The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
Doug Kennedy | October 4th, 2024
Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino Partners With Travel Outlook to Elevate Guest Service Experience
Travel Outlook, The Premier Hotel Call Center™ | October 2nd, 2024
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company Arranges $13,750,000 of Construction and Interim Financing for L’Horizon Resort & Spa, Palm Springs, CA
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company | October 23, 2019
Beverly Hills, CA (October 23, 2019) -- Sonnenblick-Eichner Company has arranged $13.75 million in construction and interim financing for the world-renowned L’Horizon Resort and Spa, a full-service, luxury resort located in Palm Springs, CA. The five-year LIBOR-based loan provides funds to refinance the existing debt on the 25-room resort as well as for the ground-up construction of an additional 24 bungalow-style guestrooms on an adjacent parcel. Widely considered one of the premiere destinations in Palm Springs, L’ Horizon Resort and Spa was ranked #1 Resort in the United States in 2018 and #2 in the world in 2019, according to Co...
How Changes in Hotel Revenues Suggest Changes in Guest Preferences
Robert Mandelbaum | October 22, 2019
By Robert Mandelbaum From the high-tech preferences of Generation Z, to the experiential fondness of Millennials, to the health and wellness realities facing Baby Boomers, hotels continually adjust the amenities and services they offer to satisfy their guests. These adjustments are based on extensive consumer research, much of which has been published in the lodging industry trade publications. From the owner’s and operator’s perspective, the changes in guest preference manifest themselves on the hotel operating statement. Over the years, income from the variety of revenue-generating departments operated at hotels rise and fall as g...
Triptease Launches Retargeting for Hotels
Triptease | October 22, 2019
LONDON - October 22nd - Triptease has a history of delivering personalized messaging on hotel websites. From today, they also deliver personalization in banner ads across the rest of the web. Introducing: Retargeting. Retargeting is the latest addition to Triptease's market-leading direct booking software platform for hotels. Triptease Retargeting significantly increases the return on investment (ROI) of a hotel’s online marketing strategy by intelligently serving personalized, price-led ads to potential guests after they leave a hotel’s website. “We’re driving a return on investment almost double the industry average by t...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 221: Hotel History: Hotel Florence
Stanley Turkel | October 22, 2019
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Hotel Florence The Hotel Florence is a former operating hotel located in the Pullman Historic District on the far south side of Chicago, Illinois. In 1880, the railroad pioneer George Pullman purchased a site of 3,500 acres near Lake Calumet on the Illinois Central Railroad. With demand exploding for his sleeping railroad cars. Pullman decided to build the largest factory to produce them and a company town to house his employees and their families. Pullman believed that if he built a town without saloons and agitators, his workers would be forever loyal to the Pullman creed. Pullman City ultimately...
Seven Critical Steps to Making Service Excellence a Reality
Kanav Mata | October 22, 2019
By Kanav Mata The dictionary defines “Experience” as “an event or occurrence which leaves an impression on someone”. In my early days as a Hospitality Trainer, I always told my trainees that when a guest walks into your restaurant and pays a certain amount for your sandwich, he or she is not paying for the sandwich. They are paying for the “Experience”. Today, this holds true for so many other interactions. Whether that be buying a pair of trousers from a store, visiting the bank to open an account, walking in to a car showroom, visiting a clinic/hospital, the list could go on, but essentially any interaction which has a ...
PM Hotel Group Adds Jamie Gamauf to the Newly Created Role of Vice President of Capital Projects
PM Hotel Group | October 22, 2019
CHEVY CHASE, Md. -- Oct. 22, 2019 -- PM Hotel Group is excited to announce the appointment of Jamie Gamauf to the newly created position of Vice President of Capital Projects. Jamie has more than 20 years of experience in hotel and restaurant design, construction and project management leadership. "An architect by education, Jamie brings his experience and expertise to his new role at PM Hotel Group as we continue to grow and diversify our portfolio," said PM Hotel Group President, Joseph Bojanowski. "He's a real problem solver who's passionate about renovating and re-imagining hotels and restaurants that offer creative experiential conce...
Atrium Hospitality Adds Three Branded, Full-Service Hotels to Its Management Portfolio
Atrium Hospitality | October 22, 2019
ALPHARETTA, Ga.-- October 22, 2019 -- Atrium Hospitality has assumed the management of three U.S. hotels from Winegardner & Hammons Hotel Group, an affiliate of the Pyramid Hotel Group. Comprising a combined 612 keys, the properties, located in Kentucky and Ohio, represent the well-known brands of Marriott, Embassy Suites by Hilton, and Holiday Inn. Since 2014, Atrium Hospitality has been one of the fastest-growing hotel management companies in the United States and is currently ranked as the sixth-largest management company (ranked by gross annual revenue end of 2018) by Hotel Business® (April 21, 2019 issue). Atrium’s managem...
IHG Signs With Thanishq Grande Hotels & Resorts for Holiday Inn Express Bengaluru Bommasandra
IHG® | October 22, 2019
InterContinental Hotels Group® (IHG), one of world’s leading hotel companies has signed a management agreement with Thanishq Grande Hotels & Resorts Private Limited for Holiday Inn Express Bengaluru Bommasandra. The new-built hotel will feature 170 keys and is expected to be operational by Q4 2022. IHG currently operates three Holiday Inn Express hotels in Bengaluru, and the recent signing will further strengthen the brand’s presence in the city. The Holiday Inn Express brand has recently gained significant momentum in the country with the opening of 10 hotels, across key cities, positioning IHG as one of the leading hospitality p...
Hospitality Ventures Management Group (HVMG) Awarded Management of 312-Suite Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort
Hospitality Ventures Management Group | October 22, 2019
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., -- October 22, 2019 -- Hospitality Ventures Management Group (HVMG), an Atlanta-based, private hotel investment, ownership and management company, today announced it has been selected to operate the 312-suite Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort in Phoenix. “We continue our westward expansion with the addition of our second hotel in Arizona, the recently renovated Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort,” said Robert Cole, president & CEO, HVMG. “Having grown our portfolio by more than 50 percent last year, 2019 has seen sustained growth as we firm up our nationwide presence. HVMG is well acquainted ...
Hyatt Partners With Cariari Premium Outlets to Develop New 120-Room Hyatt Place Hotel in Costa Rica
Hyatt Place | October 22, 2019
CHICAGO (October 22, 2019) - Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) announced today that Hyatt has entered into a management agreement with Cariari Premium Outlets S.A. and affiliates for a new Hyatt Place hotel in the province of Heredia in Costa Rica. The 120-room Hyatt Place San Jose Cariari will be located less than one mile away from the recently opened Costa Rica Convention Center, in the heart of the country’s most important economic center. With construction expected to begin in early 2020, Hyatt Place San Jose Cariari is projected to open in the second quarter of 2021, and will join the already open Hyatt Place San Jose Pinares a...
HSMAI Foundation Hosts First-Ever Human Resources Roundtable During 2019 Lodging Conference
THE HSMAI FOUNDATION | October 22, 2019
Mclean, Va. -- October 22, 2019 -- The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation recently hosted its first-ever Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Executive Roundtable during The Lodging Conference, held in Phoenix, AZ last month. The goal of the roundtable was to bring together top hiring professionals in hospitality to discuss grassroots strategies to improve talent acquisition and retention in the hospitality industry. Participants included hospitality industry executives from Best Western Hotels & Resorts, Omni Hotel & Resorts, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels, Wynn Resorts, CoralT...
Partnership Between Three Wall Capital and Guggenheim Investments Completes Acquisition of 18-Asset Extended Stay Hotel Portfolio
Three Wall Capital | October 22, 2019
NEW YORK -- October 22, 2019 -- A partnership between Three Wall Capital and Guggenheim Investments, the global asset management and investment advisory business of Guggenheim Partners, completed the acquisition of an 18-asset extended stay hotel portfolio. Clients managed by Guggenheim Investments also provided the mortgage debt for the portfolio acquisition. The national portfolio includes hotels located in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia, and the assets are affiliated with brands in the Hilton, IHG, and Choice systems. The hotels are all well positioned in their respective markets and are proximate to dens...
Ownership Destination The Mountain Club on Loon Migrates Enterprise Accounting to Aptech’s PVNG
Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. | October 22, 2019
Transition from Profitvue® to PVNG Cloud-Based Financial Processes Supports Greater Productivity with Flexible Reporting and Remote Operations PITTSBURGH, October 22, 2019 – Aptech Computer Systems, the industry standard for hospitality financial systems, announced The Mountain Club on Loon, a four-season ownership ski destination, implemented Aptech’s PVNG Enterprise Back Office hotel accounting software system. Mountain Club on Loon is New Hampshire’s premier condo hotel and spa ski resort. Aptech is an IBM Premier Solution Provider as well as a Prophix Premier Business Partner offering web-enabled business intelligence, budgetin...
Hilton Signs With Garfield to Bring Full-Service Doubletree by Hilton to Abilene Convention Center
October 22, 2019
ABILENE, TX -- Oct. 22, 2019 -- It will be a homecoming of sorts when a full-service convention Hilton property returns to the heart of downtown Abilene in late 2021. From 1927-1945, Abilene’s Hilton Hotel – only the second in the country to bear that iconic name -- brought a new standard of luxury to west Texas. Fast forward 76 years, as Abilene eagerly prepares to welcome the new Doubletree by Hilton. The hotel is poised to become a popular home-base for visitors, just steps from the Convention Center as well as all of downtown’s dining offerings and historic attractions. In a special ceremony on Friday, October 18th, the City of...
Edwardian Hotels London Plans June 2020 Opening of Flagship Hotel, The Londoner
Edwardian Hotels | October 22, 2019
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- October 22, 2019 -- The newest property and flagship hotel under Edwardian Hotels London, The Londoner will open in June 2020 as the world’s first super boutique hotel, situated within the heart of London’s West End in the world-famous Leicester Square neighborhood. Boutique in feeling yet staggering in scale, The Londoner offers a multifaceted experience combining the best aspects of a luxury boutique hotel with a thoughtful range of bespoke meetings and events spaces, to deliver an enhanced new concept that meets the needs of travel buyers and corporate travelers. The hotel will set a new standard for contempora...
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Appoints Derek Ellis as General Manager
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa | October 22, 2019
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- October 22, 2019 -- The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa announces the appointment of Derek Ellis as General Manager. In his role Ellis will oversee all operations for the acclaimed Scottsdale property, which is presently underway with a transformation of its 732 guestrooms and corridors, signaling the re-imagination of an elevated guest experience set to debut holiday 2019. “I am thrilled to join the talented team at this esteemed resort rich in innovation, inimitable experiences and unparalleled service,” says Ellis. “It is especially timely and exciting to bring my own personal touches to the resort during t...
Georgia’s Barnsley Resort Welcomes Nicolas Lebas as New Executive Chef
Barnsley Resort | October 22, 2019
Adairsville, GA – October 22, 2019 – The executive team at Georgia’s award-winning Barnsley Resort has announced the appointment of Nicolas Lebas as the new executive chef. Chef Lebas brings with him more than 19 years of culinary experience in both world-class resorts and upscale restaurants across the globe. Taking his place at the forefront of the culinary team, Chef Lebas is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the resort’s two onsite restaurants and outdoor Beer Garden, leading and managing the culinary team, as well as supervising catering services for weddings and special events across the property’s 3,000 ac...
Is Your Hotel Budgeting for Voice Technology?
David Berger | October 22, 2019
New revenue opportunities and operational efficiencies derived from a well implemented guestroom voice assistant are measurable By David Berger October 22, 2019 -- Seventy-nine percent of hoteliers and 45 percent of travel brands reported voice-enabled technology investment plans this year. Devices from Amazon, Google and Smartbeings are competing for a spot on the bedside table as more and more hotel brands and independent boutique hotels work with solutions providers on new ways to use these smart speakers to engage guests, drive revenues and improve operational efficiencies. Hoteliers on the fence about adding voice to th...
RoomKeyPMS Releases New Case Study: The Atticus Hotel & Third Street Flats
RoomKeyPMS | October 22, 2019
October 22, 2019 – Vancouver, BC – Under the Live McMinnville LLC Property group, both The Atticus Hotel and Third Street Flats have implemented the RoomKeyPMS Payments solution, and their experience was documented in a recently published Case Study. Since implementation, both properties have seen immediate improvement in user experience and access to customer service for the platform, and have been able to decrease payment processing rates by approximately 25 - 30%. The properties’ General Manager & Partner, Ben Perle, commented, “The professionalism with which RoomKeyPMS conducted themselves as we moved into this process w...
Cloud5 Communications Announces Recapitalization Led by Oaktree
Cloud5 Communications | October 22, 2019
CHICAGO (October 22, 2019) – Cloud5 Communications (“Cloud5” or “The Company”) announced today that funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”), one of its primary investors, has acquired a majority interest position in the Company. Cloud5 Communications is a leading provider of communications solutions for the world’s top hotel brands and management companies. In this transaction, Oaktree recapitalized the Company and invested additional growth capital to support its continued expansion. Oaktree is majority owned by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., who together have over $500 billion of assets under man...
Have You Ever Considered Using Failure as an Attribute?
Gary Hernbroth | October 22, 2019
By Gary Hernbroth Whether you are looking for a job or being considered for a new responsibility, let me twist the familiar here and suggest that failure – yes, failure – could actually be your ally. How’s that? In a conversation with hospitality sales and marketing pro Steve Lowe about interviewing and hiring many people throughout the years, he had a unique take to share with me: “I like to ask people ‘Have you ever failed? What happened and what did you do about it?’ I don’t believe that you can really be successful without having failed at some point or other in your life." I love that! I wholeheartedly concur w...
Virginia’s Tides Inn Appoints Brent Woodyard as New Director of Sales
the Tides Inn | October 21, 2019
(IRVINGTON, VA; October 21, 2019) – The Tides Inn—an iconic waterfront resort located in Irvington, Virginia—announces the appointment of its new Director of Sales Brent Woodyard. With over 36 years of hospitality and leadership experience, including three years with the Tides Inn’s sales team and an extensive background working with Virginia hotels, the Tides Inn is pleased to promote Woodyard from his previous role as the resort’s Associate Director of Sales. He will continue to draw on his passion for guest services, industry expertise and intimate understanding of Virginia’s hospitality, as well as oversee all sales, reservati...
IHG Signs With The Arabian Hospitality Company to Develop Holiday Inn Madinah West
IHG | October 21, 2019
The hotel will cater to the increasing number of religious tourists visiting the country IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has signed a Management Agreement with leading hospitality supplier, The Arabian Hospitality Company, to open Holiday Inn Madinah West in 2022. The new property will cater to the influx of religious tourists expected as part of Vision 2030 and reinforces IHG’s commitment to expand its presence and diversify its portfolio across the Kingdom. Once completed, the 700-key property will be IHG’s fourth hotel in Madinah, joining InterContinental Dar Al Hijra, InterCon...
Hit the Slopes, Save Up to 50% With Perfect Powder Ski Getaways!
Benchmark Resorts & Hotels® | October 21, 2019
Five Premier Resorts Offer Epic Savings on Lift tickets, Accommodations, Dining, Rental The Woodlands (Houston), Texas (October 2019) – Snow Bunny beginners, downhill racers, freestyling snowboarders, and snowmobilers can hit the slopes at savings of up to 50% with the Perfect Powder Ski Vacations promotion from Benchmark Resorts & Hotels and Gemstone Collection. Throughout ski season, major discounts are offered on lift tickets, guest room accommodations, dining, equipment rental from five leading mountain resorts in California, Colorado, Vermont and Wyoming. Each luxury property offers exceptional facilities including full-service ...
