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“Like 9 New Hotels Coming”; New 860-key Fort Benning, Georgia Hotel Sparks Fear in Local Competition
February 17, 2014
Feb. 17--It's an 860-room hotel that is impressive in its sheer size and is situated in the heart of Fort Benning's Main Post area -- where soldiers train, work, live and play. The 450,000-square-foot property also is part of the U.S. Army's effort to privatize its on-post lodging to replace as quickly and economically as possible rooms that are showing age through decades of wear and tear. "I would like to stress that the purpose of this hotel is to take care of our soldiers and families," said Al Gelineau, Fort Benning's director of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. "That's our target market, the official traveler. Our soldie
China Making Massive Inroads in the Bahamas with the $3.5M Baha Mar Mega-Resort
February 16, 2014
Feb. 16--NASSAU -- Cement mixers from China and construction equipment rumble next to a premier strip of white sandy beach as thousands of Chinese workers labor to complete a $3.5 billion resort project at famed Cable Beach. Bahamian officials hope that the Baha Mar project -- four new hotels, 200,000 square feet of convention space, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course and a casino with a 50-foot glass water wall and a Vegas-style show lake -- will transform Bahamian tourism, putting it on the map as a world-class gaming destination. Baha Mar developers plan to have the mega-resort open by mid-December, just in time for the w
Revival in Store for New Mexico’s Historic La Castaneda Hotel; Allen Affeldt to Acquire & Rebuild
February 16, 2014
Feb. 16--........................................................................................................................................................................................ SANTA FE -- The man behind a spectacular renovation of one of the historic Harvey House hotels, those railroad way stations that opened the door for tourism in the Southwest, may soon work his magic on the long-forlorn La Castaneda Hotel in Las Vegas, N.M. "I am in escrow to purchase the Castaneda" with 60 days to close, said Allan Affeldt, who transformed and reopened La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Ariz. "I am guardedly optimistic; it's very compli
Super Bowl was Not So Super for Hotels
February 16, 2014
Feb. 16--This year's Super Bowl was less than super for hotels in New York and New Jersey. Hotel occupancy rates for Super Bowl weekend were 61% in Bergen County, N.J., 79% in New York's Times Square area and 75% in New York's uptown and midtown areas, according to the hotel consulting and analytics firm STR Analytics. By contrast, hotels reached 99% occupancy in New Orleans during the 2013 Super Bowl and 91% in Indianapolis during the 2012 Super Bowl, according to STR Analytics. One possible reason for the lower occupancy rates this year is that the area in New York and New Jersey has more hotel rooms to offer, making sellouts less lik
Detroit’s Greektown Casino-Hotel Loses $31M in 2013 but Hangs its Hopes on $125M Renovation
February 15, 2014
Feb. 15--Greektown Casino-Hotel lost nearly $31 million in 2013 and predicts another money-losing year in 2014, but hopes to eventually turn a profit with help from $125 million to $150 million in coming renovations courtesy of its new owner, Dan Gilbert. The downtown Detroit casino revealed the loss in its annual earnings report Friday. The report for the first time put a dollar amount on the upgrades being planned for the property by the Quicken Loans founder's Rock Gaming organization. Matthew Cullen, CEO of Rock Gaming, announced the renovation plans in December to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, but offered few specifics. He did
Hotel Owners & Managers Pushing Back on Proposed Los Angeles Workers’ Wage Hike
February 15, 2014
Feb. 15--On the road to Los Angeles International Airport in the pre-dawn dark, Inez Luna's eyes appear nearly swollen shut with exhaustion. He got only four hours of sleep, as usual, but he can't slow down or he'll be late for his 3:30 a.m. clock-in. For seven hours or more, he'll load baggage and cargo onto jets at the airport, where his co-workers Anglicized "Luna" to create his nickname, "Mr. Moon." Then he crawls back into his Toyota Corolla for a quick midday nap before reporting to job No. 2, washing dishes and busing tables at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport hotel. Off at 10 p.m. and home to South Los Angeles half an hour later,
Recent Lodging Industry Proposals Would Mean Greatest Growth in 40 Years for Rockland, Maine
February 15, 2014
Feb. 15--ROCKLAND, Maine -- The Rockland lodging industry is seeing its most significant change in a generation. Two separate hotels are in the planning stages while the two largest Rockland motels are undergoing a reduction in the number of rooms as the space is converted to either time share units or residential condominiums. The changes come as the lodging industry statewide saw one of its best years on record in 2013. Maine lodging businesses reported sales of $721 million for the first 10 months of 2013, according to the Maine Bureau of Revenue Services. November and December figures were not yet available. The 2013 figures are on
Developers Hope to Bring Long Dormant Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas Back to Life
February 15, 2014
Feb. 15--MINERAL WELLS -- Every time Annette Bennett walks out the back door of the family business, the Baker Hotel still looms large, but it possesses little of its majestic past. The 14-story hotel, long the dominant feature in the Mineral Wells skyline, has been stripped of just about everything valuable. Rooms are trashed and windows broken. Entrances are covered with sheets of plywood, forcing city officials to constantly seal new entryways pried open by trespassers -- the Baker's most frequent guests. But even in its dilapidated state, residents of this Palo Pinto County city 50 miles west of Fort Worth are confident that a rebir