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Total Simulator Company Wins ICHRIE 2014 Industry Recognition Award
The Total Simulator Company | August 11, 2014
At the 2014 ICHRIE (International Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education) Awards Ceremony in San Diego, The Total Simulator Company (TSC) was presented with the prestigious Industry Recognition Award. TSC produce industry leading simulation programs for the hospitality, restaurant and tourism industries. These simulations are licensed for educational use and also used to deliver industry training and events. TSC have developed the industry leading, HOTS hotel simulation program, which is used to teach hospitality students and industry professionals about hotel operations, revenue management, marketing, finance & ...
Destination Resorts Hawaii Announces Lindsey Dollahon Assistant Director of Sales
Destination Resorts Hawaii | August 8, 2014
Destination Resorts Hawaii by Destination Hotels & Resorts, one of the largest luxury vacation rental companies on Maui, hires Lindsey Dollahon as its assistant director of sales. Ms. Dollahon will be based in San Diego and is responsible for growing the leisure market focusing on high-end travel agents, wholesale and consortia partners. "Lindsey's industry knowledge and relationships will be a great asset to the team," said Donna Wheeler, director of sales and marketing at Destination Resorts Hawaii. "Our decision to have her work from the mainland is part of our overall strategy to enhance our brand awareness and be readily availa...
Hotel Asset Management Assoc. Offers Certified Hotel Asset Manager Certification to Overseas Members
HAMA | August 7, 2014
BOSTON, Mass., August 7, 20014-The Hotel Asset Management Association (HAMA) today announced that it now offers its Certified Hotel Asset Manager (CHAM) certification program to non-U.S. asset managers wishing to achieve the profession's equivalent of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA). HAMA recently approved two affiliate organizations, HAMA Europe and HAMA MEA, adding more than 100 new members to the global organization. Founded in the U.S. in 1992, HAMA also has affiliates in Asia Pacific and Japan. "The responsibilities of hotel asset managers are far more encompassing than they have ever been in past, and the position has rapidl...
Hotel Lawyer with FAQs about EB-5 Project Financing for New Hotel Development
Jim Butler | August 7, 2014
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 7 August 2014 Frequently Asked Questions about EB-5 project financing for new hotel development by Jim Butler and Jonathan Bloch Partners, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP Why is there so much buzz about EB-5 financing? In the last five years, EB-5 financing has become extremely popular in development circles and is being widely used by mainstream, institutional players including government entities such as port authorities, major hotel brands like Marriott and Hilton, and some of the largest owners of hotels and restaurants. EB-5 fi...
Hotel Development & EB-5 Financing: Why You Don’t Want to Form Your Own Regional Center
Jim Butler | August 4, 2014
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 4 August 2014 How should hotel developers go after EB-5 financing? Although the EB-5 immigrant visa program has been around since 1990, the current trend of using this as a source of financing for hotel development began only three years ago. We worked on one of the first hotel EB-5 financings for the W Hotel and Residences in Hollywood, and have since worked on more than 60 EB-5 projects all over the country. Now, use of the EB-5 financing program has gone mainstream. Headline grabbers include the $400 million financing of the SLS Hotel in ...
Hotel AG Closes 12 Transactions in July
Hotel AG | August 4, 2014
ATLANTA - August 4, 2014 - Hotel Assets Group, LLC (Hotel AG), announced today the firm has closed 12 separate hotel real estate transactions in the month of July. The transactions consisted of 5 full-service hotels and 7 select service hotels. The full-service assets included a 200+ room ocean front resort, a 250+ room Crowne Plaza in New England, a 300+ room convention hotel in a Eastern Seaboard resort market, a 220+ room Marriott in an Upper Midwest state, and a 210+ room hotel in the Pacific Northwest. The select service hotels that closed included a 7-story independent hotel at a major university campus; a SpringHill Suites in Pin...
Hotel Development Financing: How to Win the Race for EB-5 Capital
Jim Butler | July 30, 2014
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 30 July 2014 A viable source of capital and now mainstream The EB-5 Immigrant Investment Visa program offers an alternative means of raising capital for hotel development projects in the U.S., and the lawyers in JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® and Chinese Investment Group™ have worked on more than sixty EB-5 projects all over the United States. Over just the past 3 years, the EB-5 program has quickly gained the support of some of the largest, institutional-quality developers as well as major hotel brands. Perhaps a bit late, many develop...
Dual-Branded Hotel Complex Planned for Columbus, Ohio
BuildCentral | July 28, 2014
Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 190 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Chicago, IL. July 28, 2014 - Hotel-Online and BuildCentral have added or updated 190 hotel projects in the last two weeks to Hotel Construction, a nationwide database of hotel construction projects, openings, and key decision makers (Owner/Developers, Architects and Contractors). These proposed hotels are still in the planning stages. Now is the perfect time to have your product drawn into plans, or offer construction services: Quarrier Street Hotel (Charleston, WV) Bohemian Hotel (Fort Collins, CO) South Lake Union Hotel (Se...
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Reports Q2 2014 Net Income of $16.6M; Same-Property RevPAR Increased 9.2%
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust | July 25, 2014
Adjusted EBITDA Rose 24.3 Percent; Adjusted FFO Per Diluted Share Climbed 29.9 Percent BETHESDA, Md.--Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) (the "Company") today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014. The Company's results include the following: (1) See tables later in this press release for a description of same-property information and reconciliations from net income (loss) to non-GAAP financial measures, including Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA"), Adjusted EBITDA, Funds from Operations ("FFO"), FFO per share, Adjusted FFO and Adjusted FFO per share. For the details as to ...
49 Hotels Select CheckMate for Online and Mobile Check-In
CheckMate | July 24, 2014
Rydges Hotels and Resorts Partners With CheckMate to Increase Revenue, Drive Loyalty and Exceed Guest Expectations San Francisco, CA July 24, 2014 - CheckMate, the revolutionary online and mobile check-in service for hospitality, announced today that Rydges Hotels and Resorts has selected their guest-centric tools to personalize service and increase profits across 49 properties. Defined by a passion for service, Rydges is a dynamic family of hotels and resorts that accommodates over one million guests each year in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Working with CheckMate, Rydges anticipates seeing an increase in loyalty pro...
Over Five Thousand Hospitality Technology Professionals Gather for HITEC 2014 in Los Angeles
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) | July 23, 2014
Austin, Texas, USA (July 23, 2014) - The hospitality technology community came together last month to explore the industry's best practices and latest innovations at the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®). 2014 was one of the highest attended HITEC's with 5,745 hospitality professionals representing 57 countries. The conference addressed important issues, including system selection, ethics, mobile and guestroom technology, data security, PCI Compliance and more. HITEC 2014, a service of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), was held June 23-26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center i...
Hotel AG Closes 10 Transactions Since July 1st
Hotel AG | July 21, 2014
ATLANTA - July 21, 2014 - Hotel Assets Group, LLC (Hotel AG), announced today the firm has closed 10 separate hotel real estate transactions since July 1st. The transactions consist of 4 full-service hotels and 6 select service hotels. The full-service hotels represented include a large Crowne Plaza in New England, a 300+ room convention hotel in a Northeastern Seaboard state, a Marriott in an upper Midwest state and an IHG hotel in the Pacific Northwest. The select service hotels include a seven-story independent hotel at a major university campus; a Springhill Suites in Pinehurst, North Carolina; 2 Fairfield Inns and 1 Hampton Inn in ...
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Acquires the 331-room Nines Hotel in Portland, Oregon for $127 Million
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust | July 18, 2014
July 18, 2014 - BETHESDA, Md. - Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB) (the "Company") today announced that it has acquired The Nines Hotel for $127.0 million. The 331-room luxury hotel is located across from Pioneer Square, in the heart of downtown Portland, Oregon. The property will maintain its association with Starwood's Luxury Collection brand and will continue to be operated by Sage Hospitality and Sage Restaurant Group ("Sage"). "We're thrilled with our acquisition of The Nines Hotel and the opportunity to further expand our presence in the high- growth Portland market," said Jon Bortz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pebbleb...
Systematic Laundry in Singapore Installs InvoTech UHF-RFID Laundry System for Efficient Operations
Systematic Laundry | July 15, 2014
Why InvoTech's Laundry System? It Eliminates Unaccounted Losses, Cuts Labor Costs, Pays for Itself in One Year LOS ANGELES, CA - July 15, 2014 - InvoTech Systems, Inc. announced Systematic Laundry installed the InvoTech UHF-RFID Laundry System to efficiently manage resort laundry operations. The InvoTech Laundry System streamlines and automates laundry operations, cuts labor costs, and provides real-time information to lower operating expenses. Systematic Laundry processes up to 20,000 garments per day for Resorts World Sentosa and 50,000 garments per day for other hotel clients and international airlines. Click here for more informatio...
250-Room Sandy Springs Hotel Development Starts City Approval Process
BuildCentral | July 14, 2014
Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 179 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Chicago, IL. July 14, 2014 - Hotel-Online and BuildCentral have added or updated 179 hotel projects in the last two weeks to Hotel Construction, a nationwide database of hotel construction projects, openings, and key decision makers (Owner/Developers, Architects and Contractors). These proposed hotels are still in the planning stages. Now is the perfect time to have your product drawn into plans, or offer construction services: Anderson Field Hotel (Waterbury, VT) The Chauncy (Iowa City, IA) Udipi Inn (Monroeville, PA) BlueR...
Hotel AG Welcomes Rick George, Opens Chicago Office
Hotel AG | July 14, 2014
ATLANTA - July 14, 2014 - Hotel Assets Group, LLC (Hotel AG), announced today that Rick George has joined the firm and will open the Hotel AG Chicago office. "Rick comes from a deep hospitality transaction background and will add his resume to that of Hotel AG. We believe his tenure within the hotel real estate industry will complement the Hotel AG brand," commented H. Keith Thompson, principal of the firm. "There are a few dots on the map that we want a presence in and Chicago is one of them. We know Rick very well and have great respect for his ability to sell hotels. We look forward to having him lead the team in Chicago." About Rick...
Chinese-Language Hotel Law Blog Launched by JMBM Global Hospitality Group® and HotelLawyer.com
July 10, 2014
By Jim Butler, author of www.HotelLawBlog.com July 10, 2014 LOS ANGELES-The Global Hospitality Group® and the Chinese Investment Group™ at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP are pleased to announce the launch of a Chinese-language version of the Hotel Law Blog. It is available as a new tab on www.HotelLawyer.com or it can be accessed directly at www.ChineseHotelLawBlog.com. "Since 2007, our Hotel Law Blog has been a valuable resource for the hospitality industry," said Jim Butler, author of HotelLawBlog.com and chairman of the Global Hospitality Group® and the Chinese Investment Group™. "We want to share some of the experien...
The Potential Additional Revenue From A Daily Quest For Just One More Booking
Doug Kennedy | July 8, 2014
by Doug Kennedy In speaking with hotel revenue and marketing managers at the HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conference last month, it seems there is an ever increasing list of tasks grabbing their attention. Analogous to what the military calls "mission creep," revenue managers are now calling this "scope creep" as in scope of work. Having been long ago tasked with managing online travel agencies since it's such a key distribution channel, it seems that anything to do with a hotel's online presence falls onto their agenda such as responding to each online guest review, rate-shopping for rate parity, and negotiating with online partners. The...
Hotel AG Summer 2014 Transactions
Hotel AG | June 30, 2014
ATLANTA - June 30, 2014 - Hotel Assets Group, LLC (Hotel AG) announced today the firm has been involved in 238 hotel transactions over the past 36 months. Over half of the transactions were upscale select service or full service hotels. "Hotel AG continues a rapid pace in hotel transaction closings. The firm has closed 1 hotel transaction every 5 days for the past 3 years. Additionally, the firm has 51 hotels under sale agreement with closings scheduled over the next 90 days," stated H. Keith Thompson, principal of the firm. "We see very strong demand in hotel real estate investing, but we remain concerned the selling window is beginnin...
CityFest Hotel (Embassy Suites) in Tuscaloosa Slated to Open September 2014
BuildCentral | June 27, 2014
Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 180 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Chicago, IL. June 30, 2014 - Hotel-Online and BuildCentral have added or updated 180 hotel projects in the last two weeks to Hotel Construction, a nationwide database of hotel construction projects, openings, and key decision makers (Owner/Developers, Architects and Contractors). These proposed hotels are still in the planning stages. Now is the perfect time to have your product drawn into plans, or offer construction services: Stickney Point Hotel & Retail (Sarasota, FL) Sky Hotel Redevelopment (Aspen, CO) Elm Court Estat...
The Billboard Effect… Revisited
Jean Francois Mourier | June 27, 2014
By Jean Francois Mourier It seems like the summer is prime time for hotels and industry experts to re-examine the basic revenue management concepts that they have always held to be true. Most recently, an article was published on Tnooz.com called "Does the Expedia billboard effect still exist for hotels?", which examines the billboard effect and the various studies done by Cornell University, which proved it to be a valid phenomenon. For those who aren't familiar with the concept, the billboard effect shows that hotels are able to increase their direct booking rates, simply by being listed on OTA sites. Chris Anderson of Cornell Univers...
Benchmark Hospitality International Expands Ownership Advisory Group
Benchmark Hospitality International | June 23, 2014
Setting New Standards for Hotel Asset Management & Advisory Services New Website Will Feature Online Data Room, Private Client Access to All Documents The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, June 23, 2014 - A visionary, specialized and collaborative new brand is changing the face and future of asset management. The Benchmark Owner Advisory Group (OAG), a division of Benchmark Hospitality International®, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company, is challenging the tired image of hotel asset management. Originally founded in 2011 as part of Benchmark Hospitality's expansion of its asset management services, today the Owner Advisor...
New Owner for 200-Room Hotel Development in San Francisco
BuildCentral | June 16, 2014
Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 193 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Chicago, IL. June 16, 2014 - Hotel-Online and BuildCentral have added or updated 193 hotel projects in the last two weeks to Hotel Construction, a nationwide database of hotel construction projects, openings, and key decision makers (Owner/Developers, Architects and Contractors). These proposed hotels are still in the planning stages. Now is the perfect time to have your product drawn into plans, or offer construction services: Rivertowns Square Hotel (Dobbs Ferry, NY) Arundel Mills Hotel (Hanover, MD) 401 Hennepin Hotel (Minn...
Acceptance of Hotel Payments Using Bitcoin on the Rise
Expedia.com | June 12, 2014
BELLEVUE, Wash., June 12, 2014 - Expedia.com®, the world's largest full service online travel site*, today announced it is now accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for hotel purchases. Offering travelers another way to book online, customers can now shop from the world-class inventory of more than 290,000 bookable properties available on Expedia.com, and for the first time ever beginning today, easily pay for their hotel accommodations using bitcoin. "Expedia, Inc. is in a unique position, as one of the world's leading online travel agencies, to solve travel planning and booking for our customers and partners alike by adopting the la...
