News Top: May
Booking.com and BookingSuite: What’s Really Going on Here?
Regatta Travel Solutions Inc. | May 4, 2015
BookingSuite is now offering hotels a 'free' website in exchange for a 10% commission. It is important for hotels to realize that in exchange for a free website, BookingSuite will include its own booking engine (replacing the hotel's existing booking engine) and any direct booking through the hotel website will incur a 10% commission. This means that hotels are now entrusting their most valuable sales channel to an Online Travel Agency (OTA), and as an industry, this raises some important questions. 1. What is the impact of syncing the rates and availability offered through the hotel's direct channel with Booking.com? Ho...
In Wake of Arrest on Fraud Charges, Nick Patel’s Portfolio of Five Hotels to be Auctioned Off
May 15, 2015
May 15--Orlando businessman Nik Patel's five hotels, including the former Sheraton Orlando and a Doubletree by Hilton, are about to be auctioned off. The online real-estate brokerage Auction.com LLC has scheduled auctions July 20-22 for a portfolio of three Orlando hotels: the former Sheraton, which is next to the site of the now-demolished Amway Arena; the Doubletree by Hilton at the University of Central Florida; and the Crowne Plaza near the entrance to Lake Buena Vista Resort Village. "I think each of these assets is well-located in its respective neighborhood," said Paul Sexton, vice president of HREC Investment Advisors. Patel was...
Survey Says: Hospitality Sector Failing to Calculate Full Cost of Laundry
TRSA | May 11, 2015
ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 11, 2015 – Two national surveys recently completed by opinion and research firm Fabrizio Ward found a large segment of the hospitality sector is failing to calculate the full, accurate cost of laundry on their businesses and that outsourcing laundry services is better for the environment. The surveys were commissioned by TRSA, the leading global textile services trade association headquartered in Alexandria, Va. By reaching out to both textile service decision makers and consumers nationally, key findings for the hospitality industry included: Less than half of all hotels account for key laundry cost such as...
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Names Chris White Area Director of Sales and Marketing, Southern Calif
The St. Regis Monarch Beach | May 12, 2015
[Dana Point, Calif.] May 12, 2015 – Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) has named Chris White as area director of sales and marketing for Southern California where he will oversee luxury properties including The St. Regis Monarch Beach, The U.S. Grant Hotel, W San Diego, The Westin Gaslamp Quarter, The Westin Mission Hills, The Westin South Coast Plaza and Sheraton San Diego. With more than 20 years of combined sales and marketing experience, Chris will oversee all sales, marketing and public relations strategy for the Starwood properties. His initial focus will be on elevating The St. Regis Monarch Beach's multi-million d...
Hotel Front Desk Training Checklist Circa 2015 by Doug Kennedy
Doug Kennedy | May 26, 2015
May 26, 2015 If someone would have surveyed hotel managers 15 or 20 years ago about the future role of their front desk staff, my guess is that most would have predicted that their jobs would have become much less relevant by now due to all of anticipated technologies. Yet when we look at the position today, it is easy to see that ironically with all of the high-tech advancements, nothing has yet to replace the personalized service experiences delivered by today's front desk colleagues. Certainly it will be interesting to see how the latest push towards automated, self-check-in options now moving to smartphones will be received over the...
Starwood Capital Group Acquires Portfolio of Fifty Extended-Stay Hotels
Starwood Capital Group | May 19, 2015
GREENWICH, Conn., May 19, 2015 -- Starwood Capital Group, a leading global private investment firm, announced today that it has acquired a portfolio of fifty U.S. economy extended-stay locations from Mount Kellett Capital Management LP and its partners, further building upon its growing InTown Suites brand. This deal, which was completed by a controlled affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, consists of 6,106 rooms primarily in the Southeast, including desirable markets in North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Georgia and Alabama. With this acquisition, InTown Suites will become the largest owner of economy extended-stay hotels in the United St...
Go Moment and IBM Watson Help The Line Hotel Deliver Personalized Guest Services on the Go
Go Moment | May 11, 2015
The Line Hotel First to Offer Rev1 Powered by Watson Santa Monica, CA - May 11, 2015 - Go Moment, a leader in providing mobile solutions for the hospitality industry, today announced that The Line Hotel in Los Angeles has adopted its mobile guest engagement application called "Rev1". Powered by Watson, Rev1 is designed to assist front desk and concierge staff in managing guest inquiries, housekeeping requests and more. The application uses Watson's natural language processing and Q&A capabilities to allow guests to ask questions in simple language and receive a response within seconds. From finding nearby attractions to ordering in...
Cendyn/ONE™ Named as One of the ‘20 Most Promising Travel & Hospitality Solution Providers’ for 2015
Cendyn/ONE | May 14, 2015
CIO Review's Special edition cover story explains how Data Intelligence™ is shaping the industry Boca Raton, Fla. - May 14, 2015 - In its May 6, 2015 Travel and Hospitality special edition, CIO Review has recognized Cendyn/ONE, a leader in cloud-based CRM and Loyalty, Data-driven Digital Marketing and Interactive Design and Development, as one of the '20 Most Promising Travel and Hospitality Solutions Providers' for 2015. Cendyn/ONE also earned the issue's cover story, which details how Cendyn/ONE's full suite of products and services help hotels and resorts leverage data into profitable marketing campaigns and...
2015 Edition of Trends® in the Hotel Industry Concludes U.S. Hotels Continue to Show Gains in Profit
PKF Consulting, USA, a CBRE Company | May 4, 2015
May 4, 2015, Atlanta, Ga. Results from the 2015 edition of Trends® in the Hotel Industry, an annual report recently released by PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR), a CBRE Company, reveal that U.S. hotels (on a unit-level same-store sales basis) achieved a 12.3 percent increase in net operating income (NOI) during 2014. This marks the fourth consecutive year of profit growth in excess of 10 percent, a trend that is forecast to continue through 2016. This six-year period (2011-2016) of continuous double-digit gains on the bottom line will be the longest such streak for the nation's hotels since PKF began tracking the industry in 1937. "In...
The Free Website Trap: Lessons From Priceline’s Rebranding of Buuteeq
Vikram Singh | May 5, 2015
by Vikram Singh Last year, Priceline.com made a splash when it acquired Buuteeq, a digital marketing and website "cloud-based system" for independent hotels, for what looks like $98 million. My detailed analysis of that purchase made a lot of headlines, and also missed a lot of headlines when some of the top hotel news websites did not carry my article. (Buuteeq was a big advertiser for them.) Last week, Priceline announced that it would no longer let Buuteeq operate as an independent brand, and that they now offer free websites in exchange for a 10% commission on every dollar generated on those sites. Here is my analysis of what this m...
Free Wi-Fi Still Reigns but is Waning as Top Hotel Amenity According to New Hotels.com Survey
Hotels.com | May 7, 2015
DALLAS, May 7, 2015 -- Global travelers' desire for free Wi-Fi is still the number one amenity when choosing a hotel for both leisure and business stays, but it is slowly declining according to the latest research from leading online accommodation booking service, Hotels.com®. Here are the highlights: Staying Connected for Free With the increased availability of free public Wi-Fi hotspots and enhanced mobile data plans, travelers appear to have lessened their reliance on hotel Wi-Fi. Complimentary Wi-Fi is the top factor in choosing a hotel for leisure stays (30 percent), as compared to 34 percent in 2013. In the U.S., 25 percent o...
Salamander Hotels & Resorts Appoints Eric Gavin as Chief Sales & Marketing Officer
Salamander Hotels & Resorts | May 13, 2015
MIDDLEBURG, VA - Salamander Hotels & Resorts, the luxury hotel management company founded by Sheila C. Johnson, has appointed Eric Gavin as its new chief sales & marketing officer. Gavin joins Salamander, which is based outside Washington, D.C., from Benchmark Hospitality International, where he served as regional director of sales and marketing. He will oversee Salamander's corporate strategic sales, marketing and revenue management initiatives for the company's growing portfolio, which includes three grand golf resorts in Florida: Innisbrook in Tampa Bay, Reunion in Orlando and Hammock Beach in Palm Coast; and the highly accl...
Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry: A Historical Perspective
W. Peter Temling | May 28, 2015
Implementation of the 11th Revised Edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry The 11th revised edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI) was published in the spring of 2014, with an implementation date of January 1, 2015. The responsibility for revising the USALI lies with the Financial Management Committee (FMC) of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). Throughout the implementation process, the FMC has received several questions from the worldwide lodging industry. To answer these questions, the FMC has created a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on the USA...
Father of Ace Hotel Founder, Alex Calderwood, Files Suit against his Sons Former Business Partners
May 29, 2015
May 29--The father of one of the founders of the Ace Hotel boutique chain -- which includes a hotel in downtown Portland -- is suing his late son's business partners, claiming they have "demanded" to buy his dead son's interests in Ace Hotel Portland at a steeply discounted price. Alexander Calderwood died at age 47, suddenly, in a room in Ace Hotel London on Nov. 14, 2013. A lawsuit filed Thursday by his father claims that "just three weeks after Alex's death," Calderwood's three business partners tried to buy-out Calderwood's shares in Ace Hotel Portland "for the lowest possible price." The suit also claims that they didn't have the c...
Presentations from Meet the Money® 2015
JMBM | May 12, 2015
Suzanne Mellen, Alan Reay, Vail Brown, Stephen Rushmore, Jr., Mark Woodworth, Mike Cahill and Richard Green By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® 12 May 2015 Meet the Money® 2015 – Information, deals, reflection, and celebration Conference presentations now available JMBM's Meet the Money® 2015, held at the Sheraton LAX in Los Angeles, wrapped up its 25th national hotel finance and investment conference this week. The hotel lawyers in JMBM's Global Hospitality Group were fortunate to celebrate such a significant milestone (25 years!) at a time when the hotel industry is breaking all-time records – RevPar, Occupancy...
Four Seasons Austin Hotel in Texas Sells for $197 Million to Strategic Hotels and Resorts
The William Vale | May 5, 2015
May 5, 2015 - A Chicago-based company said Monday that it has a deal in place to buy the Four Seasons Austin Hotel. Strategic Hotels and Resorts will pay $197 million for the 291-room luxury hotel, which is located at 98 San Jacinto Blvd. in downtown Austin. Lodging Capital Partners and Prudential are the sellers. The sale of the hotel, which will continue to remain affiliated with the Four Seasons brand, is expected to close later this month. "This is an exciting opportunity to acquire the only true luxury hotel in what is arguably our nation's highest growth market," said Strategic Hotels and Resorts chairman and CEO Raymond Gellein. ...
Dan Kaplan Named General Manager for Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Hard Rock Hotel San Diego | May 12, 2015
Kaplan brings two decades of successful luxury hotel management to San Diego's premier urban lifestyle property SAN DIEGO, CA (May 13, 2015) - Hard Rock Hotel San Diego has named hospitality veteran Dan Kaplan, former area managing director with HEI Hotels and Resorts and general manager of the San Diego Marriott La Jolla, as the hotel's new general manager. Kaplan brings over two decades of successful management experience at several of the country's leading hotel brands to the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego. He will oversee day-to-day operations, lead group and transient business growth and ensure a flawless guest experience based upon Ha...
Jeffrey Klein Named Vice President and Managing Director at Turnberry Isle Miami
Turnberry Isle Miami | May 4, 2015
Seasoned Industry Leader Appointed to Oversee All Aspects of the Celebrated South Florida Resort AVENTURA, FL (May 4, 2015) – Iconic Aventura resort, Turnberry Isle Miami, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Klein as Vice President and Managing Director. Klein, an almost eight-year Turnberry Associates executive who was serving as Vice President of Operations for the famed Fontainebleau Miami Beach, was hand-selected for the role. With nearly 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Klein will bring his exceptional leadership skills and established luxury hospitality expertise to Turnberry Isle Miami, allowing...
Banyan Investment Group and Investra Investments Purchase Hampton Inn & Suites, Downtown Albany, NY
Banyan Investment Group | May 20, 2015
May 20, 2015 - Banyan Investment Group and Investra Investments have purchased the Hampton Inn & Suites on Chapel Street in downtown Albany, N.Y. Loxi Hospitality provided advisory services with the transaction. The property will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation during the next few months that will meet or exceed the architectural and design standards specified by Hilton Worldwide. Opened in 2005, the 10-story Hampton includes 165 guest rooms; a business center; and 2,700 sq. ft. of meeting space. There is also restaurant space that is leased to a third-party operator who offers guests two signature cuisine options -- "Yono...
Hollywood Roosevelt Returns to Independent Management, Owners David Chang & Goodwin Gaw Take Reigns
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel | May 19, 2015
The iconic boutique hotel has recently undergone a $25 million room renovation LOS ANGELES, May 19, 2015 -- David Chang and Goodwin Gaw, owners of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, have once again taken over the management reigns in order to further preserve the truly unique spirit of the hotel and give the undivided attention that only an in-house, independent management company may provide. The newly launched website for the historic hotel is: www.thehollywoodroosevelt.com. Mssrs. Chang and Gaw appointed longtime hotel collaborator Brett Blass as their Chief Operating Officer to lead the repositioning efforts of the newly renovated iconi...
Chesapeake Lodging Trust Acquires the Ace Hotel and Theater Downtown Los Angeles for $103 Million
Chesapeake Lodging Trust | May 1, 2015
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - May 1, 2015 - Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE:CHSP) (the "Trust") announced today that it has closed on the acquisition of the Ace Hotel Downtown and The Theater at Ace Hotel, located in Los Angeles, California for a purchase price of $103.0 million, or approximately $566,000 per key. The Trust entered into a new management agreement with Ace Hotel Group to continue to brand and operate the hotel. "We are thrilled to announce our acquisition of the Ace Hotel and Theater and further expand our presence in the dynamic Los Angeles market," commented James L. Francis, Chesapeake Lodging Trust's President and Chief Executive ...
Starwood Announces Leadership Changes in Global Brand Organization
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. | May 7, 2015
Veteran Brand Builders Appointed to New Global Roles STAMFORD, Conn.-- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) today announced a series of leadership changes across its global brand organization. The moves build upon Starwood's legacy of brand innovation and demonstrate the company's commitment to creating unique and compelling experiences for guests across its 10 distinct brands. "Our brands are the heart and soul of Starwood," said Adam Aron, Starwood's Chief Executive Officer. "Starwood's reputation for brand innovation is legendary and a key reason we have been able to drive growth. We are investing in our global br...
Marriott International Honors Eight Associates Worldwide with Company’s Top Honor
Marriott International, Inc. | May 14, 2015
BETHESDA, Md., May 13, 2015 -- Despite 30 feet of snow or hurricane force winds, associates at Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) are always there to take care of their guests and their communities. The company is known for its friendly service, pursuit of excellence and welcoming culture. Last night, Marriott honored eight associates from around the world with its highest honor, the J. Willard Marriott Award of Excellence, at a companywide celebration last night. Established in 1987 to pay tribute to the company's founder, the Award of Excellence is presented annually to Marriott associates nominated by supervisors or peers for o...
Gemstone Hotels & Resorts Expands into South Florida with $150 million Beachwalk Resort
The Related Group | May 26, 2015
PARK CITY, Utah/ May 26, 2015—Gemstone Hotels & Resorts, a full-service hotel management company that specializes in owning and operating luxury and upscale urban hotels and resorts, today announced the opening of the European-style Beachwalk Resort on the intercoastal waterway in Hallandale, Fla. The $150 million, 33-story resort is the latest project by The Related Group of Miami, Fla., the leading developer of luxury condominiums and multi-family residences, and comprises 300 units, 216 of which are divisible two-bedroom suites. It is the first of three Broward County projects currently under development by The Related Grou...
I Believe In You
Bryan Williams of B.Williams Enterprise | May 28, 2015
by Bryan Williams "I believe in you". Those four simple words are incredibly powerful, yet are not used often enough. While I don't know for sure, I would bet that most working adults have never heard those words said to them. Regardless of your job title, each person has the direct ability to brighten someone's day by using those four, simple words. I believe in you. Your team If you are a manager, supervisor, or someone in authority, I have a message for you. Only allow and keep people on your team who you genuinely believe in. Or put another way...if there are people on your team who you don't believe in, then they shouldn't be on yo...
