News Top: December
Hotel Trend Report – What You Need to Know About 2019
Robert Rauch | December 4, 2018
Top 10 Hospitality Market Trends By Robert Rauch It is time to pick the top ten hospitality industry trends to come next year! Last year, we said that hotel lobbies would become the center of the hotel universe akin to those found in communal work spaces such as WeWork. We went a step further this year as we discuss co-working spaces. In some way, we included some of our previous trend picks like IoT, analytics, social media and reputation management, virtual and augmented reality and robotics. These will each play a role in keeping hoteliers ahead of the curve. Here are our top ten hospitality industry trends for 2019: 1. Personalizati...
Marriott Inherits a Mess of Historical Proportions
Hospitality Upgrade | December 4, 2018
How much will the Starwood data breach end up costing Marriott? By Fran Worrall, Hospitality Upgrade Editor By now, everyone is aware that hotel giant Marriott International announced on Friday a massive data breach that goes back more than four years and may have affected up to 500 million customers worldwide. The breach — which began in 2014 and involves Marriott-owned Starwood Hotels & Resorts' guest reservation databases — is one of the largest in history. It's also the second major security breach Starwood has reported. In November 2015, the company disclosed that malware had infected point-of-sale systems at dozens...
2019 Hotel Trends: The “Split Personalities” of New Hotels
Andrew Simmons | December 17, 2018
By Andrew Simmons In the hotel and travel industry, a new group of travelers have captured everyone's attention. This group has begun to shift trends in the hotel market, forcing hotels to adapt in order to capture their interest. While previous generations may have selected a hotel based off of brand loyalty or the cost of the room, Millennials are not following in suit. Their sophisticated hotel selection process focuses on the attributes and the culture a hotel provides rather than a price point or a specific brand. Millennials are driving a cultural behavioral shift which places an emphasis on experience above all else. This shift...
Maryland’s Antrim 1844 Appoints Ilhan Erkek as New Executive Chef
Antrim 1844 | December 3, 2018
For over two decades, Antrim 1844's Smokehouse Restaurant has maintained its legacy as a culinary destination with exquisite ingredient-driven cuisine. Our menu highlights the finest and freshest ingredients through a sophisticated interpretation of contemporary American cuisine to the delight of novice epicureans and gourmands alike. To continue surpassing guest expectations and providing the finest dining experience, Antrim 1844 announces the appointment of new Executive Chef, Ilhan Erkek. With over 15 years of culinary experience Executive Chef, Ilhan Erkek holds a Hotel Management degree from Istanbul University, one of the worl...
Why Experiential Packages Should Be Your Hotel’s Top Priority in 2019
Hotel Tech Report | December 21, 2018
Yesterday alone our guests uploaded 144k hours of content to YouTube and 350M photos to Facebook (and 70M to Instagram). They contributed 165k reviews on TripAdvisor and watched a staggering 42.5B hours of Netflix. Needless to say, our guests are bombarded with content and it's making life more difficult than ever for our marketers. You're probably thinking, "but it's so much easier and cheaper to attract guests on Facebook than it was on TV" and you're completely right. The problem is that the exponential growth of content has outpaced the gains made by innovations like programmatic and social media advertising. In 1997 there were 200B...
What the Changing Distribution Landscape Means for Hotels in 2019
Kevin Duncan | December 18, 2018
By Kevin Duncan, Senior Director, Strategic Commercial Initiatives at The Rainmaker Group As traveler behavior and hotel technology undergo momentous transformations, the hotel distribution landscape is transforming right along with them. Your hotel distribution strategy plays an important role in your business, and understanding your true demand in light of dynamic distribution developments has become more crucial to your profits than ever before. Changing Travel Shoppers = Changing Distribution Players Guest paths to purchase are changing as customer demographics transition from Baby Boomers to Millennials. On the plus side, travel is...
Holiday Social Media - 10 Tips for Hoteliers
Pipeline Social Media | December 17, 2018
Pipeline Social Media While the holiday season means different things to different people, we all have at least this one thing in common—busyness. People are either traveling to see family or booking a vacation to get away from the busy season. Families are planning holiday outings, buying gifts, and reserving hotel rooms for family members. And lastly, as the new year buzz begins, people are thinking about their ambitious travel plans for 2019. From a hotelier's perspective, you could get swept away in the madness or you could capitalize on these festive times to set yourself up for marketing success in 2019. We know you're busy ...
Boutique Hotels: Premium Performance Impacts Flow-Through
Robert Mandelbaum | December 21, 2018
By Robert Mandelbaum While boutique hotels comprised just 3.2 percent of the total U.S. lodging supply in 2017, boutique projects represented 17.8 percent of the rooms in the development pipeline as of June 2018. Boutique hotels are popular with developers for a variety of reasons: They frequently offer unique, localized experiences that are favored by today's travelers They give the developer an opportunity to be creative with the facilities and services offered They achieve premium levels of occupancy and ADR To gain a better understanding of the performance of this popular segment of the lodging industry, CBRE Hotels' Americas R...
LBA Hospitality Adds Five Southeast Properties to Management Portfolio
LBA Hospitality | December 18, 2018
DOTHAN, Ala. (Dec. 18, 2018) – LBA Hospitality has added five hotels to their growing portfolio of managed properties throughout the Southeast United States. Branded under Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Corporation, their latest acquisition adds 584 guest rooms to LBA's inventory of more than 70+ hotel properties. The five new properties include Home2 Suites (Katy, Texas), Residence Inn and Spring Hill Suites (Lake Charles, Louisiana), TownePlace Suites Miami Airport (Miami, Florida), and Hyatt Place Jacksonville Airport (Jacksonville, Florida). "As our portfolio expands, we are able to add more than 150 associ...
McNeill Hotel Investors Acquires Home2 Suites By Hilton Mobile
McNeill Hotel Company | December 17, 2018
Germantown, Tenn. – December 17, 2018 – McNeill Hotel Investors ("McNeill") announced today the acquisition of the 4-story, 105-room all-suite extended stay Home2 Suites Mobile (AL), adding to the company's growing portfolio. The announcement was made by Phillip McNeill, Jr., the company's Chief Executive Officer. The Home2 Suites Mobile is situated on the southeast quadrant of Interstate 65 and Exit 1, at the corner of Bolling Brothers Boulevard and Satchel Paige Drive in Mobile, Alabama, and features approximately 750 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center and an outdoor pool. "We are proud to add another Home2 Sui...
2019 United States Hotel Industry Outlook
Rodney G. Clough | December 20, 2018
By Rodney Clough We live in interesting times. Each day, we cannot be sure which way the stock market will swing, with its volatile nature and seemingly knee-jerk reactions to the trade and policy headline of the day. If the stock market serves as a leading indicator of times to come, the economy in 2019 is likely to slow in comparison to the one to which we've become accustomed. Despite this trajectory, other factors still signal that the hotel industry isn't likely falling off a cliff anytime soon. According to Goldman Sachs, business owners still expect to increase investments into their businesses by 4% in 2019. This will likely pro...
Turning Data Into Profit: How Hotel GM’s Can Apply Insights From Cutting Edge Data Scientists
the Authors | December 3, 2018
By Dr. Joshua Hayes, Allisha Miller, and Dr. David Hayes For the third year in a row, Forbes[1] reported "Data Scientist" as the best job in America. The job pays well (median base salary of $110,000), and qualified data scientists are in high demand. Currently, Amazon is actively seeking to fill its 436 data scientist vacancies and Google is trying to hire another 135 data scientists.[2] Data science and data scientists are hot… and for good reason! The role of data scientists is to help businesses increase efficiency and profits by harnessing data. According to Amazon, "Data is the lifeblood of Amazon… Big data analytics is the magic...
Singerman Real Estate Selects Sandpiper Hospitality to Manage Portfolio of 14 Extended Stay Hotels
Sandpiper Hospitality | December 4, 2018
Richmond, Va. - December 4, 2018 – Sandpiper Hospitality, one of the nation's leading extended stay hotel management companies, today announced that it has been awarded the management contract for 14 Extended Stay America hotels via a third-party management agreement with the portfolio's new owner, a subsidiary of Singerman Real Estate, LLC ("SRE"), a Chicago-based opportunistic real estate fund. Sandpiper Hospitality provided guidance throughout the due diligence and acquisition process for SRE and oversaw the highly successful transition of the hotels. Sandpiper will strategically manage the hotels, located in Ohio, Ill. and Ga....
Hall Group Appoints Darryl Jett as General Manager and Jennifer Wasserman as Director of Marketing for The HALL Arts Hotel Set to Debut Fall 2019
HALL Arts Hotel | December 11, 2018
DALLAS, Texas (Dec. 11, 2018) – Dallas-based real estate developer HALL Group has appointed Darryl Jett as general manager of the under-construction HALL Arts Hotel, successively naming Jennifer Wasserman as director of marketing. The HALL Arts Hotel, which is set to debut in the fall of 2019, will be an art-focused hotel that channels the energy and vitality of the Dallas Arts District into an inspiring experience for travelers and locals alike. "We are thrilled to welcome Darryl and Jennifer to the HALL Group team to oversee the management of the upcoming HALL Arts Hotel," said Craig Hall, founder and chairman of HALL Group. "...
Everything Your Hotel Should Know About the Google Maps Update
Matt Tutt | December 10, 2018
By Matt Tutt A few months ago, Google announced big changes to its Google Maps Platform. These changes included a new pay-as-you-go pricing structure that requires websites and applications that exceed a certain number of "calls" within the Google Maps API to use paid plans. Historically, the Maps API has been a free-to-use platform, enabling many businesses around the world to embed a Google Map within their website. This feature would often contain custom information, such as a marker pin that highlighted a business's exact location. Here's the official Google Maps Platform email: Naturally, the price hike hasn't proved popular. Whil...
Xenia Hotels & Resorts Completes $53.5 Million Acquisition of Newly Branded Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead
Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | December 10, 2018
ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 10, 2018 -- Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: XHR) ("Xenia" or the "Company") today announced its acquisition of the former Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta, a 127-room luxury hotel located in the upscale Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia, for $53.5 million, or approximately $421,000 per key. The hotel was rebranded as Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead immediately upon completion of this acquisition. The Company does not anticipate the hotel to materially contribute to the company's EBITDA during the remainder of 2018. "We are thrilled to have acquired this luxury hotel and renew our relat...
HOS Management and Hawkeye Hotels Acquire B Historic Hotel in Savannah, Georgia
Hawkeye Hotels | December 17, 2018
SAVANNAH, GA -- Georgia-based HOS Management (HOS) in a joint venture with Iowa-based firm Hawkeye Hotels today announced the completed acquisition of the B Historic hotel in Georgia for an undisclosed sum. The property will be converted to a Tryp by Wyndham and will be managed by HOS, which has four Savannah hotels in operation and, including the B Historic, six Savannah hotels in various phases of development. Built in 2008 and renovated in 2016, the hotel has 101 guest rooms, in addition to a fitness center, indoor pool, business center and signature restaurant Kitchen 320. It is located on Montgomery Street in Savannah's Historic Di...
Fast Kiosk Check-In, Robot Room Service, and dormakaba Electronic Access: Hotel Monville Is Canada’s Most Innovative Hotel
dormakaba | December 11, 2018
Hotel Monville in Montreal Opens its Doors with dormakaba RFID Locks MONTREAL, QC, CANADA – December 11, 2018 – Hotel Monville, in the heart of Montreal's trendy city center, is Canada's most innovative property. It opened with automated rapid-check-in kiosks, room service delivery robot, high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity and Quantum RFID BLE enabled electronic door locks from dormakaba. The 269-room Hotel Monville is a four-star hotel, a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts and ideal for business travelers and tourists who want to immerse themselves in the Montreal experience. dormakaba is a total solution provider for the ...
AJ Capital Partners Acquires The Chancellor Hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas to Be Renovated and Rebranded as a Graduate Hotel
AJ Capital Partners | December 13, 2018
Fayetteville, Ar. – Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners announced today that it has acquired The Chancellor Hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The hotel will continue to operate as The Chancellor Hotel while renovations take place. Once complete in fall 2019, the hotel will be converted to Graduate Fayetteville, part of the Graduate Hotels® collection. The 206-room hotel is conveniently located in downtown Fayetteville, just a half-mile from the University of Arkansas campus. Prominently situated on East Avenue, the hotel is around the corner from the Fayetteville's historic Downtown Square and steps from the Dickson Stre...
Trinity Investments and Elliott Acquire Grande Lakes Orlando Resort
Trinity Real Estate Investments LLC | December 7, 2018
ORLANDO—December 7, 2018--A newly-formed joint venture among funds managed by Trinity Real Estate Investments LLC ("Trinity") and funds managed by Elliott Management Corporation ("Elliott") today announced the acquisition of the Grande Lakes Orlando Resort. The 409-acre luxury complex includes two hotels – a 582-key Ritz-Carlton and a 998-key JW Marriott. The resort also includes a Greg Norman-designed 18-hole championship-caliber golf course. "We're excited to partner with Elliott to acquire this prime resort destination in Orlando, a market supported by numerous demand generators and significant infrastructure investment. ...
Opening Seattle’s Largest Hotel, the New Hyatt Regency, Required Heavy Preparation, Including a 5-Ton Boulder
December 19, 2018
Dec. 19--With less than an hour to go until the ribbon cutting, the mood at the new Hyatt Regency Seattle during this week's grand opening was a mixture of first-night giddiness and Cape Canaveral countdown anxiety. The 45-floor, 1,260-room property is the largest hotel in the Pacific Northwest -- also, at $470 million, one of the costliest -- and the Hyatt management team left nothing to chance. Since November, teams of launch specialists from Hyatt's corporate offices have been on-site running the 400-plus person staff through a massive checklist for every system in the hotel before it formally opened Monday. There have been &...
Avoiding Hotel Data Breaches With a Risk Assessment Audit™ – Lessons From the Marriott International “Glitch”
Jim Butler | December 3, 2018
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com December 3, 2018 Data breaches are back in the news, and this time, it's a well-known hotel industry player: Marriott International. The company announced today that unauthorized access to their systems going back several years has exposed the names and other personal details of over 500 million guests. For hoteliers, this situation can be avoided by using the Global Hospitality Group® Risk Assessment Audit™, a comprehensive tool that combines your internal resources with our expertise in analyzing your risk profile, both for co...
INTERVIEW: Christian Clerc, Director of Worldwide Hotel Operations, Four Seasons Hotels
Stuart Pallister | December 26, 2018
By Stuart Pallister Ask hoteliers what their priority is and, publicly, most are likely to come up with a stock phrase like 'delighting guests', while privately the bottom line is probably uppermost in their thoughts. (According to one former hotelier, the client may even be viewed as a 'necessary evil'). The guest experience clearly has an impact on revenue and profitability, but what impact does it have on hotel operations? For Christian Clerc, President of Worldwide Hotel Operations for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the employee experience and guest experience are inextricably linked, more so than ever before. We're looking at imp...
AJ Capital Partners to Develop 194-Room Graduate Hotel in East Lansing Adjacent to Michigan State University
AJ Capital Partners | December 4, 2018
East Lansing, Mi. – Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners announced today its plan to bring Graduate Hotels to East Lansing, Michigan. The 10-story, 194-room ground-up hotel development will be located on Grand River Avenue at Evergreen Avenue, adjacent to Michigan State University in the heart of downtown East Lansing. Construction will begin in spring 2019 and, once complete in fall 2020, the hotel will open as Graduate East Lansing, part of the Graduate Hotels collection. Ideally located on Grand River Avenue, the hotel will be steps from Michigan State University's campus, including the MSU Union, and a 10-minute walk...
PGA of America Relocating HQ to Frisco, TX Anchoring a 600-Acre, Mixed-Use Development That Includes a 500-Room Omni Resort
Omni Hotels & Resorts | December 5, 2018
(December 5, 2018) The PGA of America is moving its headquarters from Palm Beach County, Florida to Frisco, Texas, the '2018 Best Place to Live in America,'* where it will anchor a 600-acre, mixed-use development with an initial investment worth more than half a billion dollars. Today's announcement follows votes by the Frisco City Council, its Economic and Community Development Corporations and the Frisco Independent School District (FISD) board of trustees. The PGA of America will initially employ at least 100 people at the Frisco-based headquarters. Under this agreement, two PGA Championships, two KPMG Women's PGA Championships and pote...
