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Moxy Hotels Expands in Japan With The Opening of Moxy Osaka Shin Umeda
Moxy Hotels | September 8, 2020
Nestled amidst one of the main city centers in Osaka, buzzing with an attitude that does not always follow the rules, the 288-room Moxy Osaka Shin Umeda officially opens its doors today. As Marriott International’s bold experiential brand, the new hotel features fun, playful and stylish experiences, designed to give guests everything they want and nothing they don’t. Conveniently located in the Umeda district, one of the main city centers of Osaka, Moxy Osaka Shin Umeda is just a five-minute walk from Fukushima Station. Accessibility is key, and this makes it ideal for travelers visiting for play or work. Tourist attractions and shoppi...
Tharaldson Hospitality Management Appoints Opening Team for Residence Inn Grand Rapids Downtown
September 8, 2020
Residence Inn by Marriott Grand Rapids, the iconic flat-iron shaped hotel building at the intersection of Fulton, Ionia and Louis, takes another step closer to opening with the recent appointment of their Opening General Manager and Opening Director of Sales. Tharaldson Hospitality Management has hired Andrew White as Opening General Manager and Cassaundra McDougall as the Opening Director of Sales. The two will be at the helm of the 147-room Residence Inn by Marriott, a hotel specializing in extended stay travel. Tharaldson Hospitality Management, based in Fargo, ND, owns and operates nearly 70 hotels across the United States. They ha...
Courtyard by Marriott Penang Opens Marking Brand Debut in Malaysia
Courtyard by Marriott | September 8, 2020
Courtyard by Marriott today announces the opening of Courtyard by Marriott Penang – the first Courtyard debut in Malaysia. Located along the bustling Jalan Macalister in the heart of Penang’s UNESCO-listed George Town, the new 199-room Courtyard by Marriott Penang is set to provide the best hotel experience for guests to pursue their personal and professional passions while on the road. “We are thrilled to continue to grow our presence in Malaysia with the opening of Courtyard by Marriott Penang,” said Rajeev Menon, President, Asia Pacific (excluding China), Marriott International. “Designed for today’s ambitious and enterprisi...
Original Group Breaks Ground On Temptation Miches Resorts in the Dominican Republic
Original Group | September 8, 2020
Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, (Sept. 8, 2020) - Original Group, the leading adult hospitality group in Mexico, broke ground today on Temptation Miches Resort and Temptation Grand Miches Resort in Miches, Dominican Republic. Slated to open Summer 2022, the two new properties will be Original Group’s first resort offering outside of Mexico. “We are thrilled to finally break ground on this highly anticipated project and are proud to establish our first property abroad in the Dominican Republic, a country that values hospitality and tourism as much as we do in Mexico,” said Rodrigo de la Peña, CEO of Original Group. “We are so thankf...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Why Does It Take So Bloody Long to Do the Annual Hotel Budget?
David Lund | September 8, 2020
By David Lund Bloody is a great word. It’s English and I’m Canadian so that’s close enough and I’m adopting it for this piece. The word is so descriptive, and it immediately conjures up images of battle and of great suffering. Much the same as the annual carnage we refer to as budget season in the hotel business. It’s the epic contest between line managers and executives, hotel leadership teams and the brand and hotels and their owners. In some hotels it can take six months to get the budget done, revised umpteen times and eventually – hopefully – approved. It’s nothing for the battle to last for three months in a typica...
Apple REIT Selects Crestline to Manage Portland Residence Inn and Jacksonville Hyatt Place
the Residence Inn Portland Downtown/Waterfront, ME | September 8, 2020
FAIRFAX, VA – September 8, 2020 - James Carroll, President and CEO of Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC (“Crestline”) announced today that Crestline has been appointed to manage the 179 guest-suite Residence Inn Portland Downtown/Waterfront in Portland, Maine and the 127 room Hyatt Place Jacksonville Airport in Jacksonville, Florida. The hotels are owned by Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. who selected Crestline to manage. Upon making the announcement Carroll said, “Crestline enjoys a long and trusted relationship with Apple Hospitality REIT and we are honored to add these excellent properties to our mana...
“Free” PMS API Integration Is the Key to Hotel Innovation
Jos Schaap | September 8, 2020
By Jos Schaap Ask any hotelier or hotel technology company about their biggest pain points, and inevitably they will mention integration. Interfacing between legacy hotel Property Management Systems (PMS) and third-party systems have plagued the hospitality industry for years. HTNG was created some 20 years ago to create a communication messaging standard for hotel systems and made some initial progress. But till today, connecting hotel systems is still mostly a pain. With the onslaught of COVID-19 upending the travel industry, the stakes for the hotel sector couldn’t be higher. Hotels need to change their service models to support ...
Accor and Amadeus Announce Strategic Partnership Around Business Intelligence
Amadeus Hospitality | September 8, 2020
As COVID-19 continues to disrupt travel around the globe, hoteliers face many challenges in running their business and planning for the future. The historical references and past data they once relied on to build their revenue strategies no longer aligns with current market trends, making it more critical than ever to have access to powerful business intelligence tools. To support Accor hoteliers in successfully navigating COVID-19 and to plan for the future, the hotel group has expanded its strategic partnership with Amadeus to include the use of Demand360®. The solution provides the most comprehensive, forward-looking market data in t...
STR: Canada Hotel Results for Week Ending 29 August
STR | September 3, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—STR data for 23-29 August 2020 showed lower performance from prior weeks for Canada’s hotel industry. In comparison with the week of 25-31 August 2019, the industry reported the following: Occupancy: -45.2% to 42.1% Average daily rate (ADR): -25.9% to CAD128.83 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -59.4% to CAD54.26 Two provinces reached a 50% occupancy level: Prince Edward Island (55.8%) and British Columbia (53.5%). Ottawa (43.4%) was the only major market at or above the 40% mark. The lowest occupancy among provinces was reported in Quebec (32.4%). At the market level, the lowest occupan...
Why You Should Not Invest in Metasearch Right Now
Stephanie Smith | September 3, 2020
By Stephanie Smith Buckle in kids, this is not a popular opinion. If you had asked me my opinions about MetaSearch pre-Covid, my response would be different. If you need a tutorial on what is MetaSearch, check out this article from Milestone. But, today, cash is tight. Budgets are being squeezed. While I still believe in “Book Direct” and the long time value of the customer, the customer has changed. Your loyal points fanatic is not traveling. Your corporate BT is not traveling. Who is traveling? Your local customer within a 1 to 2 hour radius of your hotel. Even if you leverage metasearch to get them to book direct on ...
STR: U.S. Hotel Results for Week Ending 29 August
STR | September 3, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—U.S. hotel occupancy decreased slightly for the second consecutive week, according to the latest data from STR. 23-29 August 2020 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019): Occupancy: 48.2% (-27.7%) Average daily rate (ADR): US$98.39 (-23.2%) Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$47.38 (-44.5%) The industry sold 237,000 fewer room nights than the previous week, which represented a demand decrease of 1.3%. Week-over-week demand improvements were a constant since mid-April, but as summer ends and leisure travel fades, hotel performance gains have flattened. Aggregate data for the Top ...
Margaritaville Resort Palm Springs Appoints Matt Huss as General Manager and Jeff Ouradnik as Director of Sales & Marketing
Margaritaville | September 3, 2020
PALM SPRINGS, CALF. (September 3, 2020) – Margaritaville and Davidson Hotels & Resortstoday announced the appointment of Matt Huss as General Manager and Jeff Ouradnik as Director of Sales and Marketing at Margaritaville Resort Palm Springs in Palm Springs, California. The resort is slated to open this fall following the renovation and conversion of Riviera Palm Springs, and will feature 398-rooms, multiple Margaritaville-inspired dining concepts, a signature St. Somewhere Spa, the city's largest resort spa, all-new family-oriented programming, and more than 40,000 square feet of combined wedding, meeting, and event space. The property...
Fitch Ratings Maintains the Rating Watch Negative for U.S. Single-Borrower Hotel CMBS
Fitch Ratings | September 3, 2020
"Unprecedented" Revenue Declines Prompt Continued Negative Watch for Hotel CMBS On Aug. 26, Fitch Ratings maintained the Rating Watch Negative (RWN) on all Fitch-rated U.S. CMBS single-borrower hotel transactions. Below, we outline the market and asset level factors Fitch will continue to monitor in determining ratings actions that would lead to a revision of the RWN. We also outline the anticipated timelines. There will be an unprecedented decline in hotel revenues in 2020, thus cash flow analysis utilizing 2020 numbers would be an unreliable indicator of hotel value. Fitch is forecasting that trailing twelve-month (TTM) revenue per av...
IHG Bringing the First Hotel Indigo to Indonesia’s Special Capital Region of Jakarta
Hotel Indigo | September 3, 2020
IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s largest hotel companies, is set to welcome the world’s most neighbourhood-centric brand to Indonesia’s Special Capital Region of Jakarta with the signing of Hotel Indigo Jakarta Pantai Indah Kapuk. Partnering IHG in this landmark project are PT Kapuk Naga Indah, the land and building owner and a subsidiary of property developer Agung Sedayu Group (ASG) and Salim Group. The signing marks the beginning of a strategic partnership between Agung Sedayu Group and InterContinental Hotels Group as one of their preferred partners for hotel projects in Indonesia Serena Lim, VP Developm...
AAM 15 Management Opens Residence Inn by Marriott Manchester Downtown, New Hampshire
AAM 15 Management, LLC | September 3, 2020
BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 3, 2020 -- AAM 15 Management, LLC announced the opening of its 10th hotel located in the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire. Manchester, located 54 miles north of Boston, is the gateway to Northern New England and allows for easy access to ski resorts, NASCAR races, beaches, state parks, camping, mountains and dozens of other attractions. Just outside the windows of the Hotel is the Southern New Hampshire University Arena, which has become the centerpiece of Downtown Manchester. The venue can seat 12,000 patrons for concerts, and roughly 10,000 for sporting events. Also, within walking dist...
Oetker Collection Appoints Simon Neggers as Senior Vice President Sales, Marketing and Communications
Oetker Collection | September 3, 2020
September 1, 2020 - Oetker Collection is pleased to announce that Mr. Simon Neggers will join its executive leadership team as Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Communications as of September 7th, 2020. In his new role, Mr. Neggers will oversee the global strategy for Oetker Collection’s exclusive portfolio of Masterpiece Hotels and Estates. He will be based in the Parisian office of the company. Dr. Timo Gruenert, CEO, Oetker Collection, commented: “We are really excited to welcome Simon Neggers to the senior leadership team of Oetker Collection. Simon has a very strong background in luxury communications, public relations...
Highgate Opens New Tru by Hilton Orlando Convention Center
Tru by Hilton | September 3, 2020
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 3, 2020 -- Hilton's (NYSE: HLT) innovative hotel brand, Tru by Hilton, today announced the opening of its latest property, Tru by Hilton Orlando Convention Center. The 259-room hotel, located at 6461 Westwood Boulevard, is owned by Epelboim Development Group and managed by Highgate. The new hotel is conveniently located near the Orange County Convention Center and centrally located between Walt Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal. Tru by Hilton Orlando Convention Center promises guests a simplified and spirited stay, rooted in value. Developed from the ground up using consumer and owner feedback, Tru by Hilto...
Tabcorp Park Inks Deal With Accor to Open Mantra Melbourne Melton Hotel at Home of Victorian Harness Racing
Accor | September 3, 2020
Accor, together with the owners of Tabcorp Park, announce the hotel at Victoria’s home of metropolitan harness racing has been rebranded to Mantra Melbourne Melton, under a franchise agreement. The 41-room hotel is set to become a destination of choice for racegoers, business travellers, sporting groups and families looking for convenient, contemporary trackside accommodation when it reopens to the public. With superb panoramic views over the racecourse, not only does the hotel offer the best seat in the house for Tabcorp Park’s weekly harness racing, it also boasts a selection of well-appointed guest rooms, including a mix of St...
The New Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano Hotel Opens
The Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano | September 3, 2020
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA (September 3, 2020) – Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, an Autograph Collection Hotel, opens its doors today in the storied city of San Juan Capistrano in Southern California. The hotel joins the brand’s diverse and dynamic portfolio of more than 198 hotels around the world that are independent, one-of-a-kind and champion values of vision, design and craft. Located in the heart of historic downtown San Juan Capistrano, just steps away from the awe-inspiring ruins of Mission San Juan Capistrano, Inn at The Mission celebrates the history and style of authentic California and balances new moments of d...
Lotte Hotel Seattle Appoints Alexander La Motte as Executive Chef
Lotte Hotels & Resorts | September 3, 2020
SEATTLE, Wash. – September 3, 2020 – LOTTE HOTEL SEATTLE announced today the appointment of Alexander La Motte as Executive Chef. With over 15 years of culinary experience, La Motte will oversee the food and beverage operations for Lotte Hotels & Resorts’ newest hotel and third property in the United States. Under Chef La Motte’s direction, the hotel’s cocktail lounge and signature restaurant, Charlotte Restaurant & Lounge, will offer range of contemporary Pacific Northwest cuisine prepared using fresh, local ingredients. In his new role, Chef La Motte will use his extensive experience to tailor the hotel's culinary prog...
The Aloft Denver North Westminster to Open in The Orchard Town Center
Aloft Hotels | September 3, 2020
Westminster, CO – September 3, 2020 – Aloft Hotels, Marriott International’s innovation incubator brand, built with a forward-looking lens and the infrastructure to experiment with emerging technologies, announced that the Aloft Denver North Westminster is set to open this Monday, September 7. The 120-room hotel located at 14780 Delaware Street will operate as a Marriott franchise, owned by 14780 Delaware 1 LLC and managed by Renascent Hospitality of Greenwood Village, Colorado. General Manager Tony Loos and Director of Sales & Marketing Katie Palmer lead the management team at the property. Located in The Orchard Town Center, 26...
IDeaS Intern Program Makes WayUp 100 List in U.S. for Second Year
IDeaS | September 3, 2020
Hospitality technology leader supports rising talent through its extensive internship program MINNEAPOLIS—Sept. 3, 2020—IDeaS was once again listed in WayUp’s Top 100 Best Internship Programs in the United States. WayUp, the go-to job placement platform used by millions of early-career professionals, releases the top 100 internship programs each year. The companies that made the list were selected by a panel of industry expert judges and thousands of public votes. View the complete list here: https://www.nationalinternday.com/top100-2020. IDeaS U.S. intern program – Created in 2014, the IDeaS intern program continues to gro...
Tourism Tidbits: Dealing With Difficult Customers and Situations in a Post-Pandemic World
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | September 2, 2020
By Dr. Peter Tarlow Traditionally in most of the northern hemisphere the month of September is called the "dog days" of summer. The name derives from the fact that it is often too hot for even a dog to want to wander along the streets. During previous years, September was a time when people returned from vacations, schools reopened, and business returned to a more normal routine. The summer’s end was also high tourist season in much of the world. The transition period between summer and autumn seemed to many to be a period of full airplanes and hotels and a period when travelers had frayed nerves. This description was the “then...
The Roger Smith Hotel and the New Working-From-a-Hotel Model
Larry Mogelonsky | September 2, 2020
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Who is Roger Smith? As the hotel’s Director of Marketing and Co-Owner, John Knowles, jocularly explained during our time together, the enigmatic ‘Roger’ is many things to many people. The personified alias that has given this Midtown Manhattan property its name has always represented a place where great ideas are born and where bold actions are made reality. Now, however, the 136-room Roger Smith Hotel offers an archetypical example of a trendsetting post-Covid adaptation in a major urban center, and hoteliers would be wise to take note. Located at the corner of 47th and Lexin...
