the future....
Hotel Leader Tisch Calls for Infrastructure Overhaul
Loews Hotels CEO Jonathan Tisch called on the hotel and tourism industry to tackle what he calls one of the next defining challenges: repair and restoration of the country’s crumbling infrastructure, starting with the air transportation system but also including roads, bridges, tunnels and public transportation....
MLIS Offers Mid-Year Look at Lodging
As the hotel industry continues to rebound, owners, operators and developers are looking for the next growth opportunities. One place they can find it is at next month’s fourth annual Midwest Lodging Investors Summit, which will be held July 17-19 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago....
Defenses Against Bed Bugs and Lawsuits
Running any hotel has more than its share of potential lawsuits that can emerge for any number of reasons, whether a guest falling on a wet floor, employees suing for union-related issues, and sometimes, plaintiff claims that defy the imagination. Surprisingly, in today’s environment, one of the most critical legal developments is the onslaught of bed bug infestations and the havoc ...
Making Sense of Debt Yield Ratios
When applying for a mortgage on your hotel, it is useful to understand the various analytical tools lenders use to evaluate the size and terms of the loans they are making. Up until a few years ago, the preferred benchmark lenders relied on was the debt coverage ratio. Recently, a new tool called the debt yield ratio came into vogue, which seems to be used by most hotel lenders today. Let’s look at ...
Residence Inn’s New Cost-Effective Renovation Package
There’s probably no better indication of the hotel industry’s (and country’s) healthy obsession with cost control than Residence Inn’s approach to its latest generation of property upgrades. The 622-unit chain, the long-time leader in the upscale extended-stay segment, recently introduced a new cutting-edge suite renovation package that brand executives say costs about $15,000 per key, which is “not a penny” more than the price of the brand’s previous upgrade package....
Why It Pays for Hotels to Be Pet Friendly
When Philip and Cherie Crouch traveled, the couple wanted to take their chows with them, but it wasn’t easy to find a place to stay. Today, Phil and Cherie are general manager and assistant general manager, respectively, of two hotels in Needles, CA, the Best Western Colorado River Inn and Rio del Sol Inn. They’ve made hos-PET-ality part of their daily business. ...
What Kind of Year Has It Been for You?
The crucial summer travel season is underway, and most owners and operators should have a fairly clear idea of their prospects of success for the next three months and probably the whole year....
Morgans Finds Early Success with Mondrian SoHo
Morgans Hotel Group opened its third Mondrian-branded hotel in early spring. The 270-room Mondrian SoHo has been five years in the making and is managed by Morgan’s for owner/developer Cape Advisors....
Pain at Pump Won't Hurt Memorial Day Travel
Despite gasoline prices teetering around $4 a gallon in most regions, two recent reports indicate more Americans plan on traveling this Memorial Day weekend than last year. As the official start to the summer travel season, this weekend should be a bellwether of what’s to come....
HSMAI Rebrands With New Mission, Services
By third quarter 2011, members of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International will see a new website, newsletter and logo. The changes are the visible part of the association’s rebranding work. Less visible, but more important, are a new mission statement, new Expert Communities and expanded educational opportunities. ...
Burt Cabanas: 30 Years of Excellence
Burt Cabanas moved to Miami from Cuba when he was 10 years old, following the death of his father. While his family planned to return to Cuba, they were unexpectedly exiled to this country in the aftermath of Castro's revolution. At 14, the young Cabanas’ took his first job was in the hospitality industry: Pool boy at a Miami Beach hotel. He never really left the industry...
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