January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Newmarket International’s DelphiTM and NetXchangeTMHired to Manage Wynn Resorts’ Le Rêve Group Business Opportunities LAS VEGAS — JAN. 28, 2003 — Newmarket International Inc. today announced that its industry-leading DelphiTM Multi-Property Edition sales and catering software solution and NetXchange MeetingBrokerTM web-based electronic lead sharing application will be leveraged by Wynn Resorts, Limited, (NASDAQ: WYNN - News) for use at Le Rêve, which is intended to be the preeminent luxury hotel casino in Las Vegas with more than 200,000 square feet of convention space and meeting space, ...

Professional Hospitality Resources Completes $750,000 Renovation of the Travelodge Nags Head Beach Hotel / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Professional Hospitality Resources Completes $750,000 Renovation of the Travelodge Nags Head Beach Hotel VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - January 15, 2003 - Travelodge Nags Head Beach Hotel, located at 804 Virginia Dare Trail in Kill Devil Hills, NC will conclude Phase II of a major renovation in February of 2003.  The former Nags Head Beach Hotel was acquired by the Virginia Beach-based Professional Hospitality Resources (PHR) in 2001, whose management embarked on a $750,000 renovation and upgrade of hotel amenities and facilities the following year. “PHR recognized that the hotel was i...

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Five Aston Hawaii Employees Honored at Hawaii Hotel Association’s Na Po‘e Pa‘ahana Awards HONOLULU (Jan. 15, 2003) — The Hawaii Hotel Association honored the exceptional customer service of five Aston Hotels & Resorts Hawaii employees at the 13th Annual Na Po‘e Pa‘ahana [the hardworking people] Awards. The annual awards ceremony honors Hawaii’s top hospitality industry employees in nine different service categories. Tony Phonpituck, guest service agent for Aston at the Executive Center, received second- place honors in the program’s top award category, Outstanding Lodging Employee...

Les Clefs d'Or Member, Nellie Salas Appointed Chief Concierge The Doral Park Avenue Hotel, New York City / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report  Les Clefs d'Or Member, Nellie Salas Appointed Chief Concierge The Doral Park Avenue Hotel, New York City NEW YORK, NY,  January 27, 2003 - The Doral Park Avenue Hotel announces the appointment of Nellie Salas as Chief Concierge.  Ms. Salas will be responsible for all areas of concierge service at the 188-room hotel, located in the historic Murray Hill district of Manhattan.  With over fifteen years of experience in New York City's hospitality industry, Ms. Salas brings an extensive network of contacts across all sectors of the city's rich cultural, retail, restaurant and nightlife scenes.Â...

Montage Hotels & Resorts, a Newly Formed Luxury Hotel Operating Company, Set to Open the Company's Namesake and Flagship – The Montage Reso

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Montage Hotels & Resorts, a Newly Formed Luxury Hotel Operating Company, Set to Open the Company's Namesake and Flagship - The Montage Resort & Spa LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (January 13, 2003) - Montage Resort & Spa -- the first oceanfront hotel to open in Laguna Beach in more than 50 years -- will open February 21, 2003.  With sweeping panoramas of the Pacific Ocean and striking craftsman-style architecture, the new 262-room resort is situated on 30-lushly landscaped beachfront acres.  According to Alan Fuerstman, the founder, president and chief executive officer of Montage Hotel...

Mike Teed Named Vice President of Sales for The Dawson Companies, Which Includes The Scottsdale Plaza Resort / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Mike Teed Named Vice President of Sales for The Dawson Companies, Which Includes The Scottsdale Plaza Resort January 23, 2003 - Mike Teed has been promoted to Vice President of Sales for all divisions of The Dawson Companies, which includes The Scottsdale Plaza Resort, The Dawson Group, U.S. Arrangers and Arizona Arrangers.  Over the past nine years, Teed has developed long-term associations with a variety of companies who continually choose The Scottsdale Plaza Resort as their meeting destination. His ability to provide clients with an exceptional level of service as well as h...

Winners and Losers in the Middle East War for Hotel Profits / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Winners and Losers in the Middle East War for Hotel Profits January 23, 2003 - Deloitte & Touche's unique survey of the Middle Eastern and African hotel market - encompassing results from almost 80,000 hotel rooms - shows a region of contrasting fortunes in the year to November 2002. Several cities report considerable growth on last year - led by Beirut where revPAR at the hotels sampled are recorded up almost 20 percent, driven by 13 percent growth in volume and six percent growth in average rate. Other cities to experience revPAR growth include Kuwait (up 10 percent) a...

Restaurant Pays $112,702 in Back Wages After U.S. Department of Labor found Managers Participating in Tip Pool / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Restaurant Pays $112,702 in Back Wages After U.S. Department of Labor found Managers Participating in Tip Pool By L.M. Sixel, Houston Chronicle Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 14--Sam's Boat restaurant agreed to pay $112,702 in back wages to its employees after the U.S. Department of Labor found the restaurant required its waiters and waitresses to give 3 percent of their tips to managers.  The money will go to 48 employees who worked at the restaurant's Richmond Avenue location between Aug. 6, 2000, and Aug. 4, 2002, according to an agreement Richmond SB Intere...

Free Competitive Call Accounting Upgrades Announced By Metropolis Technologies to Celebrate 10-Year Anniversary / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Free Competitive Call Accounting Upgrades Announced By Metropolis Technologies to Celebrate 10-Year Anniversary January 14, 2003 - Metropolis Technologies, Inc, a hospitality call accounting manufacturer, announced a competitive upgrade program that will allow customers of @Comm (formerly Xiox), Homisco and XETA Technologies to upgrade to ProfitWatch free of charge.  Metropolis Technologies (www.metropolis.com) is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with this upgrade program and the release of ProfitWatch Version 7.0. "We have spoken with many users of competing products who want to move...

Getting Your Message Across – Instant Messaging In a Hotel Environment / Terence Ronson / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report    Getting Your Message Across - Instant Messaging In a Hotel Environment By Terence Ronson - January 2003 For the majority of us, in our day to day interaction with people, we communicate in a whole host of ways; phone, fax, email, letter, SMS (short message which in turn has developed it's own shorthand language - see below) and of course – face to face (mano a mano (one on one)). But a relatively new form of communication is rapidly moving into the corporate world being a hybrid of what our kids or the gossipy younger generation have been effectively using for quite a while – Inst...

The Hotel Lets Narita, Owned by Private Equity Fund Lone Star Group, to be Rebranded Mercure Hotel Narita / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report The Hotel Lets Narita, Owned by Private Equity Fund Lone Star Group, to be Rebranded Mercure Hotel Narita 7 January 2003: One of the world's largest and best-known hotel brands, Mercure, will launch in Japan mid-year with the rebranding of the Hotel Lets Narita to Mercure Hotel Narita. The hotel signals the first step in Mercure's long-term plans to establish itself in Japan as it continues its expansion throughout the Asia Pacific region. The 250-room hotel, owned by private equity fund Lone Star group, has been closed for some time and will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation p...

Meeting Industry Faces Wake-Up Call; Cancellation and Attrition Clauses an Issue / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report   Meeting Industry Faces Wake-Up Call;  Cancellation and Attrition Clauses an Issue January 23, 2003 - If the travel industry expects more meeting and convention bookings to offset sluggish business and leisure travel in 2003, it faces a big wakeup call, according to a just released meeting industry survey by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and American Express . Meeting planners in the U.S., Canada and Europe project an overall average budget decrease of 1.1 percent in 2003 vs. 2002, even with a 1 percent average growth in how many meetings they will plan. Conversely, business tra...

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Patricia R. McCann Named Vice President – Benefits, Compensation, and Human Resource Information Systems for Hilton Hotels Corporation BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., January 14, 2003 – Patricia R. McCann has been named vice president – benefits, compensation, and human resource information systems (HRIS) for Hilton Hotels Corporation.  McCann will be responsible for the strategic and tactical management of health and welfare benefits, compensation and incentive programs, and HRIS.  She reports to Molly McKenzie-Swarts, senior vice president, human resources for the company. Prior to ...

.

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report   ...

Marshall Management, Inc. Terminates Planned Merger with AFM Hospitality; Reaffirms Goal to Be Leader in Mid-Sized Management Company Segment / Jan 20

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Marshall Management, Inc. Terminates Planned Merger with AFM Hospitality; Reaffirms Goal to Be Leader in Mid-Sized Management Company Segment SALISBURY, Md., January 3, 2003 — Marshall Management, Inc., a leading mid-sized management company, and Toronto-based AFM Hospitality Corporation (TSX: AFM) today announced that the companies have jointly agreed to terminate a previously announced merger.  Privately owned Marshall Management currently operates a portfolio of 20 three- and four-star hotels and resorts.  AFM Hospitality operates or franchises more than 200 hotels in North A...

Marriott International, Inc.Recognized by FORTUNE as Third Best Company with 100,000 or More Employees to Work For / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Marriott International, Inc. Recognized by FORTUNE as Third Best Company with 100,000 or More Employees to Work For WASHINGTON, D.C. – Jan. 8, 2003 – For the sixth consecutive year, Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.”  Marriott ranked third among companies with 100,000 or more employees, and is the only U.S.-based lodging company on the list.  FORTUNE considered more than 1,000 companies and surveyed more than 40,000 employees who evaluated trust in management, pride in work and the c...

Mandalay Bay's 1.5 million-square-foot Convention Center Now the Nation's Fifth Largest Convention Center / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Mandalay Bay's 1.5 million-square-foot Convention Center Now the Nation's Fifth Largest Convention Center By Chris Jones, Las Vegas Review-Journal Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 4, 2003 - A tradeshow expert and Mandalay Resort Group executives are confident the $236 million convention center expansion at the company's signature resort will lure added cash-laden business travelers to Southern Nevada.  When it opens Monday morning, the 1.5 million-square-foot Mandalay Bay Convention Center will become the nation's fifth-largest convention center, trailing only Ch...

Manchester Resorts Takes Over World-class Meadows Del Mar Golf Club and Adjacent Land Earmarked for a 300-room Luxury Hotel / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Manchester Resorts Takes Over World-class Meadows Del Mar Golf Club and Adjacent Land Earmarked for a 300-room Luxury Hotel By Mike Freeman, The San Diego Union-Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 21--San Diego's Manchester Resorts has taken control of the world-class Meadows Del Mar Golf Club and adjacent land earmarked for a 300-room luxury hotel.  Manchester officials declined to say how much the company paid for the property in Carmel Valley. "We were successful in making an investment in the company that owns the site," said Dick Gibbons, president o...

Men's Public Restroom at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo Up for America's Best Restroom Award; Visited by 1 million People a Year / Jan

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Men's Public Restroom at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo Up for America's Best Restroom Award;  Visited by 1 million People a Year By Ryan Huff, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 3--SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Many regard the men's restroom as the highlight of the world-famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, but that's not enough for owner Alex Madonna.  He wants the rocky waterfall to be the nation's favorite place to pee.  The bathroom, with its clamshell sinks and green-tiled walls, is among 10 finalists in a Web site's ...

Michael J. Taylor, General Manager for the North Maple Inn at Basking Ridge Elected to the Board of Directors for the International Association of Con

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Michael J. Taylor, General Manager for the North Maple Inn at Basking Ridge Elected to the Board of Directors for the International Association of Conference Centers  BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, January 2, 2003 … Michael J. Taylor, CHA, CMP, General Manager for the North Maple Inn at Basking Ridge, has been elected to the Board of Directors for the prestigious International Association of Conference Centers (IACC).  Mr. Taylor was one of a slate of ten candidates for the post.  IACC is the premier professional conference center organization globally.  Mr. Taylor has been a...

Westin La Paloma Resort Manager Monica Rafter Named Outstanding Lodging Manager of the Year by Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive  Westin La Paloma Resort Manager Monica Rafter Named Outstanding Lodging Manager of the Year by Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association By Tiffany Kjos, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 17--The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa was little more than dirt and blueprints when Monica Rafter was hired to help open the property.  Since then, Rafter, the resort's director of conference planning and catering, started two in-house businesses, mentored dozens of hospitality professionals and continues to help run the resort's group sales department, ...

European Hotel Industry: Like Last Year, France is Doing Better than all its European Neighbours in 2002 / MKG Consulting / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report European Hotel Industry: Like Last Year, France is Doing Better than all its European Neighbours in 2002 France is the only country to record a growth of the RevPAR on the last 12 months.  Southern Europe resists better than the rest of the continent.  The Netherlands and the United Kingdom lower their room rates in order to maintain high occupancy rates. Economy segments in progress on the last 12 months. Country Occupancy Rate End of November 2002 OR change End of November 2002/2001  Average Room Rate End of November 2002 A...

MGM Reports 4th Quarter Earnings of $39 million Compared with $23.7 million a Year Ago Despite a Slow New Year's Holiday / Hotel Statistics / Ja

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report  MGM Reports 4th Quarter Earnings of $39 million Compared with $23.7 million a Year Ago Despite a Slow New Year's Holiday Hotel Statistics January 28, 2003 -  2002 Company Highlights  Net revenue of over $4.0 billion for the year, up 1% from 2001;  EBITDA(1) increased 8% to $1.2 billion;  Adjusted EPS grew to $1.87, up 36% from 2001;  Reduced debt by $314 million, including the Company's $44 million share of debt repaid by Monte Carlo;  Repurchased 6.4 million shares of Company common stock for $208 million;  Invested $295 million of capital in the Company's pr...

Michael Dominguez Appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the SunBurst Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Michael Dominguez Appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the SunBurst Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona SCOTTSDALE, AZ (January 21, 2003) - Michael Dominguez has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the SunBurst Resort.  Dominguez will be responsible for driving room-level sales and group business at this 210-room property, the only full-service resort in old-town Scottsdale.   He will also be instrumental in developing marketing plans unique to the hotel’s needs in the market.   “We are delighted to have Michael as part of our team,” said Darren Smith, General Manager o...