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Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 118; Hotel History: Chelsea Hotel (1884); Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | December 20, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: Chelsea Hotel (1884)* The Chelsea Hotel is world-renowned as a residence for artists, writers, actors, and other characters who live on the cutting edge of society. The Chelsea has always been a center of artistic, cultural and bohemian activity. Built as one of the city's first cooperative apartment houses in 1884, the Chelsea became a hotel in 1905. The Chelsea's architect was Philip Hubert of Hubert and Pirsson. This was no ordinary architectural firm. Philip Gengembre Hubert, a French-American, used his mother's maiden name upon emigrating to the United States. He was a broad-based, cr...
Global Hotel Investment Sentiment Survey Shows Positive Trading Expectations for EMEA Hotels
Jones Lang LaSalle | December 18, 2013
Focused on Core German Cities, London & Paris December 18, 2013 - Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels & Hospitality Group (JLL H&H) has released the results of their Global Hotel Investment Sentiment Survey and its good news for hotels in the EMEA region with trading expectations remaining positive both for the short term (six months) and medium term (two years) with investors feeling more confident than they did earlier this year. Of the 31 cities tracked, 21 are expected to show growth in performance over the next six months, rising to 28 when looking to the medium term. Investor sentiment is highest for cities in Germany (Munich, F...
Tourism Tidbits: Traveling Safely in a Turbulent World by Dr. Peter Tarlow
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | December 10, 2013
The year 2013 may be known as a year of travel insecurity. From airline crashes to cruise ships, international events and alerts around the world, along with terrorism threats should serve to remind all of us, that travel is never without risks. Although no one can guarantee total safety, and the tourism industry continually works to improve its security, there is and there will always be an element of risk. Furthermore, no matter how much security is provided, it is still the traveler's personal responsibility to do everything possible to insure his/her own level of safety. Assuring personal safety and security is not always an easy ta...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 117; Hotel History: InterContinental Hotels Company; Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | December 9, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: InterContinental Hotels Company A recent story on the Hotels website stated "IHG's history in Latin America dates back to 1946, when the first InterContinental Hotel opened in Brazil. Today, the Company has more than 200 hotels in 22 countries, not to mention a pipeline of more than 50 properties." In my book "Great American Hoteliers: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" (AuthorHouse 2009), I wrote about Juan Terry Trippe, the founder of Pan American World Airways, the InterContinental Hotels Company, Charles Lindbergh and Raymond Orteig, an unknown New York City hotel owner. In the history of...
Top 10 Hospitality Industry Trends in 2014
Robert Rauch | December 6, 2013
By Robert Rauch, CHA 1. Millennials will become the core customer within the hospitality and travel industries over the next five to ten years. The majority of airlines, hotels and travel companies will benefit from this sector as they enter into their peak earning, spending and travel years. Within this group of GenY travelers, there are many different markets considering the fact that exploration, interaction and experience are the major focus of Millennials. Willing to pay more for a greater experience, "foodies" are a prevalent subset of this market; looking for an overall gourmet experience for a reasonable price will cause the ind...
Real Estate Implications of a Successful Bid for Dubai to host World Expo 2020
Jones Lang LaSalle MENA | November 27, 2013
Seen as the Single Most Important Influence on the UAE Real Estate Sector in 2014 November 27, 2013 - "While the Dubai real estate market is poised for growth regardless of the 2020 World Expo, the success of this bid will act as the single most important influence on the real estate sector across the UAE in 2014". Says Alan Robertson, CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle, MENA. "Expo 2020 will not benefit all sectors of the Dubai real estate market to the same degree. The hotel and logistics sectors being the biggest winners, while the residential and retail sectors will also derive significant benefits" notes Mr. Robertson The impacts on the re...
How Airbnb Is Crushing Traditional Hotel Brands
Vikram Singh | November 27, 2013
by Vikram Singh In April, I wrote one of my first ever articles about Airbnb's impact on the hotel industy. It started as a response to the Euromonitor report highlighting how little impact it was going to have. I fully disagreed. While I did not have the numbers to prove it, I have always known that Airbnb's impact was going to be HUGE based on the steps they were taking, and the rapidly changing needs of the global traveller. In the few short months since my first article, Airbnb has released some super cool stats that prove what I have always believed: they are changing the hospitality business. They created $632 million in economi...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 116: Hotel History: Lucerne Hotel; Quote of the Month; My New Book
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | November 27, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: Lucerne Hotel One of the most beautiful hotels on New York's upper west side is the Lucerne Hotel which opened in 1904 on the corner of 79th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The Lucerne was designed by architects Mulliken & Moeller with a reddish brown façade of wonderful richness. The detailing is heavy and thick making the building seem all the more like clay, but it is skillful enough so that it never feels overbearing. The entrance is one of the finest, thanks to the deeply modeled, banded entrance columns. In his Streetscapes column, "Mulliken & Moeller, Architects; Upper West Si...
So Many Options, So Much Advice: TripAdvisor & Your Hotel’s Profitability; A Best Practices Tool
Taylor Short | November 20, 2013
Building a strong online reputation on review sites like TripAdvisor has become essential to maintaining a profitable hotel. Hoteliers around the world have experimented with various tactics to generate a large quantity of positive reviews, and one has found success in achieving a strong ranking: the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. The Four Seasons was able to jump more than 20 spots on TripAdvisor's Popularity Index to become the highest ranked hotel in the city in less than two years. To find out how the Four Seasons was able to see such significant increases in their online rankings, Taylor Short of Software Advice, a company that rese...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 115; Hotel History: The Harvard Club of New York; Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | November 14, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The Harvard Club of New York* The Harvard Club of New York at 27 West 44th Street was originally built in 1894 (with major additions in 1905 and 1915, 1947 and 2003) and designed by McKim, Mead & White. Its classic Georgian design recalls the buildings at Harvard Yard in Cambridge. In 1966, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Harvard Club of New York as a landmark despite the opposition of the Harvard Club to the proposed designation. It was one of the first buildings in New York to be named a landmark. It is also listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places...
Be Exceptional…Regardless of the work environment by Bryan Williams
B.Williams Enterprise | November 13, 2013
Some people don't like where they work...at all. They may even despise who they report to. And since their work environment is so "toxic", they choose to withhold their best quality of work. "THIS PLACE does not deserve the best I have to offer. I will come to work, only do what is expected of me, collect my paycheck, and go home." Do you know anyone like that? Bare Minimum The problem with that line of thinking is that if you repeatedly choose to give the bare minimum, then eventually you will be comfortable giving the bare minimum. Yes, you would have unknowingly formed not only a habit, but a bad habit. At some point, you may not eve...
New Book Available from Educational Institute Shares Stories of Century-Old Hotels
American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute | November 13, 2013
Lansing, Michigan, November 2013-The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) has added a new book from author Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC, to its online store. Built to Last: 100+ Year-Old Hotels East of the Mississippi is a charming tribute to historic properties both grand and quaint. Hotel history buffs will delight in this new book that features 86 sections devoted to telling the tales of hotels that are at least 100 years old. Illustrated with antique picture postcards, the hotel histories include fascinating stories of single-minded developers, brilliant and accidental architects, dedicated owners, famous and infamo...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 114; Hotel History: The Ansonia Hotel; Quote of the Month; My New Book
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | November 4, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The Ansonia Hotel* The Ansonia Hotel was built as a luxury apartment hotel on the upper west side of New York in 1904. Its resplendent apartments contained multiple bedrooms, parlors, libraries and formal dining rooms with high ceilings, elegant moldings and bay windows. The hotel had a central kitchen serving pantries on every floor so that residents could enjoy meals prepared by professional chefs. Its exterior turrets, balconies, carvings, scrolls, medallions and moldings make the Ansonia a Beaux-Arts confection. In "New York, New York: How the Apartment House Transformed the Life of t...
Tourism Tidbits – Traveling to and with the Sound of Music by Dr. Peter Tarlow
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | November 4, 2013
Tourism has many forms, and the niche tourism market is not only a growing market, but also understanding one niche helps tourism and travel professionals to apply the same principles to other niche markets. One such market is the music and music festivals as a travel and tourism motivator. Although often overlooked, both music and tourism share a great deal in common. Both are good for the soul, both attempt to lift a person's spirits and both help the person leave the doldrums of everyday life and enter into new and challenging worlds. Certain areas of the world have done an excellent job of using music both as a way to create special...
Google Analytics vs. Adobe Site Catalyst for Hotels by Vikram Singh
Vikram Singh | October 30, 2013
Marketing is evolving, especially the Internet kind. Website analytics have come a long way in the past decade. We have access to more information than ever before. You can now monitor in detail how people are interacting with your website, where they are coming from, and where they are going. Google Analytics vs. Adobe Site Catalyst (previously called Omniture) is one of those questions that I get asked regularly, so here are my thoughts. I have been an ardent user/supporter of Google Analytics for a while. I am amazed at the power and value it provides for free. On top of that, almost every year Google Analytics rolls out product upda...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 113; Hotel History: St. Regis Hotel in New York; Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | October 23, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: St. Regis Hotel in New York* In 1904, Colonel John Jacob Astor broke ground for the building of the St. Regis Hotel at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, in the most exclusive residential section of New York at the time. While the hotel was under construction, Astor was unable to come up with a name for his new hotel. During Astor's visit with his brother-in-law on a beautiful lake in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Astor's niece offered a solution: "Uncle Jack, why don't you call it after this lake- Hotel St. Regis?" After doing some research on the name, he found that the ...
East Meets West – Hospitality Schools in Switzerland and Hong Kong Sign Student Exchange Program
October 16, 2013
October 16, 2013 - The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland have recently entered into an agreement on launching a student exchange programme dedicated to the development of students, particularly in the areas of global outlook and cultural appreciation. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Professor Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor of the SHTM, and Professor Michel Rochat, General Director of EHL, today (16 October) at the SHTM premises in Hong Kong. The signing ceremony was witnessed by important officials f...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 112; Hotel History: The Drake Hotel in New York
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | October 14, 2013
Marriott CEO Tells U.S. Congress: Get Back to Work; New York Investigating Airbnb and HomeAway; Quote of the Month; My New Book By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The Drake Hotel in New York On a front page story in the Metropolitan section (October 6, 2013), the New York Times reported "Harry Macklowe Gambles Again: A developer known for wild swings of fortune builds a Park Avenue apartment tower a quarter-mile high." On the site of the old Drake Hotel (demolished in 2007), Macklowe is building a luxurious apartment building which, upon completion, will be, at 1,398 feet the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisp...
Tourism Tidbits: The Threat of Terrorism in Planning Major Event Security / Dr. Peter Tarlow
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | October 8, 2013
Recent events around the world have proven once again that holding a major event is no easy matter. Not only must a community deal with the event itself but there are always logistics, marketing, and public relations that go hand in hand with a major event. To make matters even more challenging we live in a world of political unrest. Major events are of course targets for terrorism. They also may incite local protests that have nothing to do with terrorism. These demonstrations are byproducts of the event and may occur before or during the event. The demonstrators then use the event as a means to vent frustrations or as a means to piggy...
Death by Data: How Misusing Hotel Analytics Data Can Hurt Your Revenue / Vikram Singh
Vikram Singh | October 2, 2013
Analytics is an amazing and powerful tool. Voltaire/FDR/Stan Lee (depends who you ask) has said, "With great power comes great responsibility." This is particularly relevant to Analytics users in the hotel industry who are making marketing decisions. Unfortunately, a lot of people misuse the power of hotel analytics, and end up hurting their hotel asset by limiting its online revenue or wasting precious time and marketing dollars. Here are some changes you should make in your online marketing strategy to avoid common, yet costly, mistakes. Note: Google Analytics is one of my favorite Google products of all time. I have been evangelizing...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 111; Hotel History: The McAlpin Hotel; What Makes a City Great?
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | October 2, 2013
Quote of the Month; My New Book By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The McAlpin Hotel General Edwin Angustus McAlpin (1848-1917) was a successful business man and president of the D.H. McAlpin & Co. tobacco company. He owned several large tracts of real estate in Manhattan, including one on 34th Street and Broadway which he developed into the McAlpin Hotel. When it opened in 1912 it was the largest hotel in the world. The New York Times commented that it was so tall at 25 floors that it "seems isolated from other buildings." With a staff of 1,500 it could accommodate 2,500 guests. The 1500-room McAlpin Hotel was designed...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 110; Still Undistinguishable and Undistinguished by Stanley Turkel
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | September 23, 2013
Hotel History: George Charles Boldt (1851-1916); My New Book; Quote of the Month By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Still Undistinguishable and Undistinguished For many years, I have been a critic of hotel guestroom design because most chain hotel rooms are undistinguishable from the competition. I am reminded of this truism every time I look at the excellent photographs on the Hotel Chatter website. If there was no identifying caption, you could not tell if you are looking at a Marriott, Westin, Wyndham, Sheraton, Hilton, Radisson, Hyatt or InterContinental Hotel. 2. Hotel History: George Charles Boldt (1851-1916) In its December 6, 191...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 109 Hotel History: Howard Dearing Johnson (1896-1972)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | September 13, 2013
Host of the Highway and The Orange Roof; My New Book; Quote of the Month By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC September 13, 2013 1. Hotel History: Howard Dearing Johnson (1896-1972), Host of the Highway and The Orange Roof The Wyndham Hotel Group unveiled new plans for its Howard Johnson brand on September 10, 2013, including a new logo and conceptual exterior and interior designs. "Howard Johnson is a brand that for millions of travelers conjures fond memories of ice cream cones and family vacations," said Eric Danziger, Wyndham Hotel Group president and CEO. "It's a name that carries with it incredible equity. Reinvigoration is about growing...
Service Excellence: The Professional’s Pledge / Bryan Williams
B.Williams Enterprise | September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013 From this day forth, I will be ashamed if I intentionally give anything less than my best. I have value, and was not put on this earth to begrudgingly exist. No, I was put here to make a meaningful and positive difference in the lives of others. Every book I've read, every class I've attended, and every lesson I've learned was not for me alone. I was blessed with such knowledge so I may use it to bless others. Otherwise, if I keep it to myself, I am being selfish. Yes, I am being unprofessional. To be professional is what I am called to be. To take pride in my work is what I am called to do. Henceforth, I will always ...
