Mark E. Conklin Appointed General Manager at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Mark E. Conklin Appointed General Manager at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong HONG KONG, Jan. 17, 2003 - JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong recently welcomed its new General Manager, Mark E. Conklin, a 22-year veteran with the Marriott. His fifth General Manager's posting reflects a meteoric rise in his career.  He was most recently the pre-opening General Manager of JW Marriott Shanghai in Tomorrow Square on Nanjing Road.  Prior to this he held various general manager's positions concurrent with area market responsibilities in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, Overland Park, Kansas and Orlando, ...

Radisson SAS Appoints Michael Barber North American Corporate Sales Manager / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Radisson SAS Appoints Michael Barber North American Corporate Sales Manager Brussels, January 2003 – Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, with over 120 hotels in 36 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has appointed Michael Barber North American corporate sales manager, continuing the company’s commitment to targeting the business traveler from the U.S. and Canada. Based in New Jersey, Barber will be responsible for developing new corporate business from North America.  In addition, he will also support the sales efforts of the Carlson corporate sales team in North America...

Hotel Industry Veteran John C. Love Focuses On Brokerage For The Next Up Cycle / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Hotel Industry Veteran John C. Love Focuses On Brokerage For The Next Up Cycle San Francisco, CA, January 20, 2003 --  John C. Love, having spent the last 40 years as an international hospitality industry consultant and interim hotel and restaurant manager, is adding hotel and resort brokerage services to better serve the industry at this time. As John Love Innvestments, new services will include acquisition search, due diligence, and divestiture services. Love will continue to offer strategy-consulting services, serve as an expert witness and arbitrator, provide strategies for REO and distres...

Loews Hotels Named E-Marketer of the Year; The HSMAI/TravelCLICK Award Earned for Aggressive Pursuit of Control Over Their E-commerce / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report   Loews Hotels Named E-Marketer of the Year; . The HSMAI/TravelCLICK Award Earned for Aggressive Pursuit of Control Over Their E-commerce Award Presented at HSMAI Travel Industry Awards Gala Additional Three Regional Winners Honored Chicago, IL (January 29, 2003) - With electronic distribution of hotel room nights approaching $18 billion in annual worldwide revenues, TravelCLICK and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) honored excellence in electronic marketing at the HSMAI Travel Awards Gala in New York.  TravelCLICK presented the second annual HSMAI/T...

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report The Listel Vancouver Converts to Vancouver’s First 100 percent Smoke-free Hotel January 6, 2003 - Can an entire building make a New Year’s resolution? The Listel Vancouver and O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar did - Vancouver’s “most artful hotel*” has kicked the habit, gone cold turkey, got the nasty nicotine monkey off its back and – as of January 1st - converted itself to Vancouver’s first 100 percent smoke-free hotel.   “We had a minor epiphany,” states Jim Mockford, the Listel’s General Manager. “We realized that if our primary purpose is to provide people with a comfortable, aesthe...

Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust Reports 2002 Revenues Increased 6.7%, Including 11.6% Growth in the Fourth Quarter / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report  Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust Reports 2002 Revenues Increased 6.7%, Including 11.6% Growth in the Fourth Quarter Quarterly distributions maintained TORONTO, Jan. 27 /CNW/ - Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust ("Legacy") (TSX: LGY.UN) today announced its unaudited financial results for the three months and the year ended December 31, 2002. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. Legacy expects to release its 2002 annual report in mid-March and will hold its annual general meeting at 10:00 a.m. on April 24, 2003 at The Fairmont Royal York in Toro...

DEKA Immobilien Investment GmbH Purchases Le Meridien Barcelona; Invests Additional €20 Million in Renovation / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report DEKA Immobilien Investment GmbH Purchases Le Meridien Barcelona;  Invests Additional  €20 Million in Renovation London, 9th January 2003 — Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts and Deka Immobilien are pleased to announce the sale of Le Meridien Barcelona, a five star hotel on the Ramblas in Barcelona, to Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH.  The property, which will continue to be managed by Le Meridien on a long term lease, benefits from direct frontage to the world renown Ramblas, and as such is recognised as being one of the best located 5 star hotels in Barcelona.  The hotel, first opened in 1...

Great Eagle Holdings Hong Kong Ltd. Now Operating Under the Name of Langham Hotels International Limited – Decides to Rename the Hotel Business

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Great Eagle Holdings Hong Kong Ltd. Now Operating Under the Name of Langham Hotels International Limited -   Decides to Rename the Hotel Business after the London Hotel Hong Kong, January 13th, 2002 - Great Eagle Holdings Hong Kong Ltd. has announced today that its hotel operating and asset management arm, Great Eagle Hotels International (GEHI) will operate under the name of Langham Hotels International Limited (LHI) with immediate effect.    Great Eagle purchased the Langham Hilton, London in 1996, subsequently carrying out a further upgrading of the property that included acquiring t...

Waterford Management, a Subsidiary of Waterford Hotel Group, Inc., Names Nicholas Langella as Vice President Development/Facilities Operations / Jan 2

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Waterford Management, a Subsidiary of Waterford Hotel Group, Inc., Names Nicholas Langella as Vice President Development/Facilities Operations Waterford, CT (January 7, 2003) – Waterford Management, a subsidiary of Waterford Hotel Group, Inc., has named Nicholas Langella as Vice President Development/Facilities Operations.  The company is currently developing the state-owned Connecticut Convention Center, which will be operated by Waterford Management.   Langella will oversee all phases of a project from management and consulting contracts to initiating start-up operations.  “Waterford ...

Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Appoints Interstate Hotels & Resorts to Manage the Lakeway Inn Conference Resort in Austin, Texas / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Appoints Interstate Hotels & Resorts to Manage the Lakeway Inn Conference Resort in Austin, Texas WASHINGTON, D.C., January 10, 2003 -- Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR), the nation’s largest independent hotel management company, today announced that it had signed a long-term contract to manage the Lakeway Inn Conference Resort in Austin, Texas.  The upscale destination resort is owned by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments (Lend Lease), an advisory and investment management services firm. “This is our first contract with Lend Lease, a well-known and ...

REH Capital Partners Acquires the 144 unit Lake Cecile Suites and Resort in Orlando, Florida for $4,700,000; Will Renovate and Rebrand MainStay Suites

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report REH Capital Partners Acquires the 144 unit Lake Cecile Suites and Resort in Orlando, Florida for $4,700,000;  Will Renovate and Rebrand MainStay Suites Resort Fort Lauderdale, Florida (January 6, 2003) – In step with its strategy to capitalize on unique investment opportunities in this down market, REH Capital Partners, LLC, announced today the acquisition of the 144 unit Lake Cecile Suites and Resort in Orlando, Florida.  The acquisition marks the first of several planned acquisitions by REH Capital Partners in the upcoming months in “turn around” hotel investment opportu...

Hotelier Laurence S. Geller Selected to Receive Anti-Defamation League's Horatio Alger Award / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Hotelier Laurence S. Geller Selected to Receive Anti-Defamation League's Horatio Alger Award  CHICAGO, Ill., January 29, 2003—The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the nation’s premier civil rights/human relations agency, today announced that Laurence S. Geller, chairman and chief executive officer of Chicago-based Strategic Hotel Capital, a private hotel investment company with assets valued at approximately $3 billion, has been selected to receive the organization’s prestigious Horatio Alger Award.  The award, which honors outstanding individuals in American society who have immigrated to th...

Fred Kleisner Optimistic Wyndham Will Complete Restructuring in 2003 / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Fred Kleisner Optimistic Wyndham Will Complete Restructuring in 2003 By Suzanne Marta, The Dallas Morning News Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 26, 2003 - Wyndham International Inc. had $3.7 billion in debt when Fred Kleisner took the reins 3 1/2 years ago. It also had nine different companies, two CEOs, seven accounting systems and nine headquarters buildings.  "It was a loosely fit confederacy of 10 companies," said Mr. Kleisner, Wyndham's chairman and chief executive. "It was clear we needed a union. We needed one headquarters, one president and one enterprise ...

Hotel Developer Ronald Jury Sues H&A Capital LLC of Massillon, Ohio for Lying About Lending $14 million for President Hotel Renovation / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Hotel Developer Ronald Jury Sues H&A Capital LLC of Massillon, Ohio for Lying About Lending $14 million for President Hotel Renovation By Kevin Collison, The Kansas City Star, Mo. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 7--The Overland Park developer who wants to renovate the historic President Hotel has sued an Ohio company, accusing it of lying about lending the project $14 million.  In a lawsuit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, developer Ronald Jury alleged that H&A Capital LLC of Massillon, Ohio, misrepresented itself last spring by saying it was a lender when...

Caribe Royale Names Chef Khalid Benghallem to Direct Newly Opened Venetian Room / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Caribe Royale Names Chef Khalid Benghallem to Direct Newly Opened  Venetian Room January 2003 - Chef Khalid Benghallem has joined the Caribe Royale All-Suites Resort & Convention Center to direct the property¹s newly opened restaurant, The Venetian Room.  The Venetian Room is a 92-seat, fine-dining restaurant offering a diverse Continental menu. "Memorable dining is valued for business entertainment and for everyone¹s important occasions.  Chef Benghallem is creating a very special place," said hotel general manager Eric Rosenbaum. Benghallem trained in Europe and North Africa, worked i...

Joie de Vivre Hospitality Adds Three Hotels to San Francisco Portfolio / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Joie de Vivre Hospitality Adds Three Hotels to San Francisco Portfolio SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2003 - JOIE DE VIVRE HOSPITALITY, known for its creative collection of lifestyle businesses in the Bay Area, announced today it has expanded its San Francisco portfolio to include three new hotels.  These three properties will serve as the cornerstone of its new Small Hotels & Inns Collection. Having recently opened the luxurious Hotel Los Gatos in November 2002, Joie de Vivre continues its upward growth trend.  The addition of The White Swan Inn (26 rooms located at Union Square/Nob Hill), The Peti...

Speech by John Marks, President and CEO of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau and 2003 National Chair of the Travel Industry Association o

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Speech by John Marks, President and CEO of the San Francisco CVB and 2003 National Chair of the Travel Industry Association of America, at the State of the Travel Industry Luncheon on January 14, 2003 Washington, DC January 14, 2003 Thank you Bill. Each of us has a partnership with TIA that in most cases spans years or even decades. This organization has always served us well. But it has never served us better than in late 2001 and throughout 2002. Delivering the annual State of the Travel Industry address during this luncheon is among my first official duties as the national chair. I want to...

Jeffery O'Brien Named Chef and Innkeeper for the Inn at Langley on Whidbey Island / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Jeffery O'Brien Named Chef and Innkeeper for The Inn at Langley on Whidbey Island January 16, 2002- Seattle, WA - The intimate Inn at Langley on Whidbey Island, Washington, rated as one of the world's best places to stay in publications such as Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler is beginning a new era. Jeffery O'Brien has been named Chef/Innkeeper for the upscale inn. Chef O'Brien comes to the Inn with over thirteen years under his belt as an accomplished chef; he was Senior Executive Chef for a large venue management company.   Chef O'Brien was responsible for overseein...

In Search of the Internet Intelligence Report That Makes Sense – Growing online distribution drives demand for new intelligence tools / Max Star

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report In Search of the Internet Intelligence Report That Makes Sense Growing online distribution drives demand for new intelligence tools By Max Starkov and Jason Price, January 2003   This year over 13% of all revenues in hospitality will be generated from the Internet. Three years from now the Internet will contribute over 20% of all hotel bookings and convincingly surpass total GDS bookings. With such an industrial shift toward the web, hoteliers need intelligence tools to measure performance against its competitive set on direct and indirect channels outside of the GDS. Hoteliers are in ...

Hotel Booking Solutions Releases Next Generation Interfacing Technology / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Hotel Booking Solutions Releases Next Generation Interfacing Technology  Partners can now connect to hobooBox with 80% less time and effort New Orleans (January 15, 2003) - Hotel Booking Solutions, a leading channel management technology provider for the online travel industry, announced today the release of its Interface End-Point Framework (IEPF) technology for interfaces in .NET and JAVA.  Using the IEPF will result in an 80% or greater reduction of time and effort required by a partner to connect to HBSÂ’ hobooBox™ channel management solution. “Speed is king in travel technology,Â...

Getting the Most out of Your IT Investment / By: Clay B. Dickinson / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall 2002

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online Special Report Getting the Most out of Your IT Investment This article is from the Fall 2002 issue of Hospitality Upgrade magazine. To view more articles covering technology for the hospitality industry please visit the Hospitality Upgrade Web site or to request a free publication please call (678) 802-5303 or e-mail. . By: Clay B. Dickinson For the most part America is an action-oriented society. From business, social to military interactions we have a bias toward getting straight to the point, concluding whatever issues are at hand and quickly moving on to the next item. As a people, we tend to hav...

Steve Wynn Recipient of the 2003 International Society of Hospitality Consultant's Pioneer Award / Jan 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online  Special Report Steve Wynn Recipient of the 2003 International Society of Hospitality Consultant's Pioneer Award ISHC Presents 7th Annual Pioneer Award WASHINGTON, D.C. – JANUARY 2003 – The International Society of Hospitality Consultants, a professional society of leading hospitality consultants, will honor Steve Wynn, president and CEO of Wynn Resorts, Ltd., with the 2003 ISHC Pioneer Award, acknowledging his contributions, achievements and improvements to the hospitality industry.  The presentation will be held at the second annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), January 27-29, 2003, at Th...

Hyatt Gaming Fires Back at Allegations over Bankrupt bankrupt-but-open Black Hawk Casino by Hyatt / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Hyatt Gaming Fires Back at Allegations over Bankrupt bankrupt-but-open Black Hawk Casino by Hyatt By Jason Blevins, The Denver Post Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 16, 2003 -- Hyatt Gaming fired back Wednesday at allegations that it has mismanaged the state's largest casino, the bankrupt-but-open Black Hawk Casino by Hyatt.  The owners of the casino, Windsor Woodmont, accused Hyatt last month of mismanagement that fostered their bankruptcy and asked the bankruptcy court to approve a motion rejecting Hyatt as the casino's manager.  On Wednesday, Hyatt called the...

Lawsuit over Pritzker Trust Fund Entangles Hyatt Hotel Family / January 2003

January 30, 2003

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Lawsuit over Pritzker Trust Fund Entangles Hyatt Hotel Family By Mickey Ciokajlo, Chicago Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News  Jan. 31, 2003 - Robert Pritzker acknowledges that he transferred assets out of trusts that benefited his daughter Liesel but contends that he properly exercised his authority to do so, according to a court document filed Thursday.  The filing provides the first glimpse of a legal defense offered by key members of the Pritzker family in response to the lawsuit brought by Liesel, which claims her trust funds were drained by $1 billion.  The...