Dolce Finds Niche with Norwalk, Conn. Conference Center; Acquired Two Years Ago from Prudential / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality ExecutiveBy Richard Lee, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 24 2005 - Sometimes you just can't phone it in. That's the opinion of Christopher Dolce, general manager of Dolce Norwalk Center for Leadership and Innovation, a conference center with on-site accommodations on a bucolic 66-acre tract on Weed Avenue. Videoconferencing has its place in industry as companies use new technology to reduce expenses, Dolce feels, but it can't replace a management team exchanging ideas eyeball-to-eyeball. Technology-based conferences had grown after the terrorist attacks of 2001...

Four Central Denver Bed- and-Breakfasts Have Closed; Survivors Scrambling for Creative Ways to Improve Business / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality ExecutiveBy Julie Dunn, The Denver PostKnight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 28, 2005 - Times are tough for Denver bed- and-breakfasts. At least four central Denver bed- and-breakfasts have closed in the past two years. Among those surviving are seven historic inns that say they are scrambling for creative ways to stay in business. They're searching for new markets, offering package deals, banding together and even taking marketing lessons from large hotel chains. "We're hanging on, but we're struggling," said Jim Peiker, who has owned the nine-room Castle Marne Historic Inn since 1989. "We've l...

Despite a 4.7% Increase in 2004 RevPAR, Hotel Performance in Greater Paris Still Has a Long Way to Go to Return to the Giddy Highs of 2000 / Deloitte

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Despite a 4.7% Increase in 2004 RevPAR, Hotel Performance in Greater Paris Still Has a Long Way to Go to Return to the Giddy Highs of 2000 10 Mar 2005 - Paris has long been a feature of the Europe edition of the HotelBenchmark Survey, but this is the first time that detailed markets within the city have been available on HotelBenchmark.com. The new survey breaks the Paris hotel market into 19 distinct markets, including key central areas and airport markets. Greater Paris is also broken down by size of hotel, star rating and average rate bands. Paris hotel performance for selected ma...

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Stratton Mountain Resort Scores a “Hole in One” with Datavision’s Golf Revenue Management Module Applying room revenue management techniques to golf allows resort to increase golf revenues and volume  WESTON, FL — (MARCH 29, 2005) Datavision Technologies, the premier vendor for data warehousing and business intelligence systems for the hospitality industry, installed their Golf Revenue Management Module at Stratton Mountain Resort. The system allows revenue managers at the property to view tee times by course, date, round type, market segment and analyze REV PATT (Revenue per Availabl...

Crestline Hotels & Resorts Recognizes Top Sales Performers; Marilyn Williams, Holiday Inn on the Hill, Washington, DC Named Sales Person of the Year /

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Discount Hotels London, Sydney, Rome, AmsterdamParis, Melbourne, Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin, Hong Kong, New York, Auckland Discount Hotels London, Sydney, Rome, AmsterdamParis, Melbourne, Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin, Hong Kong, New York, Auckland Crestline Hotels & Resorts Recognizes Top Sales Performers - Marilyn Williams, Holiday Inn on the Hill, Washington, DC Named Sales Person of the Year MCLEAN, Va., March 16, 2005 - Crestline Hotels & Resorts, Inc., a leading hospitality management company, reports a record year for sales growth in 2004 with its po...

Corinthia Hotels International to Manage Euro 32 million Ski and Golf Resort in Haus, Austria / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report  Corinthia Hotels International to Manage Euro 32 million Ski and Golf Resort in Haus, Austria March 23, 2005 - Corinthia Hotels International (CHI) has concluded negotiations for a 20-year management agreement with the developers of a new, Euro 32 million, five-star Ski and Golf resort in Haus, in the Dachstein-Tauem mountain region of Austria. The project was launched this month at a press conference chaired by the governor of the Austrian State of Styria at the Haus City-Hall. Set amid stunning mountain scene...

Copyright Laws Applicable to Hotels / Jim Abrams / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report The Global Hospitality Advisor . Copyright Laws Applicable to Hotels March 2005 By Jim Abrams Most lodging operators are at a loss when they are contacted by one of the performing rights societies—the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), or the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, Inc. (SESAC) — and told that they have to pay for the use of copyrighted music in their establishments. The possibility of a copyright infringement, if any, arises where the copyrighted music is publicly performed without permission ...

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report New Consumer Hotel Booking Preferences -  They Love the Internet…Now What? By: Neil Salerno, Hotel Marketing Coach, March 2005 In case you didn’t catch it, last week an historic announcement came across the wire, “Consumers now prefer booking hotels online over all offline options” (Source - Keynote Systems Inc.) In my heart, I knew it had to come, but I never dreamed it would happen so soon.  BAM, the stakes for hotels on the Internet just went up a notch. All along, we have lived with the conjecture that online bookings were nice, but voice reservations and other means far out-we...

Travelers Prefer Innovation, Creativity Over Predictability, Discount Pricing / Rick Swig / RSBA Associates / March 2005

January 30, 2005

RSBA & Associates  Hospitality Consulting Services 400 Spear Street, Suite 106 San Francisco, CA 94105 Email: rickswig@rsbaswig.com Web site: http://www.rsbaswig.com   Email: rickswig@rsbaswig.com Web site: http://www.rsbaswig.com  Travelers Prefer Innovation, Creativity Over Predictability, Discount Pricing . Independent, or boutique, hotels are setting new competitive standards for products and service . by Rick Swig, March 2005 During the year ahead, most major markets are predicting upturns in occupancy and ADR as the economy expands and more commercial travelers hit the road.  Although many hotel opera...

Developer Bo Aughtry Hoping for Late 2006 Opening for 222 room $30 million Hilton in Downtown Columbia, South Carolina / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality ExecutiveBy Tanya Fogg Young, The State, Columbia, S.C.Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 20, 2005 - Construction should begin in June on the long-awaited Hilton convention center hotel, months after Greenville developer Bo Aughtry had planned. It is one of three downtown Columbia hotels planned or under construction. Aughtry said he had hoped to begin building the 222-room hotel as much as nine months ago to serve the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, which opened in September 2004. He wanted to open the hotel by New Year's Eve of this year. Now, it looks more like the $30 million fa...

Colliers International Hotels Arranges Two Sales / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Colliers International Hotels Arranges Two Sales Irvine, CA  - March 28, 2005 -- Colliers International Hotels today  announced they have arranged the sale of 2.1 acres of land in the Anaheim Resort District to be developed as a vacation ownership resort, and the sale of the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley.  The Anaheim Resort land was sold to Trendwest Resorts.  The parcel is located at 201 W. Katella Ave. and is part of the Hotel Circle Specific Plan.  The seller was Mantra, LLC.  Trendwest has obtained approvals to develop a 14-story, 255 unit vacation resort on the property.   The H...

Magna Hospitality Group, L.C. Completing $1 million Refurbishment of the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center Antietam Creek in Hagerstown, Maryland / Ma

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Magna Hospitality Group, L.C. Completing $1 million Refurbishment of the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center Antietam Creek in Hagerstown, Maryland Six-Month Makeover of 210 Guest Rooms HAGERSTOWN, Md. (March 4, 2005) -- Clarion Hotel & Conference Center Antietam Creek, the largest convention hotel in Hagerstown, Maryland, is stepping to a new level with a $1 million refurbishment that includes major improvements to all 210 guest rooms and suites.  The six-month project, which is being overseen by Smith & Fenimore in Hagerstown, is expected to be completed by late March. "It's a wonderfu...

The 500 room Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa Set to Open in 2005 in China's Tropical “Hawaii”; Dirk De Cuyper Appointed General Manager /

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report  The 500 room Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa Set to Open in 2005 in China's Tropical “Hawaii”; Dirk De Cuyper Appointed General Manager 11th March 2005 - Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, a 500-room low-rise beachfront resort is due to open later this year in what has been hailed by tourism officials as the budding “Hawaii of China”. Located in Yalong Bay on the southernmost tip of Hainan Island and separated from the mainland by a 20 kilometre stretch of South China Sea, the luxury resort will be Hilton’s first...

National Restaurant Association Show Conducting Cost Reviews for Las Vegas and Orlando; Chicago's 2nd Largest Trade Show Seeks Cost Relief at

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality ExecutiveBy Kathy Bergen, Chicago TribuneKnight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 12, 2005 - In a grand gesture in June Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. Rod Blagojevich told the trade show world they were throwing their considerable political weight behind labor reform at McCormick Place. More than nine months later there has been little progress, and organizers of some of Chicago's biggest and most lucrative trade shows are growing restless. "If we were feeling positive, we wouldn't be conducting a formal cost review of two additional cities for the first time anyone knows of," said Mary Pat Heftman...

The Historic Claridge Hotel, Chicago Undergoing Renovation to be InterContinental Hotels Group Second Hotel Indigo / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report The Historic Claridge Hotel, Chicago Undergoing Renovation to be InterContinental Hotels Group Second Hotel Indigo ATLANTA, March 22, 2005 - InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG; London) (IHG), the world's largest and most global hotel company, will open its second Hotel Indigo in mid-June in one of Chicago's wealthiest neighborhoods, adding a new lifestyle experience to the Gold Coast area. InterContinental Hotels Group will manage this hotel on behalf of the Chicago based ownership group. "We're thrilled to be opening Hotel Indigo in Chicago, one of the world's greatest cities, wh...

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Cendant’s Eight Hotel Web Sites Set Record-Breaking Pace PARSIPPANY, N.J. (March 23, 2005) – Cendant Hotel Group today announced that the value of single-day bookings made through its brand Web sites reached the $1 million mark on Feb. 7, three months earlier than last year. May 17 was the company’s first $1 million day last year.  Year-to-date, Cendant Hotel Group’s Web sites have recorded 21 days exceeding one million dollars in revenue.  In terms of overall revenue, the Web sites are exceeding last year’s booking pace with a 38 percent growth in revenue year over year. “At thi...

Carlson Owned and Managed Operations Increase Sales 24% in 2004 to $8.4 billion; Carlson Hotels Worldwide Adds 87 Hotels in 2004 / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Carlson Owned and Managed Operations Increase Sales 24% in 2004 to $8.4 billion; Carlson Hotels Worldwide Adds 87 Hotels in 2004 MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (March 2, 2005) - Carlson Companies today announced that 2004 systemwide sales from its global, company-owned and franchised operations reached record levels.  Systemwide sales totaled $26.1 billion, a 25 percent increase, compared with $20.9 billion in 2003. Sales from Carlson-owned and managed operations totaled $8.4 billion, a 24 percent increase, compared with $6.8 billion the previous year. Carlson Companies is a global leader in bus...

A Crash Course In Cap Rates / Canadian Lodging Outlook – January 2005 Year-to-Date

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report A Crash Course In Cap Rates CANADIAN LODGING OUTLOOK January  2005 Year-to-Date The Canadian Lodging Outlook is a joint monthly publication  of Smith Travel Research and HVS International,  Vancouver and Toronto, Canada . By: Ian Ricci and Carrie Russell, AACI - HVS International - Canada Capitalization rates, commonly referred to as "cap rates" are a much bantered about term in real estate investment. A cap rate generally indicates the return an investor expects to achieve on his or her investment, and the direct capitalization approach is a simplistic method of determining the value o...

8,500 New Hotel Rooms Are Scheduled to Open in Canada Over the Next Two Years / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report 8,500 New Hotel Rooms Are Scheduled to Open in Canada Over the Next Two Years PORTSMOUTH, NH – March 3, 2005 - Lodging Econometrics (LE), the Industry Authority for Hotel Real Estate, has announced in its first Canadian Supply Side Forecast Report that 43 hotels with 4,151 rooms are scheduled to open in ‘05, and an additional 45 hotels/4,292 rooms in ’06. Patrick Ford, President, said, “At the beginning of 2005, there were 164 hotels having 17,589 rooms in the New Construction Pipeline being actively pursued by developers.”  42 hotels/4,514 rooms were already Under Construction.  A...

Developer C.W. Clark Inc, Beginning Big Hotel Projects in Escondido, CA and Yuma, AZ / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality ExecutiveBy David Fried, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 6, 2005 - ESCONDIDO -- For Escondido officials, the City Council's recently approved plans for a 197-room Marriott hotel next to City Hall and a 142-unit condominium across the street may be anything but small potatoes. But for Craig Clark, president and CEO of C.W. Clark Inc., the developer whom city officials picked to bring a luxury hotel to the city's core, the project isn't the only dish on the table. Nor are the obstacles the $105.2 million proposal is guaranteed to present. The joint vent...

New Condominium Resort Technology Moves into the Emerald Coast; Sterling Resorts Selects CSS Hotel Systems as its Resort Management System Partner / M

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report New Condominium Resort Technology Moves into Florida's Emerald Coast - Sterling Resorts Selects CSS Hotel Systems as its Resort Management System Partner DESTIN, Fla. and MCKINNEY, Texas – Feb. 28, 2005 – CSS Hotel Systems completed the installation of its Inntegrity™ property management system at Sterling Resorts, a resort condominium corporation located in Destin, Fla. The new technology will allow Sterling Resorts to focus more on guests services and less on system operations.  With a unique blend of hotel style features and condominium vacation rental functions, Inntegrity’s™ eas...

Resort Data Processing, Inc. Announces Mantych As Director of Marketing / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Resort Data Processing, Inc. Announces Mantych As Director of Marketing VAIL, CO – March 11, 2005 – Resort Data Processing, Inc. (RDP), founder and president, Barry Biegler, recently announced the appointment of Christine M. Mantych as Director of Marketing.  A 20-year veteran of the advertising and marketing industry, Mantych has most recently served as principle of TMG/Direct, a direct marketing agency. As the Director of Marketing, Mantych will oversee the strategic and financial responsibilities for the multi-national marketing objectives of Resort Data Processing, Inc.  Mantych brings ...

The Caribbean Hotel Association Annual Conference to be Held Outside the Caribbean for First Time; Set for Miami, June 26-29, 2005 / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report  The Caribbean Hotel Association Annual Conference  to be Held Outside the Caribbean for First Time; Set for Miami, June 26-29, 2005 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (March 18, 2005) – The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) is raising the bar for Caribbean hospitality with a ‘member-centric’ annual conference that meets the challenge of being more relevant to its members.  The Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference 2005, better known as CHIC, will take place June 26-29, 2005, at the Hyatt Regency Miami, in...

Workforce of the Future, Community Service and Proven Training Ideas Take Center Stage at Recent CHART Conference / March 2005

January 30, 2005

Hotel Online  Special Report Workforce of the Future, Community Service and Proven Training Ideas Take Center Stage at Recent CHART Conference Denver, CO – Over 160 attendees got a taste of the workforce of the future during the opening reception of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) 69th Hospitality Training Conference, held February 26 – March 1 at the Marriott Denver City Center. ProStart students from local Wheat Ridge and Thornton High Schools cooked tableside with Marriott chefs to showcase their culinary skills, knowl...