New Website Helps Hotel Guests Find the Right Room
It may be the last piece of the hotel distribution puzzle. Room77.com is a website launched yesterday that enables hotel guests to get detailed glimpses of their hotel rooms before they check in. And armed with this information, guests will be able to request the rooms that best suit their needs and preferences. So far, the site has information on more than 425,000 guestrooms in 2,500 properties in 15 U.S. cities and London....
Carlson Revamps Loyalty, Eyes New Brands
Yesterday at its annual conference, Carlson launched a rebranded and revamped loyalty program and outlined broad plans to add new brands in the economy and luxury lodging segments. But company officials were most anxious to talk about Carlson’s ongoing Ambition 2015 initiative to grow the company’s revenues and portfolio and to revitalize its lodging brands....
Sage Hospitality Partners in Higher Education in Denver
Some lodging companies, like Sage Hospitality, recognize the future health of the hospitality industry rests with the quality of the education system serving it. As a way to bring life to that philosophy, Sage is partnering with Metropolitan State College in its home city of Denver on an intriguing, if not unique, project that combines academics with real-world hotel and f&b experience for MSC’s 500-plus hospitality majors....
11 Meeting Trends For 2011
Houston-based Benchmark Hospitality International, which operates 30 hotels, resorts and conference centers in the U.S. and Japan, recently revealed its annual list of top meeting trends for 2011, as observed by its properties....
Hotel Receivers Talk Turnaround Strategies
Working as a hotel receiver isn’t for the faint of heart. The assignment often comes on short notice, sometimes includes a surprised and hostile borrower and a property whose physical structure, staff and cash flow have deteriorated. ...
Digital Signage Expo Offers Track for Hoteliers
More than 4,000 attendees and 180 exhibitors are expected at the 8th annual Digital Signage Expo that returns to Sin City Feb. 22-25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It is the world’s largest trade show and conference covering digital signage, interactive technology and out-of-home networks. Multiple panels and sessions will appeal to hotel owners and operators, including several with moderators and panelists who work in the hospitality industry....
ALIS: Branson Talks Hotel, Space Launches
Sir Richard Branson offered only a few more details on the launch of his latest brand, Virgin Hotels, but the engaging entrepreneur captivated approximately 2,000 attendees during the keynote address Tuesday at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in San Diego....
Two Texas Omnis Host Super Bowl Teams
The teams are set for Super Bowl XLV—the Packers and the Steelers—and now the real work starts for Dan Piotrowski and Andrew Casperson, general managers of the two Omni Hotels in the Dallas-Fort Worth area hosting the teams for the game on Feb. 6. As far as anyone can determine, this Super Bowl is the first in which the two teams are staying in hotels from the same brand. The task of accommodating the teams, their families and friends and club officials started nearly a year ago for both hotels and the Omni organization....
Wyndham to Franchise Dream, Night Brands
Coming on the heels of last year’s deal to franchise Planet Hollywood hotels, Wyndham Hotel Group has followed with a similar arrangement with Chatwal Hotels & Resorts for exclusive rights to franchise and manage its Dream and Night boutique hotel brands globally....
Delaware North Strikes Gold With Special Places
It may be the most successful hotel company you probably never heard of. It’s Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, the Buffalo, NY-based operator of 20 lodging properties with about 4,000 units mostly in or near national and state parks in the U.S. and Canada. The firm also owns five resorts in Australia and is concessionaire at a number of national parks (Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite), two New York State parks and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. ...
Resort Investments Promising for Discerning Players
With the prospect of resorts outperforming hotels in 2011, more investors will be attracted to this exciting comeback market. In Hotel Horizons, Colliers PKF Hospitality Research forecasts U.S. resorts will show year-over-year RevPAR growth of 12.3 percent this year versus 10.4 percent for all hotels. Investors must be careful, though, because...
Hotel Consultant Turns Resort GM
In a classic example of one thing leading to another, respected hotel industry consultant Mark Ozawa last fall found himself as the new managing director of the Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort, a 60-acre, 350-room property on the picturesque Caribbean island of St. Lucia. The story of how he got there is a fascinating one....
A Look Into the 2011 Crystal Ball
Thank God, we made it to 2011. While the last two years were agonizing for the hotel industry, most owners and operators finally feel at least cautiously optimistic about the year ahead. We may never again see the prosperity of 2006-07, but 2011 promises to be an interesting year filled with opportunity for the shrewd, the lucky and the bold. ...
Hotel Industry Is Ready to Rebound
2011 will be a pivotal year for the U.S. hotel industry as owners and operators strive to keep last year’s momentum intact. While operational performance should continue to improve, questions remain on how robust the transactions market will be and when new hotel development will return. ...
Relaunched Shoney’s Focuses on Southeast
With a courtroom victory under its belt, Boomerang Hotels says it will relaunch Shoney’s Inn with an emphasis on the Southeast, the brand’s birthplace and original stronghold. Boomerang CEO Brendan Watters hopes to eventually grow the brand to 80 to 100 properties, with 10 open within a year....
Radisson Revival Well On Its Way
As Carlson CEO Hubert Joly said during the company’s global conference in March, it’s easy to announce ambitious plans for growth. It’s an altogether different thing to execute such plans. But according to Thorsten Kirschke, Carlson is well on its way. ...
Omni Creates Success at Historic Resort
They don’t build resorts like the Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa anymore, and probably with good reason. Large, sprawling properties with lots of public spaces and recreational amenities and typically a mishmash of guestroom types can be a nightmare to operate and produce profits. Omni, which last year assumed management of the 214-year-old property in south central Pennsylvania, seems up to the task....
A Guide to Discounting as Demand Recovers
As the dust settles and the lodging industry starts moving into recovery this year, now is the perfect time for hoteliers to revisit their discounting strategies to start gaining more value for their properties and stop giving money away when they don't have to. ...
Distress Heads List of Top Hotel Stories
Just about everyone agrees 2010 was a better year for the hotel industry than was ’09. Occupancy, rates and RevPAR numbers finally went from contraction to growth, and while many properties are in varying degrees of financial distress, the market for transactions is beginning to show some life....
Top Hotel Stories of 2010
Just about everyone agrees 2010 was a better year for the hotel industry than was ’09. Occupancy, rates and RevPAR numbers finally went from contraction to growth, and while many properties are in varying degrees of financial distress, the market for transactions is beginning to show some life....
Great Year for Belz, Peabody Orlando
It’s been a pretty good year for Marty Belz, the president and CEO of Peabody Hotel Group. On Saturday, Dec. 11, the Peabody Orlando hosted the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association annual gala while celebrating its grand reopening after a $450-million expansion. ...
Vantage Adds Lexington Sub-Brands
Looking to close a gap in its brand strategy, Vantage Hospitality has added two sub-brands to its Lexington Collection flag. Vantage found it didn’t have a logical home for three-star-type properties that are too upscale for the Americas Best Value Inn brand but not quite at the quality level of other Lexington properties....
Savvy Management Is Key to Success at Distressed Hotels
Lodging is the most management-intensive segment of the commercial real estate industry. And while location and financial structure are critical, operating performance may be the primary driver of value in a hotel investment. So when a property becomes distressed or goes into default or bankruptcy, it’s crucial that competent, experienced and honest management be able to step in quickly to stabilize the situation....
