News Archive: July
World’s Top 30 Indoor Entertainment Centers: Theme Parks Focus on Education and Entertainment Part 2
Jeff Coy | July 11, 2013
A Profile of the World's Top 30 Largest Indoor Entertainment Centers By Jeff Coy, ISHC Ten (10) of the world's top 30 largest indoor entertainment centers are focused on education mixed with entertainment, a concept now called edutainment, while 9 are focused on providing a themed experience with characters such as Iron Man and Spider Man. Six centers specialize in providing amusements & thrill rides and 3 feature high-tech games and motion simulators. Large indoor theme parks, indoor amusement parks and family entertainment centers are a relatively new phenomenon. No one had studied indoor entertainment facilities as a special grou...
World’s Top 30 Indoor Entertainment Centers: Major Theme Parks Are Going Indoors, Part 1
JLC Hospitality Consulting | July 11, 2013
Anchored by Shopping Malls, Hotels, Waterparks & Casinos; KidZania is fastest-growing in edutainment By Jeff Coy, ISHC When you think about Six Flags, Sea World or Cedar Fair, it is typically an outdoor experience during summer when kids are out of school. But now, major theme parks and amusement parks are going indoors --- where they can attract visitors 365 days a year and not worry about poor weather wiping out profits. Indoor theme parks are not new, but there is a surge of new development. The first large-scale indoor amusement park, Galaxyland, built in 1985, was a giant success with 400,000 sf of amusements and thrill rides i...
Father and Son, Roy and Preetesh Patel, Acquire Bowling Green, Kentucky Hotel for $2.5 Million
July 27, 2013
July 27--The new owners of a 177-room Scottsville Road hotel sold Friday are not new to the motel business. In fact, they own a nearby property. Roy Patel and his son, Preetesh Patel, had the winning bid of $2.5 million Friday for the property sold in a master commissioner's sale. Preetesh Patel said he is unsure of what changes need to be made to the hotel. "We have to get it evaluated," he said. Preetesh Patel said it is likely that they will keep existing hotel employees to continue operations. The Patels already own the nearby Executive Inn, Microtel Inn, Super 8 and Hotel Sync in Bowling Green, as well as another property elsewhere...
Developer R. Scott Tibbetts Plans 160-room Hotel and Marina for Tarpon Pointe in Brandenton, Florida
July 1, 2013
July 02, 2013--BRADENTON -- Developer R. Scott Tibbetts has a new vision for redeveloping a chunk of land along the Manatee River that features a six-story waterfront hotel. An internal City of Bradenton staff memo acquired by the Herald reveals plans to turn the Tarpon Pointe Grill and Tiki Bar and Manatee Landings Marina lands into a commercial development. And it is possible that a hearing in front of the City Council may not be needed to approve the plans. Tibbetts and his team plan for a 160-room hotel, plus, according to the memo: 11,500-square-foot retail space 1,500-square-foot retail kiosks 6,000-square-foot ships store 6...
Owner of Monarch Cove Inn in Capitola, CA Proposes Demolition and Rebuild to Create Upscale Hotel
July 4, 2013
July 04--CAPITOLA -- The longtime owner of the 11-room Monarch Cove Inn bed-and-breakfast on Depot Hill is proposing a $9 million makeover involving restoration, demolition and new construction to create a 41-room upscale oceanview hotel. The site atop coastal bluffs at the end of El Salto Drive was developed in 1895 as a private estate but since 1946 was operated as a summer resort when Joseph Tabacchini, who later became mayor, bought the property with his wife. After two changes of ownership, the city declared the cottages unsafe in 1989 and the current owner, Robert Blodgett, undertook renovations and reopened the resort in 1991. Bl...
New Investor Group Buys the 429-room Sheraton Hotel and Spa in Fort Worth, Texas for $49 Million
July 18, 2013
July 18--FORT WORTH -- An investor group that for months has tried to buy the Sheraton Hotel and Spa in downtown Fort Worth out of bankruptcy finally closed the purchase on Wednesday. 1701 Commerce Acquisition, Llc., an investor group of Presidio Cos. in Sacramento, Calif., paid $49 million for the 429-room property at 1601 Commerce St., on the south end of downtown near the Fort Worth Convention Center. The hotel is already under new management, and the new owners promise a multimillion-dollar renovation during the coming year, improving the hotel's entrance and lobby, restaurant, and meeting and guest rooms. "We want to make sure the ...
Construction of Alabama’s Wind Creek Wetumpka Casino and Hotel on Schedule for Early 2014 Opening
July 21, 2013
July 21--Early next year, residents and visitors of Wetumpka not only will be able to gaze at a towering hotel standing tall over the city's downtown area, they will be able to stay there. Wind Creek Wetumpka, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians' $246 million hotel and casino, is on schedule to be completed in early 2014. The construction of the new facility, which began about a year ago, has been a can't-miss sight from spots such as the Bibb Graves Bridge and U.S. 231. General Manager Cody Williamson said the outer shell of the 20-story hotel is "pretty much completed," with inner fixtures such as Sheetrock and windows currently going in...
Westin New York Grand Central Hotel Appoints Maureen O’Brien as Director Of Sales & Marketing
Westin New York Grand Central | July 15, 2013
Maureen O'Brien has been appointed Director of Sales & Marketing at The Westin New York Grand Central, bringing more than 25 years of sales and hospitality experience to the newest Westin in New York City. Most recently, O'Brien was the Vice President of Business Development at Accommodations International (API), successfully building and growing global hotel and airline accounts. She has extensive hotel experience and prior positions include Area Director of Sales & Marketing at the Millennium Broadway, New York; Regional Director of Sales & Marketing for Raffles Hotels and Resorts, New York; Group Sales Manager for the Crowne...
