OTAs Driving Hotels’ Costs, Business and Conversation
Mark Lomanno joked, somewhat seriously, that online travel agencies contributed 10% of the hotel industry’s business, but led to 80% of the discussion. Lomanno, STR’s chief strategy officer, was moderating a general session at the Hotel Data Conference in Nashville earlier this month when “pre-final” results were unveiled from a distribution channel analysis by STR and the AH&LA....
NABHOOD Leadership Deflects Criticism, Vows Change
Informal talks with hotel owners, operators and brand spokesmen suggest impatience, if not dissatisfaction, with the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers. But mere days after the 15th NABHOOD summit and trade show ended at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, several of the same people muted their criticism, closing ranks behind the leadership of an event that hasn’t grown significantly in number or evolved much in programming....
Rowley Has Designs On Fresh Start
In May, Cheryl Rowley closed the Beverly Hills office of her highly successful hospitality design firm, 25 years after she opened it. In that span, Rowley grew the bustling office to a staff of 35 at its peak, helped create the designs for Kimpton’s boutique Monaco and Palomar brands and designed countless other luxury hotels and resorts for brands like Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Rosewood and Mandarin Oriental....
Still Confident, Lodging Industry Braces for Bumpy Road
While the Dow Jones Industrial average was plummeting a year’s worst 513 points last Thursday, four of the leading industry trackers were center stage at STR’s Hotel Data Conference talking about lodging’s ongoing recovery. Demand, they all agreed, grew faster than expected over the past 18 months and despite some uncertainty about the economy, rate was slowly starting to follow....
What Does S&P Downgrade Mean for Real Estate? Economists’ Opinions Vary
Economists are divided over the commercial real estate implications of Friday’s historic downgrade of U.S. debt. Standard & Poor’s decision to lower its rating on long-term U.S. Treasury bonds from AAA to AA+ is, by itself, unlikely to affect commercial real estate investors directly, say experts....
Seven Steps to Help You Escape Hotel Ownership Prison
In a federal penitentiary you get up early, eat a minimal amount of food, work hard all day at menial tasks, get paid very little and can never leave the property. Sound a lot like your hotel these days? If so, it is time to restructure your debt....
Has the Lodging Industry Turned a Corner?
Last month’s Midwest Lodging Investors Summit was a watershed event on several fronts. The crowd was large and enthusiastic, the venue was impeccable and the speakers were top-notch, candid, informative and provocative. Beyond that, however, for the first time in several years, I observed true optimism among the crowd. ...
Suit Charges City Wants to ‘Eradicate’ Unwanted Hotels
A legal battle brewing in suburban Dallas could have significant property-rights implications for hoteliers across the nation. Owners of two InTown Suites extended-stay properties in Carrollton, TX recently sued the city, claiming it improperly revoked their lodging licenses based on a law they call “capricious and arbitrary.”...
Is a Hotel Building Boom on the Horizon?
Conventional wisdom in the hotel industry dictates that growth in new supply will remain stagnant for the next couple of years, allowing existing hotels to flourish through improved occupancies and, more importantly, increased rates. While that’s true, some hotel companies and entrepreneurial developers are laying the groundwork for what could be another significant hotel building boom in 2013 and beyond....
Landmark Hilton Anatole Undergoes a Transformation
People who visit downtown Dallas can’t miss the Hilton Anatole, the monumental convention hotel Trammell Crow built as the 1970s turned into the ‘80s. Its campus, comprising two high-rise atriums, a 27-story tower, 1,606 guestrooms, more than 600,000 square feet of event space, various recreational activities, and a world-class collection of Asian art coming into fuller view, makes it unique. ...
Designing Hotels with the Forest in Mind
As green becomes the new gold standard, hotel owners and operators are increasingly looking to differentiate their brands through environmentally responsible facilities that get the attention of eco-conscious travelers. A 2010 survey of U.S. travelers found this strategy is effective; 48 percent of travelers said they would select a supplier that shows concern for the environment over those that do not....
HVS Helps Train Hospitality Workers in Haiti
HVS Caribbean recently joined forces with the Yele Haiti Foundation to raise hospitality service standards, and thus tourism, in Haiti....
Lodging’s Prowess in Washington Grows
The tourism industry, and the hotel sector in particular, has never been known as a force to deal with in Washington. Despite its size, huge employment base and immense contribution to the balance of trade, hospitality has traditionally had a hard time convincing lawmakers it’s as important an industry as manufacturing, technology or agriculture. Luckily (although luck has little to do with it), that image is changing, thanks to the yeomen efforts of the AHLA, AAHOA, the U.S. Travel Association and the many industry leaders who have stepped-up their personal involvement in governmental affairs....
Programming Change: La Quinta Goes High Def
Few things are more infuriating for guests than turning on a fancy new flat-screen TV at a nice hotel and having a limited choice of programming in standard definition. ...
How to Test Hotel Feasibility
When designing a hotel, the architect and development team need to create a project that is ultimately economically feasible. Unless the hotel’s owner is ego driven rather than economically motivated, most investors are looking for a return on their invested capital. Since feasibility means different things to different people, and as a hotel consultant having prepared thousands of feasibility studies, I have been asked to provide my perspective on this topic....
Hotels Must Adapt to Shorter Booking Windows
Meeting planners have limited time to get their jobs done. And, if they can’t find outside space quickly enough, they just may hold their meetings at corporate headquarters. Hotels can keep the business if they’re prepared to help meeting planners hit their deadlines, says Mike Mason, ZEO and founder of Winter Garden, Florida-based, technology startup Zentila....
Aimbridge Hospitality Chasing 25 Deals
Eight years ago two former Wyndham Hotel presidents, Les Bentley and Dave Johnson, started Aimbridge Hospitality. They are now, respectively, chairman and president/CEO of the management company. Aimbridge, which started with eight hotels its first year, now has 75 hotels, 16,000 rooms and $500 million in revenue under management. It operates hotels in 22 states and the Caribbean. Most fall under the Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Starwood umbrellas. ...
MLIS 2011: A Convention of Lodging Optimists
Last week’s Midwest Lodging Investors Summit was a watershed event in the hotel business. It was the first industry-wide conference since 2007 in which the prevailing sentiment was overwhelmingly one of optimism. Not wishful thinking; not a wing and prayer; but honest and fact-based belief the worst of the industry’s bad times are behind us and plentiful opportunities are ahead for buyers, sellers, operators and even developers....
MLIS 2011: Extended Stay Searches For Rate Growth
In a lot of ways, the extended-stay segment of the hotel industry reflects the conundrum many lodging owners find themselves in: Demand and occupancy are at near-record levels and new supply is nearly non-existent, but lots of properties can’t realize higher rates....
Sound Bites from Midwest Lodging Summit: ‘Hotel Investing Is Not For Choir Boys’
Although real estate fundamentals and valuations in the U.S. hotel sector are clearly on the rise, the overhang of distressed properties remains significant....
Hotel Dealmakers Try to Make Sense of Hotel Investment Market
With cash-flush buyers increasingly coming off the sidelines, hotels are increasingly trading hands, but the market remains extremely lumpy, according to a panel during Lodging Hospitality’s fourth annual Midwest Lodging Investors Summit at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place....
Steve Marcus Honored as MLIS Game Changer
Steve Marcus wasn’t planning on a career in the lodging industry when he returned home to Milwaukee in 1962 to help his father with the acquisition of the Pfister. The famed hotel was on the verge of being torn down when Marcus Corp. founder Ben Marcus bought it out of foreclosure. ...
MLIS 2011: Shifting From Optimism to Opportunity
After two years of industry events being defined by talks of “cautious optimism,” attendees at the fourth annual Midwest Lodging Investors Summit in Chicago turned their attention to opportunity....
Vertical Garden Debuts at Chicago Embassy Suites
Five years ago, vertical gardens started popping up in Asian buildings. It wasn’t long before they took root in the U.S. The Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown Lakefront is likely the first hotel in the country to grow such a dramatic example of the indoor landscaping tool. The wall went ‘live’ in late spring. ...
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