October 15, 2011
FORUM
Is a War Brewing Between Hotel Franchisors and Franchisees?
It’s been nearly 15 years since full-scale warfare broke out between hotel franchise companies and the franchise community, led by activists within the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. The beef was the franchisors’ unwillingness (said AAHOA) to conform to AAHOA’s 12 point of fair franchising, a manifesto crafted to hold brand companies’ feet to the fire ...
CHECK IN
Hilton Garden Inn Revitalizes Its Hotel Lobbies
Hilton wants to put the “garden” into Hilton Garden Inn. That’s one of the goals of a brand-wide initiative to refresh the public spaces throughout the brand’s 500-plus properties. Project Grow, as the initiative is dubbed, also aims to create a lobby space that encourages socialization among guests and boost property food and beverage revenues....
Red Roof Back on Track, Poised for Growth
The last few years have been challenging for everyone in the hotel industry, but imagine being a brand company with almost 200 corporate-owned properties — more than half the entire system — underwater. On the same day Andrew Alexander took over as acting president of Red Roof Inns in 2009, the company defaulted on loans securing those properties. ...
Comparing Same Hotel Across Five Regions
I always wondered how a hotel would operate financially if it were located in different parts of the world. To demonstrate these differences and show the impact on the net income, I developed the following side-by-side comparison of the revenue and expense for a proposed 200-room Marriott type hotel, assuming it was located in the following five regions: China, Europe, India, South America and the U.S....
FEATURES
W Makes its Mark in South Beach
The only thing that hasn’t changed is the address. The decades-old Holiday Inn no longer resides on the beachfront property at 2201 Collins Ave, on the northern fringe of South Beach. Now the W South Beach Hotel & Residences sits on the 3 ½ acre-plot of land between 22nd and 23rd avenues, which isn’t considered the edge of South Beach anymore. The W has become the epicenter, the hottest spot in a destination known for its sizzle. ...
Waldorf Astoria Plants a Flag in Shanghai
The Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund works so well, you’d never know there’s a service issue in China. The attention to detail, the personalization, the fluency of the staff are impeccable, and unlike the typical American visitor who speaks English only, the employees at this distinctive, luxury property speak English—and more....
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
Hotel Wayfinding Interacts with Smartphones
Wayfinding screens in hotels are becoming widely accepted as the preferred method of showing floor plans, guiding guests to destinations on the property, revealing session locations for conferences and opening new avenues of engaging guests. But until recently, guests still had to rely on memory as they walked away from the maps on digital displays toward their destination within the property. ...
BACK OF HOUSE
Behind the Scenes Oct. 15
Operational insight to help keep your property running at full speed...
Products Oct. 15, 2011
New and innovative products for the hotel industry....
Vendor News Oct.. 15, 2011
Recent news and notes from hotel vendors....
