News Archive: October
Suicide at San Francisco’s Marriott Marquis Linked to Assault of Female Hotel Worker
October 14, 2015
Oct. 14--A New Yorker who jumped to his death Sunday at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis and the assault of a female hotel worker found in a luxury suite at the Mission Street tower hours after the suicide are being investigated as related incidents, police said Tuesday. Alexander Damhuis, 26, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was identified as the hotel guest who committed suicide around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the city medical examiner's office. The man jumped from a high-rise roof of the hotel at 780 Mission St. and landed on a fifth-floor deck, police said. He died at the scene. Hours later, at about 5 p.m., police were notified that...
Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid. There is a Downturn Coming
Steve Belmonte | October 29, 2015
That's the opinion of one well known veteran hotelier. Here's what Steve Belmonte, CEO, Vimana Franchise Systems thinks. I sit at industry conferences and listen to the talking heads who predict joy, jubilee and a continuation of the good-times for the foreseeable future. I am frankly, sick to death of hotel company CEOs self-serving predictions during an upturn that the upturn will last forever and if we are in a downturn, well the upturn is right around the corner. Don't buy it. Don't believe it. Our industry is biblical with seven years of feast and seven years of famine. You can rest assured that a downturn is coming. The problem is...
Four Things to Know About Fiber-to-the-Room Solutions
Paul Paolisso | October 13, 2015
by Paul Paolisso In the hospitality industry, the days of free HBO and room service marking a top quality hotel are long gone. Contemporary travelers bring with them a plethora of mobile devices with high data and connectivity needs, in part because many hotel guests also bring or stream their own content. For many travelers, the most desirable hotels are now the properties that offer fast, free Wi-Fi and strong wireless service with the bandwidth capable of supporting multiple connected devices. "Fiber to the room" solutions can help hoteliers ensure their property fits into that "desirable" category, or, perhaps more importantly, to ...
Lodging Forecast 2016 by Bob Rauch
Bob Rauch | October 5, 2015
For the past several years we have put out our forecast for 2016 at the beginning of Q4 as we've had time to analyze the data and hear from industry experts at The Lodging Conference. This year's conference is this week and while there will be a lot of valuable data, 2015 was such a strong year that the indicators for 2016 give us enough confidence to already forecast for next year. Rest assured, I'll pepper my future articles with the insights gleaned from The Lodging Conference, one of our industry's most useful and successful events I might add, but waiting will only delay your planning for a successful 2016. According to UBS, a stro...
When It Comes To Hospitality, “Little Things Mean A Lot”
Doug Kennedy | October 7, 2015
By Doug Kennedy October 7, 2015 Of all of the slogans used by hotel companies over the years, for me the most pithy has to be the one that Sheraton used in its pre-Starwood days: "At Sheraton, little things mean a lot." When it comes to success in the hotel and lodging industry, it truly is the smallest details that make the biggest differences. As my frequent readers know, I often write about what I call the "vanillaization" of the physical hotel experience as brands copy-cat each other in the race to add the latest, niftiest new features and amenities. Yet one aspect of a hotel stay that remains as a true differentiator is a pro-activ...
John Schafer Appointed as Area Vice President and General Manager of Grand Hyatt New York
Grand Hyatt New York | October 29, 2015
NEW YORK (October 29, 2015) – The iconic Grand Hyatt New York is pleased to announce the appointment of hotel veteran and New York native John Schafer as Area Vice President and General Manager. In his new role, Schafer will manage all aspects of the hotel and its day-to-day operations. Ideally located in Midtown Manhattan attached to Grand Central Terminal and steps away from some of the city's best culture and attractions, Grand Hyatt New York features a stunning lobby with two three-dimensional "Awilda" and "Chloe" sculptures from famed artist Jaume Plensa, 1,306 spacious guestrooms and suites ranging from 600 to more than 3,50...
Talk Of Hyatt Buying Starwood Raises Question About Stamford Workers
October 29, 2015
Oct. 29--With news reports saying that Hyatt Hotels Corp. is in talks to buy Stamford-based Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, the natural question is: What happens to the employees in Stamford? The number of employees in Stamford has been falling, even as the company won another tax incentive and loan package from the state in May 2014. At the time of the announcement, Starwood had 980 employees; by the end of the year, it had 847. The state announced an incentive package worth as much as $89.5 million under Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2009 to lure the company to move from White Plains to Stamford's Harbor Point. The amount of state s...
Condé Nast Travelers Annual Readers’ Choice Award Winners of the World’s Top 100 Hotels & Resorts
October 20, 2015
More than 128,000 travelers took part in our 28th annual Readers' Choice Awards survey—the most in its history—submitting millions of ratings and tens of thousands of comments to help us create a list of winning favorites. The breadth of their top-rated experiences was impressive, from elegant castles in the Irish countryside to tented safari camps trailing the Great Migration across the Serengeti. They chose tiny private islands in the tropics, small culture rich cities in Europe, and intimate river cruises. Most notably, they declared a passion for the authentic, the personalized, the unexpected—finding all three...
