HotelTalk

Moving day!

2009-01-12T14:54:00.008-05:00

We've relocated the HotelTalk blog, as part of our new homepage ... but don't worry, you can find all of our old posts (along with user comments), along with new ones at hotelworldnetwork.com/blog.

Thanks for following HotelTalk, and we look forward to keeping you abreast of all the exciting things that are happening in this industry.

And while you're at it, please take a look around the new HotelWorld Network website. It includes content from four publications: Hotel & Motel Management, Hotel Design, Luxury Hotelier, and The Hotel Times. That, along with original content from our dynamic editorial team, makes this the place to go for comprehensive industry news and analysis.

Hilton to unveil new lifestyle brand

2009-01-09T10:01:00.003-05:00

There's a lot of interesting Hilton Hotels Corp. activity percolating in this new year. We've been hearing for some time that the company is planning an announcement just before the ALIS Conference in San Diego, on January 26th. And now the even larger Hilton announcement that had also been on hoteliers' radars, scheduled for the IHIF Berlin Conference in March, is coming into focus.

Hilton now says that on the evening of Tuesday, March 10th, it will do a global reveal of its new Lifestyle Brand. Early reports are that the event will be in a funky, industrial setting in Berlin. Hilton said in a release this morning that, "Guests of the soiree will experience a journey through the world of the brand amidst an eclectic adventure enlightened with the next generation of hospitality."

There's been almost a blanket of secrecy around Ross Klein's activity at Hilton, after the high-style trendsetter left Starwood and W last year. It will be interesting to see what he and the Hilton team have been working on.

Calling all young leaders!

2009-01-07T08:53:00.004-05:00

IHIF, in conjunction with the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), is introducing the IHIF Young Leader Award.

Please nominate any leaders you know who are:

1.) under 35 years old;

2.) work in a hospitality-related field;

3.) has completed a significant project for their hotel or organization; and

4.) is recognized by leaders, of their hotel or organization, as an emerging leader.

Please click here, print, complete and email back the nomination form. Nominations must be submitted by a sponsor to the ISHC by February 1, 2009.

The recipient of the IHIF Young Leader Award will receive the Award on March 11, 2009 at 10:10 during IHIF. The winner will receive Euros 1,000 and be invited to attend the IHIF.

Judges for the Young Leader Award include:

Andrew Cosslett, Chief Executive Officer, InterContinental Hotels Group

Frank Fiskers, President & CEO, Scandic Hotels

Ed Fuller, President & Managing Director, Marriott International Lodging

Gerald Lawless, Executive Chairman, Jumeirah Group

Chris Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Hotels

Anders Nissen, Chief Executive Officer, Pandox AB

Jean-Gabriel Pérès, President & CEO, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts

Ruud Reuland, General Director, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne

Kurt Ritter, President & Chief Executive Officer, The Rezidor Hotel Group

Roeland Vos, President Europe, Africa & Middle East, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Christian G Windfuhr, Chief Executive Officer, Grand City Holland BV

A real-life hospitality lesson

2009-01-06T14:08:00.004-05:00

Students in the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism at the High School for Enterprise Business and Technology in Brooklyn, N.Y., aren’t just learning about the industry, they’re living it.

And after a recent trip to The Hague, Netherlands, it sounds like some of them may be looking to live it in the long-term.

I have to say, as a former education reporter for a local newspaper, I love hearing about school programs that really captivate students and prepare them for a future career. I think too often we see school districts teach the kids X, Y, Z and then wish them luck on their ways to college, technical school or a first job. But, honestly, did you really know what you wanted to do with your life at 16?

With programs like AOHT, which can be found at more than 110 high schools across the country, some students might have a better chance of figuring that out.

In this case, three members of the school’s faculty took students across the big drink to help them develop a broader perspective and knowledge of international travel and tourism.

“Our students not only get a general education but they learn about the hospitality and tourism industries at the same time,” said Regina Flannery, director of the New York AOHT program, in a press release. “Part of our focus in making this education relevant is having the students interact in the real world of hospitality. That’s why internships and job shadowing events are such a large part of our program. These international trips show our students the importance of the hospitality industry in not just this country but the world.”

While they were there, the students also got to interact with students of the Mondrian College of International Tourism & Leisure Management and talk about the industry. And I’m willing to bet they got a fair amount of information on what being in hospitality school is all about and may be closer to deciding on that same path.

Could these be your future employees? I think it's a pretty good looking bunch.

Zell’s zeal for Starwood deal?

2009-01-06T10:15:00.005-05:00

Sam Zell, the investor who led the deal to take newspaper publisher Tribune Co. private (which turned into a mess last month when Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy), appears to have his next target in mind: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

According to regulatory filings with the SEC on Monday, he increased his stake in Starwood by 7.7 percent to become the company’s second-biggest shareholder.

Starwood signed a confidentiality agreement with Zell's Equity Group Investments LLC last week, according to a regulatory filing.

"We are delighted that you are showing such confidence in the company," Starwood wrote in a letter to Equity Group appended to the filing. "We agree to make available to you ... certain confidential information about the company.”

A Bloomberg report quotes James Corl, chief investment officer for real estate securities at Cohen & Steers, saying that Zell’s emergence as a buyer may signal the commercial real estate market has bottomed.

“It’s a huge data point,” Corl said. “Sam Zell as a seller started the REIT market decline last February and I think Sam Zell as a buyer probably marks the bottom in real estate stocks.”

So readers, any thoughts on what this will mean for Starwood?

How about bets on what consolidation we’ll see in the industry this year?

Looks like 2009 is getting off to a quick start.

Is work ethic affecting hotels?

2009-01-05T11:49:00.005-05:00

A few times in this blog I've advocated hotels offering more niche, fun activities for guests to use, like bocce courts, because I think people like to be afforded time to play, be competitive and social. Well, a dent is starting to form in this theory, which may be a problem for the hotel industry. Mainly, people are apparently playing less and less.

A poll by Harris Interactive shows that Americans are working more (46 hours a week) and playing less (16 hours a week). The time working was a slight increase from this time last year and time playing dipped 20 percent. Recent data from Ypartnership seems to echo this as well, as two-thirds of the likely travelers during the next six months are "staying fewer nights."

It seems the American work ethic is leaving less and less time for American pastimes. In the book "Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America," Tom Lutz makes a good case that we're getting away from the true, healthy work week and are now working way too much and not leaving enough time to play and do nothing. And it appears the numbers are bearing this out. This is a problem for hotels, who obviously need people to go on vacation, play and have fun. The hotel industry will obviously benefit from a stronger economy, but also I think it would benefit from a nice societal shift, back to a less stressful, less workaholic world where people balanced their lives with rest and relaxation.

Someone work on that.

The world's craziest hotel resumes construction

2008-12-30T14:33:00.007-05:00

When crazed dictators say they're going to finish something, chances are they will. No, I'm not talking about Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, it's our old friend Kim Jong-Il's 105-story monstrosity in Pyongyang, North Korea, the Ryugyong Hotel. For those of you unfamiliar with this bizarre piece of architecture, it began construction more than 20 years ago, and has remained as a mostly topped-off concrete shell since about 1992, complete with an unmoving construction crane poised at its pinnacle. Derided in architectural circles, the 1,083-ft structure's unfinished state has been attributed to either North Korea running out of money or to structural problems that were discovered too late in the construction process. Either way, this massive pyramid has loomed over the city's residents ever since.

Now, strangely, as the rest of the world has paused in the midst of this worldwide economic slowdown, North Korea is moving forward with construction on this hotel, something that observers think has been going on for perhaps 6-8 months. Photos on architectural/construction forums and other sites have been showing glass creeping up the side of the building.

In all honestly, I'm not sure of the purpose or necessity of this project. North Korea's restrictive travel policies—not to mention its lack of a relationship with most of the rest of the world—don't exactly encourage many leisure or business travelers. I'm not really one to argue for killing any sort of hotel project, but here's one where I think that money would certainly better be spent elsewhere.

Abrahamson leaves Hyatt for IHG president role

2008-12-16T11:24:00.003-05:00

InterContinental Hotels Group announced today that Jim Abrahamson will be the new president for the Americas Region.
Abrahamson most recently held the position of head of development for the Americas at Global Hyatt Corp. He was responsible for the development and growth of Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites, which both opened their first flagged properties in 2007. Hyatt Place was ranked “Highest in Guest Satisfaction Among Mid-Scale Hotel Chains with Full Service” in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study.
At IHG, Abrahamson will take over for Richard Solomons, who was serving as interim president of the Americas after Stevan Porter died in August. Solomons also serves as finance director for IHG.
More to come here.

ABVI shares its successes with members

2008-12-15T15:54:00.004-05:00

It’s been nine years since the launch of America’s Best Value Inn. And the brand definitely is not worse for wear.

This year brought a record number of applications to join the economy flag, with 100 approved and 75 turned down. Another 61 were eliminated from the system, which stood at 768 members in 2007, because they didn’t make the grade.

And in the end, despite the falling numbers we’ve all become used to when talking about the hospitality industry, ABVI executives were proud to announce one that went up.

“We actually had a good year,” said Patrick Mullinix, VP of development for ABVI, as he noted that the brand has now surpassed the 800-property mark and will begin 2009 with 809 members in its family.

The announcement was made last week during the brand’s 2008 International Educational Conference and Trade Show held at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

And if that number wasn’t high enough, leaders also discussed expansion of the Best Value Inn line of hotels in Canada and China as well as Value Inn Worldwide in North Africa and Dubai. “Every time we put a sign up outside this country, it’s to your benefit. Every sign that goes up is an advertisement for you,” said Bill Hanley, partner and managing director of international development.

Other achievements over the past year were also noted, including an overall increase in reservations by 18 percent and an overall revenue growth of 20 percent.

And because of the value ABVI offers guests as well as the unique membership it provides owners, Bernie Moyle, COO and CFO for ABVI, said it stands to see the same success in 2009 despite the dreary economy.

“Our business model works in good and in challenging times,” Moyle said.

That model also provides members the opportunity each year to meet at the conference and vote on the issues affecting them each day. Here is a rundown of those results:
1) Extending the expiration date for one of the brand's Internet marketing funds: Passed
2) Changing the quality assurance rating system scores for new and existing members: Passed
3) Requiring all employees to wear a logoed shirt and well-maintained clothing while on duty: Passed
4) Increasing the budget for Buddy dolls and other promotional materials: Failed
5) Instituting a policy for a percentage of smoke-free guestrooms: Failed

Check out the Feb. 2 issue of H&MM to read more conference highlights.

The new Fairfield

2008-12-11T10:38:00.005-05:00

Several members of our editorial team were treated to a fantastic tour of the recently renovated Fairfield Inn & Suites in Beachwood, Ohio, an east-side suburb of Cleveland.

Connie Steinwart, director of sales, and Jason Jackson, the GM, showed us around this former Holiday Inn property that has been totally reimagined. Concord Hospitality took the "Green Tea" design option and kicked it up a couple of notches. Impressive features included a wide, welcoming lobby with both ceiling and flooring that sweeps the visitor back into a spacious area, dotted with wide screen televisions, colored LED lighting, plenty of art, and funky seating to boot.

The property has also recently installed a two-story indoor waterslide, sure to be a big selling point, as it is the only hotel waterslide between Erie, Pa. and Sandusky, Ohio. And in the midst of this cold winter we're having, it was tempting to give it a try.

All in all, this certainly isn't the Fairfield of old, with the small, rectangular lobby. I'm glad to see what's happening with this brand, and look forward to seeing the other design options in the near future.

ABVI members get ready to vote

2008-12-10T15:39:00.004-05:00

Smoking policies and staff uniforms will be the topics up for vote tomorrow at Americas Best Value Inn’s annual membership meeting. A unique business model, ABVI considers its owners members in the brand. And that means that at the end of each year, those same members decide what policies they want to be put into place for the coming year, rather than the brand alone making mandates.

And, luckily, they’ve invited me to watch them in action. Today at the ABVI Educational Conference and Trade Show being held at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, I was able to hear what member representatives from different regions of the U.S. had to say about the topics at hand for 2009.

The first on tap was support of maintaining a search engine marketing fund to position ABVI for a stronger digital presence. The issue received overwhelming support from the panel, with Ken Johnson of north central region calling it a “no brainer.” “In fact, I thought why don’t we put more money into this,” Johnson said. Panelists asked that there may be a report system added that would show how much pay per click money was being spent by property or even region.

The group addressed its quality assessment program, which basically rates each property by an A, B, C or D grade. Jordan Langlois, VP of brand management, said about 80 percent of that rating is based on cleanliness. However, some argument to the tactic was heard from those who attributed lower ratings to the economy preventing owners from making capital improvements, while others said it’s important to work with failing properties and not just kick them out of the system. Others called for assessments to be more stringent.

On the topic of uniforms, the groups showed agreement across the board that at least front desk employees should wear shirts distinguishing themselves as ABVI employees, while many others supported that should be extended to all personnel, including maintenance and cleaning workers.

The group also tackled the issue of whether to make ABVI hotels non-smoking. The majority of its membership so far supports allowing the percentage of rooms that will be non-smoking to be left up to the individual property, based upon the customers they have in their region. “What I hear overwhelmingly is leave it at the property’s discretion,” Langlois noted.

We’ll find out tomorrow what the members decide.

Russian review

2008-12-09T16:25:00.002-05:00

For those of you who weren't able to make it to our amazing hotel investment conference in Moscow earlier this year, the Russia & CIS Investment Conference has just released a short recap video. Check it out:

Inauguration builds demand

2008-12-09T11:52:00.006-05:00

Demand for inauguration week hotel rooms has skyrocketed since the election, giving Washington-area hotels (and those as far away as Richmond, Va., and Baltimore, Md.) leverage normally seen during events like the Super Bowl.

Reports say many hotels have doubled or tripled rates. Some hotels are requiring customers to book a four-night minimum while others are collecting payment in advance.

There also are a few stories out there of hotels trying to capitalize on the inauguration excitement by changing the terms of reservations for guests who had booked prior to election night. In this Washington Post story, Emily Durso, president of the Hotel Association of Washington, said, “What you have is a lot of venues that don’t normally face this kind of demand. They're dealing with it for the first time. They were dumb enough to give out rooms over the inauguration dates months ago at a low price. Oops -- now they have to fix it.”

Hotels like the St. Regis Washington, D.C., (pictured above) are building on the excitement with their own events and packages. The St. Regis—located two blocks from the White House—partnered with Neiman Marcus to set up a retail boutique in the hotel’s lobby from Jan. 16-21. An “eye bar” from Yves Saint Laurent Beauté will offer makeup and eyelash application. A Manolo Blahnik shoeshine and bowtie-tying service will help guests prepare for formal functions.

The Hilton Washington offered a $44,000, 4-night package promising guests a behind-the-scenes look at its inaugural ball.

But my favorite story is of the non-profit Stafford Foundation, which bought a $1-million “build your own ball” package at the JW Marriott in Washington. The package includes 300 rooms, four suites and $200,000 worth of F&B at the hotel overlooking the inaugural parade route. The foundation will invite disadvantaged people, homeless people, Hurricane Katrina survivors and wounded soldiers to stay at the hotel and attend its ball.

Sounds like quite the party.

Staybridge hits milestone

2008-12-04T10:42:00.017-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending the Staybridge Suites 10th anniversary event this week — another fine celebration organized by the media team at InterContinental Hotels Group.
The event was held at the first Staybridge property, which opened in December 1998 in Alpharetta, Ga., about 35 minutes north of Atlanta. Many IHG executives were on hand to celebrate the success of Staybridge, an extended-stay brand with 142 properties open currently.

The extended-stay segment intrigues me. I understand the concept: target those travelers who, for one reason or another, need to spend a significant amount of time on the road. But are there really that many travelers that fit the bill? Who spends weeks at a time in a hotel?
I sat down with Rob Radomski, VP of brand management, extended-stay brands, and asked him these very questions.
"Certain types of demand generators provide the business to extended stay," Radomski said, "and it's corporate training, government and military, education — you look for large universities ... large medical centers will provide some of that extended stay as well."
Radomski said IHG has good relationships with many global corporations, so the hotel giant is able to determine where those companies do their training with a phone call.
The Alpharetta Staybridge Suites is located in a corporate market, smack dab in the middle of an office park. Radomski said a nearby medical facility provides a significant amount of extended-stay business.
"For example, even in individual medical offices, they're becoming more technology-based where doctors and nurses will keep their patients' records in the examining room on a portable laptop," Radomski said. "So when this software and all this equipment is installed into an office, there's installation, training, maintenance and refreshing courses that come out. So that has created a whole new set of opportunities for extended stay because you have these individuals that go around and install all this equipment and train on it and support it. It's a new source for extended stay."
At Staybridge, Radomski said the average guest stays eight nights. Twenty-five percent of the business stays more than 30 nights, he said. Therefore, if someone were spending a month in a hotel room, they would need more space and different amenities than the typical transient hotel room.

Also, as part of the celebration, IHG organized an hour-long panel on the state of the extended-stay industry, featuring Staybridge owners and executives who track the success of the extended-stay market. For coverage of that panel, click here.

Don't forget H&MM's live chat with TripAdvisor

2008-12-02T13:57:00.005-05:00

It's the day before our first in a series of webinars we have planned for the coming year, so here's your friendly reminder not to miss out.

Tomorrow, Dec. 3, we have on tap a live chat titled "What can TripAdvisor do for you?" The event will be held at 11 a.m. and all you have to do to take part is register at http://www.hotelmotel.com/TripAdvisorWebinar.

As of now, we have nearly 1,000 people registered to take part. Attendees will hear from executives at TripAdvisor on how reviews are posted, how hoteliers can become involved in the process and how to use listings to a hotel's advantage. There also will be a Q&A session following the presentation.

I hope to see you there.

Join in on the discussions

2008-12-01T09:31:00.004-05:00

We're in the midst of a lot of improvements to our online properties, and I'd like to share the latest with readers of this blog. As a companion of sorts to the HotelTalk Blog, we've launched the HotelTalk Forums, located at www.hotelworldnetwork.com/forums.

These discussion forums are divided into subforums, which include General Discussions, Design, Luxury, Operations/Technology, Sales/Marketing and more. Anyone can view the comments and discussions that are taking place there, although you do have to register to start your own thread or reply to others. Registration is free and it's pretty easy, so I encourage you to do so today.

Click over to the forums, and get involved in this newest part of our online lodging community. See what your colleagues are talking about, and find the answers to your questions from numerous industry experts. I look forward to seeing you there.

Cowardice has no borders

2008-11-26T19:50:00.007-05:00

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the staffs and guests of the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Hotel Oberoi ... as well as all of those affected by the senseless terrorism and violence in Mumbai, India today.

As of 5:30 p.m., Eastern time, the Taj was reporting: "We are monitoring the development of the unfortunate situation unfolding in South Mumbai, in and around our hotel and are fully cooperating with the police and the government authorities to ensure the safety and security of all our guests and staff. That is all we can say at the moment and we would like to channelise all our efforts and energy to ensure a speedy normalisation of the situation as best as we can."

Here is a link to a BBC video on the events: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7751540.stm

Other local and regional sites of interest for the latest news:

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

www.indianexpress.com

www.financialexpress.com

indiatoday.digitaltoday.in

What is Hilton up to?

2008-11-25T16:41:00.002-05:00

There has been a lot of speculation about the press event Hilton is holding at 9 a.m. on the first day of the ALIS conference.

The official release reads:
"Hilton Hotels Corporation press conference to unveil new development concept ...
"One of HHC's core objectives is global growth; The news shared at this ALIS press event will outline impetus for growth and an exciting new product concept designed to meet the needs of an under-represented segment of the market. HHC hits the ground running with owner's at this exclusive media event."

Immediately bloggers began speculating that Hilton will announce its long-rumored lifestyle brand, for which Ross Klein (former Starwood designer credited with W's trendy success) was supposedly hired to help conceive. Others have said Hilton is announcing a mid-priced, extended-stay brand. My favorite was one blogger who guessed the new Hilton lifestyle brand will be called "H" ...

Anyway, kudos to Hilton for keeping us on the edge of our seats. They have a knack for announcing moves at very opportune times, like when they announced the Klein hire on the first day of the NYU Conference. Even more intriguing, ALIS has been a popular medium for introducing new projects (xp by NYLO and Edition in 2008), and ironically this year's ALIS will be held at the newest Hilton property, the San Diego Bayfront.

Got any guesses?

Design firm designs own space

2008-11-25T16:30:00.005-05:00

Had a great tour of the new Silver LEED certified home of mbi k2m Architecture, Inc. in Cleveland's trendy Ohio City neighborhood. Scott Maloney, Director, showed us around the stunningly converted building, which originally housed a casket manufacturer and later, an alternative press weekly. Great materials used throughout and thoughtful use of space are hallmarks of the complex. Some photos ...

Hundreds have registered for TripAdvisor webinar ... How about you?

2008-11-24T13:52:00.009-05:00

The question we here at H&MM have posed to hoteliers around the world is, “What can TripAdvisor do for you?” And it looks like plenty of you want to find out.

As of today, we’ve had nearly 300 people register for our live chat with TripAdvisor to be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3. And if you still need to sign up, all you have to do is go to http://www.hotelmotel.com/TripAdvisorWebinar.

Inspired by a story I wrote on the impact of online reviews for our Nov. 3 special report “An Industry Connected,” we at H&MM came up with the idea to join our readers with the online reviews giant. Our goal was to put together a live chat with you and TripAdvisor to make sure there is an understanding of how reviews are posted, how hoteliers can respond and be a part of the site, and how others are using TripAdvisor listings to their advantage.

On hand we’ll have Brian Payea, trade relations manager for TripAdvisor, and Patricia Oliveira, hotel relations and fraud manager for TripAdvisor.

Payea’s focus at TripAdvisor is on opening communication channels with the travel industry and strengthening ties between the site and the hospitality community. His department is building new tools for hoteliers and other hospitality professionals to take advantage of the wealth of traveler-contributed information on TripAdvisor. Prior to TripAdvisor, Payea led public relations, marketing, government relations and investor relations at Internet companies including Zoom Information and Lycos.

Oliveira has grown TripAdvisor’s hotel relations and fraud team, helping to develop state-of-the-art fraud architecture that has allowed the company to more than double its year-over-year fraud catch rate. Prior to joining TripAdvisor, Oliveira held roles as a client services manager at Boston.com, a sales support manager at the Mathworks, and a customer service manager at Smarterkids.com.

I believe this will be a great event that answers a lot of questions on how online travel communities and user-generated content affect hotels. We’ll start off with a presentation by TripAdvisor and end the hour-long chat with a Q&A session.

Be sure to sign up today. And if you have any questions prior to the webinar, feel free to e-mail me at jkovacs@questex.com or leave a comment here.

Steve Rudnitsky surfaces at Dolce

2008-11-19T15:58:00.003-05:00

This morning Dolce Hotels and Resorts announced it had appointed Steve Rudnitsky president and CEO. He most recently held that position at Wyndham Worldwide's Hotel Group.

Click here for the official news release.

Dolce recently revamped its brand name and logo, and with it come some interesting technological bells and whistles on its home page.

Visit the Dolce home page, www.dolce.com, and click on the icon in the upper right corner labeled "Andy Dolce Speaks to the Future." It's a nice video message announcing Rudnitsky's appointment.

15 minutes with Eric Danziger

2008-11-19T15:45:00.003-05:00

On Monday, Wyndham Worldwide announced the company had hired Eric Danziger, a veteran of more than 30 years in the hotel industry, as the new president and CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group. Click here for the official release announcing Danziger's appointment, which includes his biography.

I spoke with him Monday evening. Here's a short excerpt from that conversation. Stay tuned to future issues of Hotel & Motel Management for a more in-depth report on Danziger's plans for Wyndham Hotel Group.

H&MM: Why come back to hospitality?
E.D.: It’s all I ever did for 30 years. When you spend a lifetime in an industry, it’s a passion. It’s in your blood. I missed it, and that high level of passion for that industry and its people was important to me. What’s more important was matching it with that company that fit well. This opportunity came along … I wanted to work with Steve Holmes, and it's a perfect marriage.

H&MM: You’ve had an impressive career with top hotel companies—Doubletree, Starwood, Carlson, Wyndham, the board at Kimpton. You’ve got a reputation of growing these brands. Stephen Holmes in the press release this morning said one of your best qualities was your ability to diversify and grow businesses. Wyndham is pretty diverse, brand-wise, and it’s pretty large. What are your plans for the group and its brands? To diversify and grow?

E.D.: You grow business by some pretty simple basics, no matter what size you are. If you create dynamic enthusiasm and operating excellence, you will become the brands of choice--the brands to work at, stay at, invest in, have the hotel franchised with. This is a great company populated with heritage brands.

We don’t have to create a new brand. Let’s just figure out, are we doing all the things we should be doing? If not, let’s go do that. That’s what grows any company. It isn’t about a marketing logo, it’s about doing what you say you’re going to do and having people in the company who have no fear of failure. Playing to win and playing not to lose are two different mentalities. We’re playing to win.

Register for H&MM's live chat with TripAdvisor

2008-11-18T11:36:00.010-05:00

Registration is now open for Hotel & Motel Management’s upcoming webinar with leaders from TripAdvisor, the online travel community and reviews giant.

Now all you have to do is sign up at http://www.hotelmotel.com/TripAdvisorWebinar.

The live chat will be at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and will last about an hour. TripAdvisor will run through a presentation on how hoteliers can become more involved with the online reviews process as well as how to use listings on TripAdvisor to their advantage. We’ll wrap things up with a Q&A session, so be sure to jot down some questions you might have on how to enhance your online presence. The webinar will be open to audience members 15 minutes before the start time.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments on what you'd like to learn from TripAdvisor, please feel free to send them my way: jkovacs@questex.com. And I look forward to welcoming you to our live chat!

IH/M&RS associate editor's product award

2008-11-17T13:43:00.005-05:00

The 93rd annual International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show that took place Nov.8-11 was my very first trade show. I was able to meet a lot of people and see a lot of new products. But I personally liked one product more than the others and decided to hand out my first Associate Editor's Product Award. This is a very unofficial product award that is in no way affiliated with the actual editor's choice awards at the show.

My pick goes to The Executive from High Definition Golf. It is an indoor golf simulator that is designed for luxury hotels and destinations. I'm a big proponent of hotels offering unique gaming and entertainment amenities to enhance a stay and make a property stand out, and I think this product could be a great addition to any property that has the extra spending money. (Which properties fall under that category nowadays is unclear.)

The Executive also is more than a sharp-looking golf simulator. It has HDMI inputs so it can be used as a movie or TV screen. Golf and TV—that is a winning combo in my book.

For those interested in the actual Editor's Choice product award winners, here's the list:

Decor- LG's Stretch Screen
Green Decor - Cintas' Eco-friendly Suiting Collection
Essentials- HydroClean Toilet Fill Valve
Green Essential- The Sugar Cane Paper Company's Biodegradable Standard Roll Tissue
Luxury- LG's ART COOL Picture
Green Luxury - Valley Forge Fabric's LIVING FRESH bedding collection
Restaurant- Safe Ice Handling System
Green Restaurant- The Sugar Cane Paper Company's Premium Dinner Napkins
Technology- Raycop anti-bacterial handheld vacuum
Green technology- GohBio 1001, a high-speed food waste decomposition system.

For more information on the editor's choice product winners, check out the Dec. 8 issue of Hotel & Motel Management.

In the clink

2008-11-13T21:26:00.004-05:00

I'm in Boston this week at the Leading Hotels of the World annual conference. Boston has three Leading properties: the Taj Boston, the Langham, Boston and The Liberty Hotel. We have heard a lot about The Liberty, and that's where this evening's welcome reception was held. The former Charles Street Jail has been transformed into a stylish, warm, jailhouse-themed hotel, complete with bars on the windows and an event staff dressed in orange prison jumpsuits.

More tomorrow from the conference.

How bad will it be?

2008-11-13T13:56:00.004-05:00

This morning I received my Autumn 2008 edition of Hospitium’s The Lodging Ledger. It was no surprise that the majority of this quarter’s analysis focused on the economy, with a spotlight on a few large luxury transactions that have managed to trade, along with some other more gloomy figures.

But then I got to the section “Throwing Darts at 2009 Projections,” and then to its subhead “Bad or Really Bad?” I couldn’t help but release a sigh and solemn “oh no.” Can it really be worse than what we thought? It looks like Hospitium thinks so.

The firm took a look at forecasts made recently by the experts we all know: Smith Travel Research, PKF Hospitality Research and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The numbers focused on occupancy, ADR and RevPAR estimates for the coming year. While some were similar, for the most part they all differed. Here’s a quick rundown of the 2009 projections that Hospitium analyzed: STR predicts occupancy at -3.5%, ADR at +1.0% and RevPAR at -2.5%; PFK predicts occupancy at -4.4%, ADR at +1.3% and RevPAR at -3.2%; and PwC predicts occupancy at -3.5%, ADR at -2.4% and RevPAR at -5.8%.

To see who might have a leg up on anticipating what could happen next year, Hospitium decided to pull out the same numbers forecasted for 2002, months after the 9/11 attacks. According to The Lodging Ledger, it turned out PwC was most accurate on the drop in occupancy, and PKF accurately forecasted the dip in ADR. However, each turned out to be overly optimistic in the end.

So, Hospitium asked the same question that came to my mind, and probably to yours right now: Are forecasts today once again too hopeful?

Here’s what The Lodging Ledger said: “Based on analysts’ outlooks as well as guidance from many of the public hotel companies, the projections appear to once again underestimate the impact of the economic turmoil. The current state of the economy is far worse than what we experienced in the prior recession. The prior downturn was relatively short and shallow. This downturn is far-reaching, hitting a broad range of industries. Despite the amount of assistance pledged by the government to keep financial institutions afloat, assist with mortgage workouts, and maintain some level of economic stability, the lodging industry is just beginning to see the impact.”

The report goes on to state that due to the softening expected in leisure as well as corporate and group travel, this downturn will be a bit different than what we’ve seen before.

However, Hospitium further stated that some best practices can be taken from what was done between 2001 and 2003 to reduce financial stress, including cost-cutting to eliminate non-essential spending, reduce labor and limit capital projects. “While net income will obviously decline across all sectors of the industry in 2009, reducing expense burdens will hopefully keep companies fiscally sound through this recession as well,” the report states.

I’m guessing that’s pretty sound advice … especially if the “bad” actually does become “really bad.”

Ribbon cutting

2008-11-12T22:10:00.007-05:00

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony this evening at the new Four Points by Sheraton SoHo-Village in New York City, and it was a grand event. The design of the property was impressive, and the rooms were stunning. Especially memorable were the 21st floor suites, which feature two-story high angled windows ... complete with a beautiful view of part of the New York skyline. Photos from the event follow.

Dear TiVo, Welcome to the guestroom

2008-11-12T16:00:00.005-05:00

When my college roommates and I first got our digital video recording service in the fall of 2005, I knew my life had been changed forever. Similar to when I got a cell phone, getting a DVR was something that once I had it, I knew I couldn't live without it. No longer did I have to wait up until 11 to watch "The Daily Show," and no longer did I have to coordinate class schedules around "The Price is Right." I became a slave to the DVR for the first few days, setting up season passes for at least 12 different shows; but after the initial setup, it did all the work for me.

Today, although my full-time job consumes much of my time, I still record about four hours of television per day and dedicate much of my night and my weekends to consuming the smut. (Don't worry—with DVR, these four hours easily become about three hours and 24 minutes of actual viewing time; even less if the show recorded is "Deal or No Deal," which I can watch in all of about eight minutes.)

Nonetheless, I hate when I have to travel because my work (or leisure) schedule doesn't accommodate my TV watching—and I hate being gone for a week and coming home to a filled DVR!

But now, TiVo—a digital video recording provider—is entering the hospitality realm. According to an article on Reuters, TiVo will install its devices in Morgans Hotel Group's new luxury hotel in South Beach, Fla. I was thrilled to see that, if by chance I happen to stay at the one hotel in the country that offers this service, I can set a DVR up before I head out to record my shows and watch them at my leisure.

I actually am shocked that this hasn't been introduced in more hotels—after all, I've always thought that a hotel aims to offer you things that you have at home, if not better amenities than your home offers.

I am hopeful that this trend will catch on because I believe this is one way you can truly create a great guest experience—for me, at least.

But does this prove too costly a venture? What could the downfalls of it be? The negative consequences of a DVR are up for debate.

H&MM visits relaunched Holiday Inn

2008-11-10T13:55:00.009-05:00

After attending the InterContinental Hotels Group conference in September in Los Angeles, where the Holiday Inn brands and their relaunch efforts took center stage, I wanted an additional perspective.
At the conference, John Merkin, SVP of brand management for Holiday Inn, said there was a real sense of optimism from owners and employees about upgrading their properties. Merkin said he understood some concerns, most notably the cost of items (up to $120,000 for Holiday Inn Express signs and $150,000 for Holiday Inn signs alone), but everyone promised big returns on investment.
But what was the buzz at the properties themselves? How much of a difference did the upgrades really make, and how inconvenient was the renovation process?
Luckily, a Holiday Inn Select in Strongsville, Ohio -- about 20 minutes from Hotel & Motel Management's editorial offices in Cleveland -- had recently went through the transition. Joe Isernia, GM at the property, took a few minutes of his time to show me around and answer some questions. Below you'll find a slideshow of images from the Strongsville Holiday Inn and a Q&A with Mr. Isernia:

Property Holiday Inn Strongsville :: Owner Lodgian
General Manager Joe Isernia :: No. of rooms 303

H&MM: When did the renovations take place?
Isernia: August 25 to August 29, 2008.

H&MM: What have you done and what is left to be done?
Isernia: We replaced both of our exterior signs and added exterior lighting onto the building. We added green ashtrays and garbage receptacles, new potted plants, new exterior benches, added window tinting to the front lobby doors, a lobby scent machine, and a new digital sound machine in the lobby. We installed new Holiday Inn lights and a scripted sign behind the front desk. In the rooms, we installed a curved shower rod with a new, white shower curtain, new bath amenities with a display. We added completely new bed linens with four pillows (two soft and two firm) with pillow tags and upgraded terry products in the bathroom. We are all done with the new hallmarks.

H&MM: Approximately how much did the renovations cost?
Isernia: $330,000.

H&MM: How long was the IHG team at the property?
Isernia: Six days.

H&MM: What were the easiest and most difficult parts of the upgrade?
Isernia: The easiest was the lobby scent machine; the hardest was the bed linens -- that part was time consuming.

H&MM: In your opinion, what upgraded area makes the biggest difference to the guest?
Isernia: The bed and bath linen; they can feel the upgraded product.

H&MM: How will the improvements help you stand out among your competitive set?
Isernia: Keeps us more competitive with our new logo and upgraded guestroom standards.

H&MM: Describe the QA training process, and how did your employees respond?
Isernia: The employees went through a service training workshop from our human resource manager -- five components on service training for the new hallmarks.

H&MM: Will the renovations allow you to increase rates?
Isernia: It will make us more competitive with our competition.

Will the EESA stabilize the industry?

2008-11-06T21:30:00.003-05:00

Although many people view the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 as a bailout for Wall Street, its effects will be widespread and likely will directly affect the hotel industry, according to faculty from the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University. Three faculty members—Bjorn Hanson, Frederic B. Mayo and Donna Quadri-Felitti—were panelists on a podcast released today titled "The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and Its Effect on the Lodging Industry." (To listen to the podcast in full, click here.)

The EESA was enacted on Oct. 3 in response to the meltdown of Wall Street financial institutions. The act was divided into three sections: the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 and the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act. The first section, with its 43 provisions, was the main driver of the podcast and will have the largest effect on the lodging industry. (To download a summary of each of the 43 points, as well as other information, click here.)

"It is one of the most far-reaching interventions in the last 70 years and certainly the most broad-reaching in this century," said Mayo, clinical professor at the Tisch Center.

"There are no specific provisions in the act that relate directly to lodging or the travel industry, but the act will create investment opportunities for our industries," Hanson, clinical associate professor at NYU Tisch Center, said. "As the government acquires troubled assets in the form of mortgages and related instruments, there will be hotel mortgages in the pool." Because of the act's provisions, commercial mortgages—including those for hotels and travel-related businesses—issued before March 14, 2008, are eligible for acquisition.

"The nature of this act and its administration indicate that there may be some important opportunities to purchase mortgages with positive underlying value, purchase mortgages that are returning positive returns relative to the price paid to acquire the mortgages, purchase mortgages and foreclose as an approach to gaining ownership, or to purchase mortgages for resale based on repackaging or waiting for more favorable market conditions," Hanson said. (Check the Treasury website for updates.)

Additionally, some of the money from the act, namely the first $250 billion, already has been injected into the market, said Quadri-Felitti, clinical assistant professor at the Tisch Center. "The initial phase of the $250-billion package is just now beginning to flow into the market. However, some immediate reactions to the actual signing of the legislation were noticeable. These include a surge in the U.S. dollar as foreign investors began buying U.S. treasury debt once the law passed. While the dollar had been recovering from its July ’08 historic low against the euro, since Oct. 1, it has gained approximately 13 percent and, for the year, 22 percent. A similar pattern of recovery is seen against the pound."

The strengthening of the U.S. dollar is bittersweet—although it signals a slight turnaround some time in the future, it also could harm cities that have become dependent on foreign travelers, such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami, Quadri-Felitti said. "Replacing the value of the long-haul foreign traveler is going to be challenging. Nearly every segment will see contractions," she said.

And in the rest of the country, it may not get much better any time soon, with consumer confidence at an all-time low of 38.0 and corporate travel in an emergency freeze state for some companies. "Owners will, in the short term, experience flattened profits and operators will be tested to implement creative ways to reduce expenses," Quadri-Felitti said. "Third-party distribution partners and all stakeholders will need to consider the value of every relationship as well as each relationship’s contribution to the fiscal health of the other."

But the act ultimately will be good for the industry and the economy as a hole, she said, noting it will bring liquidity to the market and has already eased the credit crunch, among other yet-unseen benefits. "This time, perhaps those with successful track records that span more than one cycle will be best situated to capitalize on the coming availability of hotel properties as well as the available debt and capital that will eventually be right-priced as the correction settles," Quadri-Felitti said.

Next up ... Macau

2008-11-06T14:51:00.002-05:00

Questex Media, our parent company, owns two popular international investment conferences, the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) held in Berlin; and the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference, which just wrapped up in Moscow a couple of weeks ago.

Just today, we announced that a third exciting show is being launched in 2009: IHIF Asia Pacific, to be held in Macau, June 8-10, 2009.

“The launch of IHIF Asia Pacific is a perfect fit based on the emerging Asian markets and our mission to serve the hotel investment community through the development of leading investment conferences,” said Liz Crawford, global director, IHIF and hotel events for Questex. “The conference will address the enormous potential for hotel investors, developers, operators and consultants around the world, especially in the Asia Pacific region where there is positive upswing in tourism dollars as well as projects in the pipeline. IHIF Asia Pacific will cover all the major regions in Asia and provide key decision makers with first-class networking opportunities and conference programming about the continuing shift of economic power to the Asian market so vital to their future success in hotel investment.”

The conference is scheduled for the much-talked about Venetian Macau Resort Hotel. It is sponsored by CB Richard Ellis Hotels Group and by media sponsors such as our own Hotel & Motel Management, Hotel Design, Luxury Hotelier and The Hotel Times magazines.

This will certainly be one of the “must attend” events in 2009, and we look forward to seeing you there. More details will follow in the coming months.

A good night for hotels in Chicago

2008-11-05T08:45:00.002-05:00

Tuesday night, Nov. 5, was a good night for hotels in and around Chicago, where Barack Obama held what turned out to be his presidential victory party in Grant Park. Across the country, John McCain held his election-night event at the Arizona Biltmore, a resort the hotel industry knows very well as host of the annual Lodging Conference.

Two stories that caught my eye this morning focus on Chicago hotel occupancy. Check out this post from Washington Wire, The Wall Street Journal's political blog. About half of one prominent hotel overlooking the Grant Park celebration was booked by Chicago residents, the GM said.

Then look at this article from the Chicago Tribune, talking about how many local families made a night of it, staying overnight in hotels to experience the excitement of an election.

Finally, I really enjoyed this story posted on KTAR.com, an Arizona talk-radio program Web site. It's all about how the staff at the Biltmore prepared for the election-night party.

What's your reaction to the election? E-mail me here with your thoughts.

Marriott celebrates its business brand

2008-10-30T22:41:00.010-04:00

Bill Marriott, chairman and CEO of Marriott International, praised the use of space at the new Courtyard Newport News (Va.) Airport hotel, which hosted the brand’s 25th anniversary celebration. The hotel showcases the brand's new lobby and exterior design and refreshed guestroom design. Marriott said he never imagined when the first Courtyard opened that there would be 800 hotels to follow.

When asked about the timing of the redesign, Marriott said, “If you need the opportunity to drive rate, this will give it to you.”

Research found that guests would pay a $10-$15 premium for hotels with the new lobby, said Brian King, VP, global brand manager for Courtyard by Marriott. “We've seen a 27 percent lift in intent to recommend and intent to return scores from our customers."

King hopes to have 500 properties with the new lobby or elements of it by 2011. Courtyard worked closely with its franchise advisory board on the new design. “We’re not just going to throw things out there and say, ‘Do it,'” he said. “What makes this manageable is that it is a kit of parts. Regardless of footprint, we can get the concept in there.”

A new interior design package for guestrooms has a global inspiration that aims to be modern, warm and approachable. Tubs have been taken out of plans for most bathrooms in favor of glass showers. Cost per key will remain about $87,000.

Dilip Desai, senior managing partner for LTD Management Co., which owns and operates the Newport News property, said during his seven years on the Courtyard FAC, Marriott and the owners give and take. “That’s what I like about Marriott. We are the owners and they are listening to us,” he said.

Marriott International will open 30,000 rooms this year and has another 30,000 in the pipeline for 2009. The majority of them already are financed, Marriott said. “We’re good through ’09, and hopefully things [with the economy] will start to turn around by then,” he said.

For a Marriott video of the anniversary event, click here.

Join H&MM for a live chat with TripAdvisor

2008-10-30T15:09:00.008-04:00

TripAdvisor reports that three reviews and opinions are posted to its website every minute of every day. And with nearly 20 million having been contributed so far, chances are your hotel can be found there.

As the largest online travel community, TripAdvisor has become a trusted brand for travelers who seek out information vital to helping them plan their trips. They’re not only reading reviews that very well may sway whether they book a room at your hotel, but they’re posting them, too.

I spoke to a number of hoteliers for our Nov. 3 issue about the trend of online reviews, asking them how seriously they take them, what measures are in place to monitor them and how they respond. Some operate in-house and others work with vendors, but all said they pay attention.

Executives from TripAdvisor, however, told me only a small percentage of hoteliers take advantage of the ways they can actually become involved in the site, whether that be signing up for alerts when new reviews are posted about their properties or posting updated hotel descriptions or photos.

So we here at H&MM thought it was time to have both sides sit down and talk.

Join us at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3 for a live online chat with TripAdvisor. Learn how reviews are posted, what steps you can take to be a part of the community and how other hoteliers are using TripAdvisor listings to their advantage.

To be alerted when registration is open, all you have to do is text 806F732 to 64842, and I’ll also keep you posted right here on HotelTalk.

Leisure travelers trading down, not out

2008-10-30T13:58:00.005-04:00

The Travel Industry Association hosted a conference call today to present its 2009 Travel Forecast, and the news seemed surprisingly upbeat, at least compared to other forecasts we've been seeing.

Peter Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership, reported the October results for the latest Traveler Sentiment Index, which gauges consumers’ interest in leisure travel and their perceived ability to travel. The TSI identified 60 percent of American households as travel households, and from that 60 percent, travelers rated their opinions on six measures. Three of the measures— perceived safety, quality of service and affordability—were rated highly among respondents, with affordability being up dramatically from July (39.1 to 53.1). The other three measures—perceived time to travel, interest in travel and availability of money to travel—dragged the rating down and implied the age old factors of time and money are big issues in the current lull.

The interesting aspect of the numbers is they remained largely unchanged from the TSI done earlier in July, with some numbers getting a boost, which means whatever the impact of the current economic downturn, the leisure market may have already bottomed out.

According to Yesawich, the increase in promotions and deals has led to the higher perception of affordability. "Value is king to the consumer, demonstrated by those saying they want to travel and are looking to do so differently. Three-fourths expect to book some inclusively priced vacation or a packaged vacation," Yesawich said. "People want to know the cost before departure. Managing a budget is important."

Six out of 10 travelers plan to comparison shop for prices, which is an all-time high in the TSI numbers. "People are defaulting to the online world to look at immediate promotional offers," Yesawich said. A growing trend is the all-inclusive trip, which travelers have been looking for more and more.

Another component in this slight increase in consumer confidence (which dropped to a 15-year low in July) is the drop in gas prices, which re-energizes the car trip and helps destinations with close proximity to large populations.

However, as always, there is a downside to this news. This increases a potential need to drop rates in order to draw the budget-conscious travelers, who often chase deals instead of destinations. Also, seven of 10 respondents plan to stay fewer nights on trips. And more remote destinations aren't helped as much by the lower gas prices.

Bottom line, leisure travelers still say they are going to travel—it just might be down the chain scale and for fewer nights.

Courtyard turns 25, unveils new lobby

2008-10-29T22:04:00.015-04:00

The Courtyard by Marriott brand celebrated its 25th anniversary with the grand opening of its first new-build property to boast the redefined lobby. The Courtyard Newport News (Va.) Airport hotel, which is owned and operated by LTD Management Co. of Chesapeake, Va., is the first of a dozen that will have the new lobby this year. In 2009, 150-175 new-builds or renovations will showcase the new lobby design in whole or in part. The Newport News property also is the first Courtyard to feature the new exterior look and the refreshed guestroom design. Click here for video.

Dilip Desai, senior managing partner for LTD Management Co., says his company wanted to be the first new-build to roll out the lobby redesign. In fact, the hotel was already under construction when he saw the full-scale model, but he was so impressed with the plans that LTD worked with the architect, Jonathan Nehmer + Associates, to make the changes.

The design of the lobby is centered on a concept Marriott has been working on for several of its brands in the past couple of years—a lobby where guests can get out of their rooms to gather with colleagues or enjoy “public privacy.” This means a lot of different seating configurations, all of which are “laptop friendly,” according to Brian King, VP, global brand manager for Courtyard by Marriott. Instead of guests meeting by the elevator to go out to dinner, they can meet at the lobby bar and have a drink first. And that lobby bar becomes a coffee bar in the morning.

One of the centerpieces of the lobby is the GoBoard (similar to Microsoft Surface in Sheraton Hotels & Resorts), a 52-inch LCD touch screen with local information, maps, weather and news headlines. Guests can navigate using the touch screen to find a restaurant and then get directions.

Guests without a laptop have plenty of options. A business library features three computer terminals with a free printer and three separate computer stations for printing boarding passes. There also are books for guests to borrow. High-definition TVs are everywhere you look with several large screens in communal seating areas and smaller TVs with remote controls in booths. King joked that a remote is all it takes to make people happy. The “courtyard” area—in this case a patio—has cushy seating circling fire pits.

A new F&B concept replaces the Courtyard buffet with more made-to-order and ready-made options and puts F&B “in the center,” King says. “Food sends a signal about gathering, sharing, shedding the day,” King says.

This has a similar feel to Hyatt Place, where you can get something hot to eat in the lobby and work on your laptop or watch a little TV before heading to your room for the night—but the Courtyard lobby seems a lot roomier. Starwood's aloft brand also is focusing on its large lobbies with lots of seating configurations, a bar, a pool table, board games and a DJ that spins on certain nights. These options—especially for business travelers—give guests a reason to venture out of their rooms and interact, or at least feel less lonely. And that’s exactly the point. As it says on the Courtyard keycard: “The lock on your room is not meant to keep you in there.”

Marriott is betting on this redesign to increase guest satisfaction and, in terms of revenue, make the lobby do a little more to earn its keep. The company spent $2 million on research that said guests want this, and several other brands also are embracing the lobby. Will guests do likewise? Let us know what you think.

Lexus Hybrid Living Suites Q & A

2008-10-27T21:49:00.001-04:00

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts teamed up with Lexus this summer to offer a package called the Lexus Hybrid Living Suites at two of its hotels. Guests staying in this suite will get the keys to a Lexus LS 600h L during their stay. It's an interesting partnership that could benefit both companies. Fairmont Washington, D.C., GM George Terpilowski definitely sees the deal's upside.

Q. Where did this Lexus Hybrid Suite idea come from?
A. Lexus approached Fairmont because both companies have a proven track record of leadership in terms of environmental stewardship. We share a commitment to a sustainable lifestyle and responsible operations but also to providing luxury experiences for our guests and customers. For both companies, this partnership allows us to offer new, stylish experiences that are unique tour our brands.

Q. Have you had a partnership like this before?
A.We have not had such a comprehensive partnership that reaches so many guest touch points - from in-room and in-hotel guest stays, to direct marketing vehicles as well as events where attendees experience the brands, the partnership yields rich opportunities to showcase the brands to a wide audience.

Q. How exactly is the deal with Lexus set up?
A. The partnership evolved quite naturally. We both saw an opportunity to leverage programs that we were working on independently that were an excellent fit.

Lexus' Hybrid Living initiative, a series of events and a web portal that showcases luxury products made with sustainability top-of-mind, is helping to define and inspire a new eco-luxury lifestyle by featuring furniture, fashion, art, food, architectural structures and other products that are kinder to the environment. The Lexus Hybrid Living program brings together like-minded individuals and companies, such as Fairmont.

Also, we were working on our own "signature suites," a collection of themed suites that provide a guest experience that goes beyond the room. These specialty suites are designed to reflect the destination through their décor, amenities and often activities in conjunction with local partners.

Fairmont was interested in partnering with a US luxury automotive partner. Fairmont has had a lot of success increasing brand awareness and loyalty by offering its guests access to exclusive offers and enhanced service offerings through its partnerships such as Saks Fifth Avenue and EMI Music. Lexus undoubtedly had a lot to offer Fairmont guests - who also share its commitment to living well with a conscience.

Q. Are there any rules for guests that drive the car? What are they?
A. Yes, they are clearly stated in the waiver forms provided to each guest.

Q. How is the insurance handled?
A. Fairmont and Lexus have worked this out as part of the overall corporate partnership, which also involves 16 Transportation cars.

Q. Does it cost you extra, is it something the driver signs off on, is it something Lexus deals with?
A. No. This is part of the Lexus/Fairmont corporate partnership agreement.

Q. Was there any concern about these safety issues before implementing this amenity?
A. Yes. However, Lexus has had years of experience with these programs and has provided an important safety and liability framework for Fairmont.

Q. Why is this something guests will want?
A. The typical guest who would be interested in the Lexus Hybrid Living Suite at The Fairmont Washington, D.C., is one who knows that you do not have to forgo style and comfort while making eco-friendly choices. They would also share a commitment to environmental stewardship.

The well-educated consumer is very savvy about what companies are doing. In turn, I think businesses are certainly consciously marketing their "green" attributes. The reality is it's a hot topic right now, but from our perspective…it's been something we've been committed to for over 17 years. Regardless of trends, commitment to the environment is really part of our company DNA

Q. What is the gas situation? If the guests drive it a lot, are they to inform you that they need to fill up, or is it up to the guest?
A. This is our responsibility. We check the car daily, and make sure it has gas.

Q. When does this service end?
A. The Lexus Hybrid Living Suite will be part of The Fairmont Washington, D.C. indefinitely. All packages are good through the end of the year, and then they are reviewed for revisions and updates for the following year.

Down but not out

2008-10-23T14:55:00.004-04:00

Lodging Econometrics today released its anticipated Q3 2008 report on the U.S. hotel industry. The picture isn't pretty. It basically confirms what most of us have expected: hotel construction projects are down and scheduled starts are taking a nosedive. The report details the impact the lending crisis and the softening economy is having on developer sentiment, transaction volume and selling prices.

Among the report's highlights:

The total construction pipeline for the U.S. stood at 5,652 projects/740,272 guestrooms as of the end of Q3. Pipeline counts are down, quarter-over-quarter, 4 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
Declines were modest in the "under construction" and "early planning" stages. Declines were significant in the "scheduled starts in the next 12 months". A number of projects actually migrated backwards into "early planning".
Construction starts in Q3 were down for the second quarter in a row, while cancellations and postponements of projects already in the pipeline increased for the third consecutive quarter.

However, all isn't doom and gloom. The report finds that leading hotel companies and brands in the U.S. have strong development pipelines. Including both new construction and conversions, Marriott, Hilton and InterContinental each have pipelines in excess of 100,000 rooms. Keep your fingers crossed they remain committed to these projects.

Russia shows promise amongst the financial angst

2008-10-22T03:38:00.003-04:00

The Russian hotel market will not escape the current global economic crisis unharmed, but panelists here at the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference felt that is was better positioned than other areas of the world.

Dr. Daniel Thorniley, SVP, The Economist Group, right, warned attendees about 2009.

“It unfortunately, is going to be the worst business and economic year globally in the last 10 years, and perhaps the last 25, and perhaps the last 50. That very much depends on inter-bank lending. … I think the best case [gross domestic product] for Russia in 2009 will be about 5.5 percent [growth], the mid-case might be about 5 percent, and the worst case—depending on the world—might be just over 4 percent.”

Thorniley said that a 4 percent GDP growth would be painful for Russia, but hoteliers needed to realize that China’s growth will plummet from 10 percent to perhaps 7.5 percent, and even those numbers will be 5 to 10 times what Western Europe and the U.S. will see. He said that the U.S.’s mid-case is zero growth, its worst case is -1 or -2 percent growth and the U.K. is looking at a very tough next 12-18 months.

Arthur de Haast, global CEO, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, noted that hotel transactions through September 2008 are down 70 percent from 2007, and what had been a slow and moribund market has died. But he said that 2008 will still be better than in the wake of 9/11 and the 1997 Asian economic crisis.

“We have experienced periods like this before, and we will see improvement going forth,” said de Haast.

Thorniley feels that the next 18 months in Russia will be tough, but there is a silver lining of schadenfreude.

“However tough business will be in Russia and Central Europe over the next 18 months, you can always be happier that somebody doing business in Germany or France or Spain or Japan or America or Latin America will be doing much worse,” said Thorniley.

Best Western gets aloha spirit

2008-10-21T18:00:00.003-04:00

Even with the global economy facing historic challenges and consumer confidence taking a wipeout, “Best Western will continue to grow and prosper,” Dave Francis, chairman of the board for Best Western International, assured the 2,500 attendees at the 2008 convention at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. “Why? Because we are the owners of this company.”

With that comes responsibility for the guest impressions of over 400,000 guests every night, Francis said. He encouraged members to participate in the company’s direction by voting and attending regional meetings.

The soothing Hawaiian trade winds helped take some of the edge off, but talk during breaks kept returning to holding rates steady, especially with neighboring hotels higher on the chain scale dropping theirs.

“Learn from the past,” said David Kong, president and CEO (pictured with convention attendees during a break). “The worst thing to do is panic and cut rates.”

In the past 30 years, occupancy declined 16 times, ADR declined twice and RevPAR declined only three times, Kong said, and discounting rates indiscriminately likely will cause a RevPAR drop. “Yield management is more important than ever.”

While many hotel companies are focusing on product, BWI will focus on customer service, Kong said. The national advertising campaign features the members as what makes the hotels special.

Dorothy Dowling, senior VP of marketing and sales, told attendees to not just ride the waves of change but to rock them. She said steps to face the economic headwinds will include new approaches for more leisure and corporate wins, which includes the launch of Best Western Business Plus, and loyalty program improvement, including a new name: Best Western Rewards (formerly Gold Crown Club International). The company also is spending a whopping $43 million on advertising, a move Kong called contrarian.

Ron Pohl, VP of brand quality and member services, talked about short-term initiatives that will move BW to its long-term goal of becoming the preferred brand in its tier. Improving the breakfast presentation, more training for guest satisfaction and green initiatives are on the list.

Congrats on a solid career choice

2008-10-21T11:28:00.005-04:00

Lucky for you, you're in the right industry.

According to a featured article on Yahoo! Education, hotel management is one of the six categories of jobs with the best perks, along with marketing managers, network administrators, pharmaceutical sales reps, broadcast or sound technician and aircraft mechanic.

Why?

"If you work for a major hotel chain, expect complimentary or deeply reduced prices for lodging and tourism excursions for you and your family-and not just at the properties you represent. Job prospects are good, too, with business travel and vacationing remaining strong despite rising fuel costs and economic stagnation."

In our upcoming Nov. 3 issue, we offer H&MM's fourth annual general managers' survey, which highlights concerns, benefits and myriad other aspects of being in management. Pick up your copy in a couple of weeks—it's got plenty of interesting information, and it also let's you see how you, your wages and your vacation time stack up.
Anyway, kudos to you all for picking a solid—and perk-full—career. We trade journalists are awaiting our day.

The fine line between the hotel industry and college football

2008-10-21T08:55:00.011-04:00

While researching my article for our "An Industry Connected" package about the Internet's role in the hotel industry (coming in the Nov. 3 issue of Hotel & Motel Management), I wanted to learn more about the relationships between hotel companies and third-party booking sites, and from what I gather, it is very similar to college football.

You see, I'm a big Ohio State football fan. I live and die with every Buckeyes game. And everyone knows our biggest rival is the Michigan Wolverines—some would say it's the biggest rivalry in sports. They don't like us; we don't like them. But the business of college football changes the dynamic of the rivalry, at least from my perspective, and draws an interesting parallel to the role online travel agents play in a hotel's online strategy.

College football success lies largely in your team's competition. If the other Big Ten (Ohio State's conference) teams lose constantly and are considered weak by the media and by fans, then Ohio State, regardless of the team's quality, is then considered weak and none of our conference wins are viewed as impressive. In other words, Ohio State needs Michigan, its fiercest and closest competition, to succeed. That's why, other than when the Wolverines play against the Buckeyes, I root for the Wolverines to win. It's in my team's best interests in the long run.

This also seems to be the relationship hotel companies have with sites like Expedia, Orbitz or Priceline.

"Initially we looked at them as competition, especially after 9/11 because rates plummeted, but now it's more of a partnership because guests will book there and we need to be there," said Karmela Gaffney, managing director of advertising and e-commerce at Best Western. "We’d much rather have them book at Best Western than say a competitor. In some respects it’s a partnership. It’s a friendlier rivalry."

"Competition or partners? Yes," said George Corbin, VP of e-commerce at Marriott International. "There's a vital role to be played with [online travel agents] ... we want to be on the shelf wherever our customers shop. They can provide us with need-time business we wouldn't normally get and access to markets [we wouldn't normally have]."

"Initially, they were [competition]. People feared them taking away from their bookings, but they are our partners, and intricate to this whole online booking medium," said Isaac Gerstenzang, director of e-commerce for Destination Hotels. "You need to develop partnerships with them. It's just another extension of your hotel. Expedia has their loyal guests and if someone goes there every time, I want them to still come to my hotel. I would prefer if they came here, but Expedia and Travelocity have created a huge brand awareness for themselves."

Ultimately, a hotel wants guests to book through its site. That's why these hotels are pumping more money and time into their websites and online research. They want guests to think of them when booking a trip. They want guests to trust their site and their brand above all else. But true success comes from working with OTAs. These third-party sites book a ton of trips, and being partners with them, and becoming visible on another channel, furthers a hotel's business.

It's like rooting for Penn State to be undefeated UNTIL this coming Saturday—it's just good business.

(Go Bucks!)

Boost Web presence for free

2008-10-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

By now, we are aware that reading online reviews is an important part of booking a hotel stay. Both positive and negative comments can have an impact on a potential guest. One company has taken this concept a step further and provided an opportunity to not only read about the hotel, but to view all it has to offer before even stepping foot in the lobby.
TVtrip allows travelers to watch a video of what a hotel looks like, inside and out, before booking.
"It's certainly a big step in the way that people are shopping for hotels," said Steve Stollerman, VP, North America.
In the same respect that TVtrip can benefit the traveler, it can also help hoteliers boost their online presence for free by allowing a professional photographer to shoot video of the property and post it online.
Founders of TVtrip come from the Internet travel industry, many from Expedia, and they were able to identify a missing niche. While there is an increasing amount of user-generated hotel footage on the Web, Stollerman said TVtrip provides professionally edited, consistent content.
"We shoot the video in a very unbiased and transparent way," he said.
Hoteliers do have veto rights if they don't like the video results. In many cases, TVtrip will return to the property and re-shoot.
TVtrip works with freelance cameramen all over the world. Since leaving their beta site in 2007, they have gathered and uploaded video from nearly 2,000 hotels, mostly in Europe. Now they are actively shooting in Asia and U.S. and will launch a Chinese version of their website soon. Nearly 200 U.S. hotels have been filmed and plans for 1,500 more are in the works.
"There are hotels all over the world that we would love to get to," Stollerman said. "Hoteliers love the fact that we film their site for free, especially in this economy. That's not an offer that's going to last forever."
TVtrip operates on an affiliation business model. This allows them to shoot and produce video at no cost to the hotelier. Instead, they generate revenue by charging commission if a guest books a room through a third-party or brand booking engine after being referred from TVtrip.com. They also host advertising on the site.
If you are interested in partnering with TVtrip to have your hotel filmed and hosted on TVtrip.com, fill out this form or e-mail Steve Stollerman at steve@tvtrip.com.

Soviet splendor

2008-10-20T05:40:00.008-04:00

I had the pleasure of touring the newly opened Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya today with the hotel's marketing and public relations manager, Svetlana Kislova. This incredible renovation project has been open less than two months.

Originally built as one of the Stalinist "Seven Sisters" skyscrapers, the former Leningradskaya Hotel opened in 1954, and was a three-star property with Soviet-style furnishings and rooms until it closed for a complete renovation in 2006. Now, the 273-room property combines the best of historical and modern, with a luxurious feel. Interesting details abound, from the German lion statues in the lobby to the world's longest chandelier to the lovely gym/spa/pool area that was constructed out of the building's former bomb shelter. Photos follow.

HICAP update

2008-10-17T22:27:00.004-04:00

The Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) has just wrapped at the InterContinental Hotel in Hong Kong. Following are some photos courtesy of our Hong Kong office, showing activity at the event.

When business goes social

2008-10-16T14:30:00.010-04:00

When we started putting together a package for our upcoming Nov. 3 issue on the effects of the Internet on the hotel industry, I immediately knew what section I wanted to tackle: social networking. I have been known to master my way through Facebook with unsurpassed skill—if anyone has a question about someone's interests, activities or work information, I can find it. It actually became a game between my friends in college—"OK, her favorite movies are 'Clueless,' 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.' Name that girl." Not kidding, we did that (that girl would have been me).

Obviously, the site has expanded well past its original intent of connecting college students around the country. The site has gone global and now links people of all ages, races and backgrounds with each other. I'm a firm believer in Facebook as a social network, not a business network. But nowadays, I feel we just-past-college-aged kids are having to succumb our fun, revealing profiles for boring, professional pages. It's a sad state for those of us who knew Facebook way back when, but the times, they are a-changin'.

I learned of these changing times when I started researching for our An Industry Connected series (check out the magazine and www.hotelmotel.com on Nov. 3 for the print features as well as online exclusives). In fact, as an experiment, Hotel & Motel Management and Hotel Design launched their own Facebook pages (join us!). As I started to delve into hotel-related groups and fan pages, I realized people are using these to share anything and everything—they're posting job listings, sharing guest horror stories and giving and receiving advice on issues facing the hotel industry. Here are some of the astonishing numbers (as of Oct. 16):

Hoteliers on Facebook—20,215 members, and growing by the minute
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts—14,034 fans
Leading Hotels of the World—3,912 members
Hilton Hotels—2,877 fans
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide—2,231 fans
Riviera Hotel & Resort—2,121 members
Four Seasons Riyadh—2,000 members

So while I may long for the good ole days of the untainted Facebook, I do see the benefit and the sweeping effect it's having on the industry. People are connecting more than ever and faster than ever, and they're not looking back to their pre-Facebook days.

Hopefully this will result in hotels (and many other businesses—including magazines) improving by gaining advice from different properties around the world. If not, I might have a chip on my shoulder for all you business people who ruined my social network.

Russian Investment Conference coming up fast

2008-10-15T09:24:00.004-04:00

It's hard to believe that the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference is less than a week away; I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about this fast-growing part of the world. Keep an eye on HotelTalk for updates from the conference, as we keep you apprised of what panelists and attendees have to say.

Russia seems to be hurting right now, a marked difference from even a couple of months back. As of last week, the Russian stock market had lost some 60 percent, a much deeper fall than in the U.S. and in Western Europe. What's more, the Moscow Times reported today that investors there have missed out on the global gains made elsewhere in world markets over the past day or two.

This hurt seems to be a result of three factors: the global economic woes that have been affecting everyone, the falling prices of oil, and the skirmish with Georgia. Russia is one of the world's largest exporters of petroleum, and it was riding high earlier this year when prices topped $140/barrel. Now with oil down to levels around $80/barrel, Moscow seems to be feeling the pinch. And some investors may be more cautious in funneling cash into Russian development projects after the country's aggressive military actions in August. Long-term real estate deals happen more easily in politically stable regions, and some investors may be looking for a reason to pull out of deals.

This uncertainty will certainly make for some interesting conversations in Moscow next week. Please watch this space for updates.

The value of video

2008-10-13T14:12:00.002-04:00

We had a conversation here in our editorial office last week about the value of video as a news source. Personally, I'm on the fence about it. I admit that sometimes when I scan my Yahoo! News headlines and see the video camera icon next to a headline, I avoid that story. I want my news quickly; I don't want to wait for a video clip to load, run through the commercials, then get to what I want to hear about.

On the other hand, video news that covers stories as they happen (TV news-style) holds so much more value for me as a news consumer. Also, informational video clips that supplement the headlines I'm reading can do wonders to make me feel a more personal link to the story. If they're short. And dynamic.

Last week, at the same time RockBridge Capital announced the promotion of Jim Merkel to president (read the announcement here), the company showcased its new corporate video. Take a look: The company focuses its message on its link to the community in this piece, and that's not lost on me. It goes back to that idea that the video works for me personally if it can make me feel more connected to the subject or company I'm reading about.

I'd like to know what your thoughts are on the video-as-news debate. Do you watch? Do you skip over?

Where is the money?

2008-10-10T16:13:00.002-04:00

Attendees at the HHOA’s Hotel Investment, Development & Management Conference, which ends today in Miami, don’t seem to be in the mood to buy or sell hotels anytime soon. Yesterday, when asked for a show of hands of who was planning a deal within the next six months, only four or five hands went up from the more than 200 attendees.

Panelists this morning were asked, “Where is the money?” and the answers were an illuminating insight into where our industry is headed for the coming months, and certainly into 2009.

Patrick J. Feltes, senior VP of GE Capital Solutions, said, “Money is very expensive today, and it’s going to stay expensive.”

Mark Naddler, FVP and senior Commercial Real Estate Relationship Manager, HSBC Bank USA, said that there is plenty of liquidity, but he emphasized that relationships were critical.

“The smart developers usually try to develop relationships with lenders. Unfortunately, they may have relationships with some lenders that aren’t around anymore,” said Naddler.

Naddler told audience members that if they didn’t have relationships with a major, very strong bank, they needed to start working on building some.

“Funds are out there, but for the right developer and the right project,” he said.

Jose Alvarez, managing director with Molinero Kroger, said that the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was especially bad news for the lodging industry. Alvarez commented that the firm was one of the most prolific capital providers in the real-estate sector not only for debt, but also for equity. He also pointed out that lodging industry stocks have been taking a beating.
“Some of them are at a 75 percent discount from what they were a few months ago … what’s really happening is a huge re-pricing of our assets. … The fact is cap rates are way up, transaction volume is way down,” said Alvarez.

HHOA Conference

2008-10-09T14:49:00.003-04:00

Attendance is great at the first national conference for HHOA, the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association—it was well above 200 as of this morning. Called the "Hotel Investment, Development & Management Conference," it is being held through tomorrow. The Doral Resort here in Miami is a perfect location.

Today's lunch included a fun idea: Four chefs cooked complete meals for a panel of judges while the attendees ate their own lunch.

Chefs were Aaron Chavarria, executive chef at the Hyatt Sarasota; Yeni Chacon, professional chef at the Sofitel Victoria Regia; Paula DaSilva, sous chef at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa (pictured, explaining her creations); and Mauricio Lopez, executive chef at the Hilton Los Cabos. Winner of this "Culinary Masters" competition will be announced at this evening's Estrella Awards.

New look for the Pere Marquette

2008-10-05T12:06:00.008-04:00

I've been in New Orleans this week, and I decided to stop by the Renaissance Pere Marquette hotel, located just a couple of blocks from the city's renowned French Quarter. We're currently working on a feature story on this property for Hotel Design magazine, so I thought it would be interesting to see it in person.

This hotel, which has been open less than a decade, was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with the basement flooding and the lobby level seeing several feet of water, as well, according to current general manager Frank Zumbo.

"This hotel sustained some pretty substantial flood damage … we’re talking about two or three feet of standing water in the lobby for three or four weeks, so the entire first floor was completely gutted. All the laundry downstairs, the engineering, the electrical had to be rebuilt.”

The first-floor restaurant was also completely destroyed. As a result, they stayed closed until December 2005, when they reopened with a temporary front desk upstairs. The current bar area served as a temporary restaurant location. About a year after reopening, the process for the redesign started.

The redesigned first floor has three zones: the social business zone, the individual zone, and the delighted-to-serve zone, which includes the front desk and the concierge.

“Lobby space in hotels, we’re seeing it start to change in the industry. It’s more than a lobby, it’s potentially a revenue center. It’s important to design the space for how customers use it,” said Zumbo.

And the feedback from the new design, which debuted this past New Year's Eve?

“Feedback from guests on the design has been fantastic. They believe it is very imaginative, very cutting-edge. There’s probably not a day that goes by that people don’t stop and take a picture of this focal point [the red bubbles suspended above the bar]. … They really like the space because it’s so unique.”

According to Zumbo, that's something unique to Renaissance.

"Our customers, while they’re seasoned travelers, they’re traveling for business, but they might as well have fun … they want to discover things in the cities that they’re in and even the hotels that they’re in," he said.

From a revenue standpoint, the redesign is a clear winner, he says.

“It’s actually given us more capacity to hire people. … We’re generating revenue in a space where we didn’t generate revenue before, whether it’s food sales, coffee sales, beverage sales,” Zumbo said.

What your industry is reading

2008-10-01T15:58:00.003-04:00

I'm proud to announce two new bookstore sites that we've launched, one for Hotel & Motel Management readers and one for Hotel Design readers ... they can be found at:

shop.hotelmotel.com

and

shop.hoteldesignmagazine.com

Both can save you 20%, 40%, or even more off the list price of popular books that your colleagues are reading. And we hope to soon add a way for you to suggest your favorite industry tomes.

The H&MM bookstore contains categories on development, operations, architecture, F&B, human resources, finance and marketing.

The Hotel Design bookstore includes categories on architecture, hotels, resorts, luxury hotels, boutique hotels, restaurants, lodges, spas, bars and landscape design.

DePaul to create hospitality leaders

2008-09-30T21:02:00.005-04:00

Exciting news from last week's Lodging Conference in Phoenix: DePaul University has received a $7.5-million gift from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, which it will use to create a School of Hospitality Leadership.

The new school will be based at the university’s downtown Chicago College of Commerce and will offer a four-year bachelor’s degree in hospitality leadership beginning in fall 2009. Students will be prepared to take on management roles at hotels, restaurants, convention and tourism venues and spas.

I spoke with Ray Whittington, dean of the College of Commerce, second from left in the photo below. He explained that the relationship with the Hilton Foundation started several years ago. The School for New Learning, primarily an adult education arm, received a grant to send local faculty to Kenya, where they trained locals to be teachers at a Kenyan school staffed by missionaries. A DePaul alumnus who was on the Hilton Foundation board then suggested the school submit a proposal for forming a hospitality program.

“We did some research to decide if we thought this was a good idea, and when we did the research, we found out that there were a dearth of programs in Illinois. And the fact is that hospitality is obviously one of the biggest industries in Chicago,” Whittington said. “It fit into our mission because we’ve traditionally been a school that has done a lot of educating for the professional fields.”

Whittington said the university actively is recruiting new faculty, and he anticipates an initial enrollment of 50 students from across the state and region.

“Increasingly, we’re getting national recruiting of our undergraduate program … but we’re still predominantly drawing from the region right around Chicago, down to St. Louis and up to Milwaukee. That’s where we draw perhaps 85 percent of our undergraduates,” he said.
Ongoing fundraising will support the university’s plans to add graduate degrees, continuing education programs and a research center. DePaul also will reach out to those already working in the hospitality field.

“DePaul has a long history of trying to serve underserved populations. In addition to the undergraduates, we’re also going to try to recruit people in the industry who maybe have an obstacle moving into management because they don’t have a degree,” said Robin Florzak, media relations manager at DePaul. “It happens that a lot of people in that situation are minorities, so in a way, it’ll be helping the industry diversify. That’s very much in the tradition of DePaul.”

“This program has unlimited potential … because of our location and the fact that I think we’ll get a lot of great industry support. I wouldn’t be surprised to see 600 or 700 people in the program within eight years, and certainly 400 or 500 people within the first four to five years,” Whittington said. “We’re interested in numbers, but we’re also interested in high quality.”

Whole Travel launches green experiences

2008-09-30T10:45:00.010-04:00

I had the pleasure yesterday of speaking with Matthew Davie, CEO of Whole Travel, a comprehensive website that allows users to search for travel experiences without being restricted by date or location. It has a focus on the green movement and features locations that embrace sustainability.
So for those who wish they could simply type in a search query of “rain forest” and find the ideal vacation, there’s good news: Whole Travel was launched today. But what may be even better news for hotels in these remote locations is that they now can be found.

While it does remain a work in progress, the site at this point features 4,000 hotels and resorts that are often independently owned and operated and are located around the world. These are places that won’t necessarily be found on the average travel site and meet four criteria established by the experts and academics who created Whole Travel: economy, environment, education and culture.

And while “green” remains a buzzword in the industry, Davie said Whole Travel wants to avoid greenwashing and give customers something authentic.

So, the Whole Travel team thoroughly analyzed locations before approving them for the site. Hotels must take action to create economic sustainability by hiring local labor and using resources available right in their specific regions. Furthermore, they must work to preserve the environment there. Customer interaction with the local environment also must be available through tours and sessions about sustainability and how it’s good for the economy and environment. And, finally, the business must be in line with the local culture and sustaining it—the hotel in the rain forest must not have cut down the rainforest’s lush landscape to be there.

While now it’s simply a meta search of destinations, Davie said Whole Travel is working to bring more Web 2.0 technology in with guest reviews and hotel ratings. Also, those independents may not be alone for too long as the site looks toward advances being made by large company’s, like Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's Element hotels that are LEED-certified and offer a total green experience.

I think Whole Travel is ahead of the game in a lot of ways here, not just in addressing the growing trend of travelers looking for green destinations, but also loosening the reins of travel searches to allow users to find experiences that suit their lifestyles instead of just hotels and flights. I wouldn’t doubt that we’ll be seeing a lot more of this in coming years.

Call for Speakers

2008-09-29T08:45:00.002-04:00

The second HotelWorld Conference & Expo, which will take place in March 2009, is looking for a few good speakers. We're searching for dynamic, knowledgeable industry experts, willing to be a part of this exciting Las Vegas event.

If you're interested, please visit:

http://cfp.internationalhospitalityweek.com/callforpapers

You can also suggest others as potential speakers, or tell us what topics you'd like to see. Our first HotelWorld Conference was a success, and we look forward to making next year's event even better.

The November issue and the Internets

2008-09-26T13:32:00.005-04:00

I think many of you are going to enjoy what we at Hotel & Motel Management have coming up in our Nov. 3 issue. Along with our annual General Managers survey that will tell us where GMs stand on salary, time off, industry issues and more, we are doing a series of stories on how the Internet is affecting the hotel industry—social networking, rating services, distribution, advertising, etc.

It's hard to understand just how big of a topic it is until you get into it. For example, I've only been here since June, but in that time, I've found it pretty easy to get industry sources for my stories—whether the topic was bed bug removal or transaction volume. Sure, actually getting a set interview time can be a hassle, but I can always identify whom I should talk to, whether it's an F&B director, a GM or the director of housecleaning.

But when it comes to discussing a hotel's online presence? There are brands that have dozens of people, all with different titles, all handling different aspects of an online plan. One public relations person had to get back to me several times in order to narrow down my topic enough so that she could help me find the proper person to speak with. Even she was surprised by the depths of her company's eCommerce world. When I tried to narrow the story down, it felt like my original concept wasn't really one story but more like two or three. No doubt the Internet has improved and streamlined much of the industry, but think of all the new jobs that now need to be filled just for this area; think of all the internal changes the Internet has forced within just one brand in the span of a decade.

I had no idea the hotel industry was this deep into the web world, and it looks like it's going to still get much deeper in the coming years. The topic is big and interesting, and I think our Nov. 3 issue will be as well.

South America's pipeline takes a hit

2008-09-25T16:35:00.003-04:00

In the midst of the Wall Street turmoil in the U.S., it seems we're not the only area of the world struggling with financing–which may not be news to anyone; after all, some people are calling this time period a global credit crisis. Now, however, more facts are coming forth about another area that was thriving at the end of 2007 and even into early '08 and now is taking a tumble: South America.

Lodging Econometrics released its South America: Mid-Year 2008 Report following the construction pipeline and a three-year forecast for hotels expected to open. After reaching its peak in the first quarter of 2008 with 371 projects/62,896 guestrooms in the pipeline, South America's pipeline has now decreased to 341 projects for a total of 56,316 rooms. Some other highlights of the report include:

-59 percent of the continent’s pipeline is in Brazil. Brazil counts for 203 projects with 36,786 guestrooms in the three construction stages.
-57 percent of all pipeline projects are currently labeled independent, but 70 percent likely will become branded before opening.
-Select-service hotels make up 33 percent of the total pipeline, the second-largest share.
-In the first half of 2008, 35 new hotels comprising 5,106 rooms opened. Because of the global lending crisis, Lodging Econometric’s forecasts for new openings were adjusted down slightly to 83 new hotels/11,309 rooms in 2008 and to 96 new hotels/14,065 rooms in 2009.

Readers can download the full report here for more information.

Is this good for the South American industry? Studying the southern hemisphere's hotel outlook is new for me, so I'm a bit unfamiliar—but could it be that there was so much boom previously that a slowdown was necessary? Or is it a sign of more troubling times to come?

New faces keep IHG on course

2008-09-24T19:31:00.007-04:00

InterContinental Hotels Group on Wednesday opened its 2008 Americas Investors & Leadership Conference as any other, with CEO Andy Cosslett delivering the first general session speech about the hotel company's recent successes and future plans. But this year, the familiar face that would normally follow Cosslett was not so familiar. Stevan Porter did not grace the stage.

Instead it was interim president of the Americas Richard Solomons who—after praising Porter and acknowledging how hard it will be to fill his shoes—moved quickly onto his plans of helping grow IHGs portfolio in the US and abroad, despite the current economic climate.
"I'm not here as a placeholder until the real president shows up," said Solomons, who has served as IHG's finance director since March 2003. "I'm here to improve the business moving forward."

Solomons said IHG remains committed to improving its staple brand, Holiday Inn. One year after announcing the relaunch of the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands, nearly 150 properties have went through the quality assurance update program and graduated to the new signage.

And a new addition to the Holiday Inn family was announced Wednesday as well. Solomons said IHG will partner with the originators of the Holiday Inn brand, the Wilson family, to form new timeshare brand Holiday Inn Club Vacations.

The Wilsons currently own Orange Lake Resorts, consisting of four resort properties, and will convert them all to the Holiday Inn Club Vacations brand, starting with the flagship property in Orlando in December. With 2,412 villas, the Orlando resorts is the largest single site timeshare resort in the world.

This marks IHG's first move into the timeshare market, through an exclusive licensing and marketing agreement. Orange Lake will continue to own, operate and develop these timeshare resorts.

"Holiday Inn will be able to take advantage of the fastest growing segment in the industry today," Solomons said of the timeshare segment.

"We continue to set new standards in how people vacation," said Spence Wilson, whose father, Kemmons Wilson, founded Holiday Inn and opened the first property in 1952. "Our family is very excited because we share the same vision and excitement for the two companies."

Later, Tom Corcoran, who owns several IHG properties, accepted the role as chairman of the IAHI, a group of IHG property owners. Corcoran said his main goals for his year as chairman are to get all Holiday Inn properties updated and actually move the brand into the upscale segment.

"This time we got it right. We are making sure we have the support from the bottom up and not just the top down," Corcoran said. "If we can increase [average daily rates] by $10 we can advance into [the upscale] segment. I challenge each of to you to stay committed to the relaunch."

Lodging conference is here!

2008-09-24T00:47:00.004-04:00

The opening evening of the Lodging Conference, held at the beautiful Biltmore resort in Phoenix, was a pleasant affair, with food and wine in abundance. Maybe it was the pleasant weather this evening, but I didn't hear a lot of gnashing of teeth about the economy. We'll see what they say in the actual panels and general sessions over the next couple of days, and determine how that holds up. I'm not holding my breath.

I'm not sure what it is, but I seem to have some bad luck with hotel rooms now that I'm actively working in the hotel industry. My first stay at a luxury property involved stolen artwork ... something I'll write about one of these days; I even have photos to prove it. Tonight, my issues (at a hotel near the Biltmore) were far smaller. First, one of my two fancy flatscreen television sets wouldn't work. Maybe it was the remote control ... a dead battery? On a whim, I looked behind the dresser to make sure that the TV was actually plugged in, and believe it or not, that was the problem. Fancy that.

I plugged it in and tried the remote again. It still didn't turn on, but it made a weird, loud whirring noise in back, which continued for about 20 minutes. At that point, I lost my patience and realized why the guest before me unplugged the darn thing. I did likewise.

Later, I took a shower after a quick jog, and found that the hot water wasn't more than lukewarm. These are both things that I probably could have gone either way on, but being the interested observer I now am, I figured I'd report the problem, to see what would happen. The young woman at the front desk was a little too casual when I approached ("What is it?" she asked me point-blank), but she promised to have someone look into both problems while I was at dinner.

I returned to my room and found a cute little box of two chocolates and a note from the engineer saying that he'd fixed both problems. The TV works now—well, almost, not sure if static is part of the HD experience. I haven't yet checked the hot water, but the note, which let me know that someone indeed responded to my issues, was a nice surprise. And hey, nothing cures a problem quite like chocolate does ...

The new luxury

2008-09-23T20:00:00.006-04:00

Since we launched Luxury Hotelier magazine a year ago, many discussions have revolved around defining luxury. Lately, I have experienced what some in the hotel industry have called “the new luxury.” Fashion forward design, a tone of casual elegance and conversational, personalized service are some of the hallmarks of luxury hotels that are targeting guests who find more traditional luxury to be stuffy and scripted. It’s a more informal approach to luxury. At the other end of the spectrum are hotel owners who want their hotels rated six or even seven stars to cater to guests seeking lavish design and exclusivity.

I just spent a lovely long weekend in California and visited the Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach (suite pictured), where luxury means drinks by a fire ring at the outdoor lounge with stunning views of the sunset. Coastal cuisine is served at the aptly named Splashes restaurant, where waves break 25 feet below large windows that open wide to let in the sound of the Pacific. Service at the hotel is warm and relaxed: bellmen know the best place in town for fish tacos just as well as the concierge does.

Last month, I had the pleasure of visiting the two W Hotels properties in Chicago: City Center (lobby—complete with lamps that make you feel like Alice in Wonderland—pictured below) and Lakeshore. The W brand is what I think of when people talk about new luxury. From the whimsical wording on the room service menu to the little touches in the Munchie Box (aka the minibar), such as the Survival Kit, (a boxed set of Diane Von Furstenburg mini lip glosses, mascara and perfume) and the Intimacy Kit (I’ll let you guess), W doesn’t take itself too seriously. That’s not to say anything is lacking in the hotel’s quality or pampering service. It’s more about the tone—playful, but still smart enough to know what guests want.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Frits van Paasschen, president and chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts for the past year, at the W New York, and he talked about how luxury has evolved.
“It’s the notion of your typical banker is not your typical banker anymore,” he said. “Luxury and formality and tradition do not necessarily have to go hand in hand. One person’s definition of luxury is a more current sense of style, and another person’s definition is a 400-year-old hotel in Italy.”

You can read more from the interview with van Paasschen in our September issue of Luxury Hotelier. But while we’re on the subject of the new CEO, one of the first things that struck me about van Paasschen—and I think this plays to the idea of the new luxury—is his approachability. Van Paasschen was eager to speak to the media in June during the NYU investment conference, and he was happy to share the company’s direction when I interviewed him for Luxury Hotelier and the Oct. 6 issue of Hotel & Motel Management. That might not sound particularly noteworthy, but I have covered Starwood for four years now, and this has not always been the case with the company’s top leaders. Van Paasschen is big on teamwork and has set out a vision for the company that he has been working hard to communicate to employees. His approachable nature will serve him well in this industry and at Starwood.

We know you designers are social ...

2008-09-23T19:46:00.005-04:00

... so please check out our new Facebook group for Hotel Design magazine. It is located at:

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26299669321

It is completely free to join and participate. You're welcome to post photos of your favorite projects, videos, links—and even start discussion topics. We know you want everyone to see your great work, so here's your chance to get noticed!

Making a difference

2008-09-19T16:29:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week, I talked a bit about the Embassy Suites Make a Difference Training Camp, held at the Pointe Hilton–Tapatio Cliffs Resort. In retrospect, it was a very special event that touched many attendees' hearts.

Main sessions included a brand update, along with discussions on mentoring and customer resource management tools. Breakout sessions delved into the ways each attendee could make a difference at their property by how they interacted with and treated their coworkers and guests. These were built around five themes: building trust, respect and confidence with each other; connecting with each other; making an impact; using your intuition; and using your style.

Tamara Acuna, breakfast ambassador, Embassy Suites Miami–International Airport, was inspired by the program and looked forward to spreading the spirit of the event at her hotel.

“I’m very excited, I’m speechless, and I’m honored that I was selected for this program,” said Acuna. “I’m taking to my team all of this motivation. I’m going to make sure that they feel inspired and motivated and confident in everything they do. Nothing can stop us.”

Organizers also had a special surprise in store for the attendees. As part of a team-building exercise, the teams each broke into three sub-teams and were given bicycles to construct. Unbeknownst to the teams, more than 50 underprivileged schoolchildren from the Phoenix area were waiting in a nearby ballroom. After the bikes were completed, the children were brought in to see their new gifts.

Jenay Peters, sales associate at the Embassy Suites Milpitas-Silicon Valley, felt grateful to be a part of the whole process.

“This unique idea shows us all how doing things for others however big or small, can really make a difference,” said Peters. “I am honored to have been chosen not only to partake in this … but also to be able make this change happen, starting with me.”

Peter's fellow teammate from Milpitas-Silicon Valley, Porsché R. Green, also weighed in.

"Though it was training, I felt that it was a great opportunity to bond with fellow Embassy Suites employees and receive feedback on how each property works. I will forever remember the people that I met, and the joy that we all brought to the children from the Boys & Girls Club. That day touched my heart the most and brought us all close together."

Wyndham uniforms go green with recycled plastic

2008-09-18T16:30:00.006-04:00

Wyndham’s got me on this one.

It’s a uniform. It’s trendy, hip and easily personalized to convey an employee’s own style. It’s environmentally friendly. And made of … plastic?

It’s not that I have any opposition to going green. I, like anyone else, applaud it, and I think the industry is doing a great job. Here at H&MM, I’m in charge of writing our green news briefs and am floored every time I see the full e-mail account of press releases. Everyone seems to be doing their part these days, and it makes me even more aware to make sure I collect my own recyclables at home to place on the curb for pick-up day.

But, back to the suit … here’s the gist of Wyndham Hotel Group’s press release:

“Select Wyndham hotels will introduce the new uniforms beginning this fall by job category. Front desk and other customer–facing employees are required to begin wearing the new uniforms by the end of 2009 and housekeeping and other back–of–house staff by 2010. All new properties are required to provide the new uniforms upon opening.

The textiles are produced from post–consumer products, including recycled plastic beverage bottles, which are processed into flakes, then filaments that are spun into yarn and ultimately woven into very soft fabrics. Recycling polymers keeps more plastics out of landfills.

The uniforms, which do not require professional laundering, minimize the use of chemicals during cleaning and provide a cost savings to hotel operators.

Cincinnati–based Cintas Corp. will design and manufacture the uniforms and continue to introduce new eco–friendly fabrics for the Wyndham apparel program.”

While Wyndham said these uniforms have been tested by employees and were well liked, I have concerns. OK, I have one concern: Is this really the best fabric to work in?

I understand that we’re talking uniforms here, and even an upscale hotel isn’t exactly going to be dressing its staff in silk and cashmere. But these people are working; they’re at the front desk sweating complaints from angry guests and making sure all rooms are clean and ready for check-in. This is not your standard office job.

And, even if it was, I think we all need to be wearing fibers that breath. Who knows, maybe I’ve watched too many episodes of TLC’s “What Not to Wear,” but I think I might have a legitimate point here. I would love to try out the fabric to see for myself. And, honestly, I hope I’m wrong and this is one of the greatest green initiatives we’ve seen so far from the industry.

Wyndham will be featuring the new uniforms Nov. 8-11 at the 2008 International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center at the Cintas Corp. trade show booth. While this, unfortunately, is a conference I can’t attend this year, I do hope that our editors who are going to be there will definitely make the booth a stop on their lists.

Russian intrigue

2008-09-18T11:03:00.001-04:00

Moscow has been on my mind lately—my Russian visa just arrived this morning, in fact. I'm excited about the prospects for next month's Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference (RHIC), to be held at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow on October 21-22.

"The key to investing successfully in emerging markets is firstly timing, closely followed by evaluation of risk and reward," said Mark Wynne-Smith, CEO, Europe, Middle East and Africa of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. "The hotel investment opportunities presented by the BRIC countries are numerous."

The RHIC program is led by a powerful line-up of more than 60 speakers, including HRH Prince Michael of Kent, who is Conference Patron—and the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Mikhailovich Luzhkov, who will receive the Leadership Award.

"The hotel market in Russia and the CIS is in its infancy and RHIC offers a fabulous opportunity for senior executives from the hospitality industry to explore the development potential in the region, meet investment partners, and uncover new business opportunities," said Jonathan Worsley, RHIC conference co-organiser. "With the government's plans for infrastructure spending, Russia and the CIS countries represent one of the biggest investment opportunities globally in the hospitality industry."

The conference is jointly organised by The Bench and Questex Media Group, Inc.

To read more about the Russian market, you can also check out the September 2008 issue of The Hotel Times magazine. The cover story, "Hurry up and wait," explores the current hotel investment market in Russian and the CIS, and looks into what the future holds in this dynamic area of the world.

Inventive promotion in Central Park

2008-09-18T09:39:00.005-04:00

Since I've been at Hotel & Motel Management, it feels like I've heard a lot about Starwood Hotels & Resorts. And even if I haven't, Starwood news always seems to stick with me for some reason. Their latest idea is a good example of this.

On Monday, Starwood recreated lounges it's implementing in its Sheraton brand in New York's Central Park. These lounges sprawl over 34,000 square feet and are there to allow those strolling through on a crisp fall day to feel at home, with Internet access, webcams, TV, daily newspapers and snacks. The company is offering free WiFi in the the park's Sheep Meadow until the end of September.

The Sheraton lounges are called "The Link (at) Sheraton experienced with Microsoft," and represent part of the $4 billion Starwood is spending on the Sheraton brand.

The Central Park promotion sounds like a great idea. Before introducing what it feels is a new, trendy addition to one of its brands, it is (sort of) giving away free samples—like the pretzel stand in the mall handing out its newest cinnamon twist pretzel on toothpicks. Only instead of a pretzel, you can watch TV and check on your fantasy football team. Plus, the location of this promotion targets the right demographic. These samples aren't being handed out to just anybody—this could certainly influence a few business people into trying the Sheraton on their next trip. It may be perceived as over the top, but I think its a winning idea for Starwood.

Not a room for a technophobe

2008-09-17T08:47:00.005-04:00

CityCenter's ARIA Resort and Casino, slated to open in late 2009, claims that its rooms will be the most technologically advanced in the U.S. That's a pretty big claim, but the list of what they're planning is impressive. Here's a look at what they're implementing to make it happen:

The guestroom experience

• As guests approach their room or suite, it will recognize if it is their first time in the room and “greet” them as they enter. Light will fill the room, the curtains part to showcase the spectacular city or mountain views, and the TV will turn on to display a list of automated controls for guests to personalize.

• Seamless, integrated one-touch control of guestroom features, including lighting, room temperature, television/video systems, music, wake-up calls, draperies and requests for services through a single remote control. Each nightstand also will feature a 7-inch panel with touch-screen technology that navigates the same room settings as the remote. All settings will be remembered.

• Guests can select “scenes” matching their mood or preference, which modify all settings at once. For example, each room will feature a “good night” button next to the bed. With one touch, guests can turn off the lights, TV and/or music; shut the curtains; and turn on the privacy notification for the room.

• All guestrooms will have keyless locks utilizing RFID technology, which enables guests to unlock the door by flashing their key over the lock sensor. The electronic key cannot be demagnetized, thus reducing key failure.

• Each room will include a 42-inch LCD HDTV that allows guests to connect their laptop and enjoy a big-screen monitor; watch a multitude of domestic and international channels in rich high-definition quality; plug in video devices such as game consoles or cameras; control room automation; and enjoy their MP3 players.

• The television also will serve as a convenient communications center; when on, the TV will automatically display messages pertaining to new voicemails or package receipts and more.

• The classic clock radio will be replaced with TV settings that can wake guests up gradually through controlled temperature, lighting, curtain opening and preferred music, delivering a subtle and more soothing wake-up experience.

Wired and Wireless
• All guestrooms will be networked with fiber offering one gigabit of bandwidth; wireless Internet connectivity will be up to 8 times faster (128 kilobytes) than the average U.S. guestroom today.

• All in-room devices also will be on the network, enabling the property to easily “communicate” with the room to perform special requests or maintenance. Whether a remote needs new batteries or a MiniBar needs replenishing, most needs can be identified and resolved before the guest is even aware.

• CityCenter will have the largest Distributed Antenna System in the world, covering more than 14 million square feet. More than 6,500 antennas coupled with over 2,900 wireless access points will enable WiFi not only in every room but also anywhere on the CityCenter campus.

Sustainable Choices
• Green settings on the room’s remote system will allow guests the opportunity to voluntarily “green their stay” by indicating their preferred light level, room temperature and frequency of linen and towel changes.

• Systems also can be programmed to automatically put a room into unoccupied status upon checkout—turning down or off the heating/cooling system, televisions, lights and any appliances.

Why should we worry?

2008-09-16T15:48:00.010-04:00

Since last December, when we started to put together our special issue of Hotel & Motel Management, The Advisor, I have heard day in and day out about the troubling economic times and how they might affect the hotel industry. At first, it seemed a little Chicken Little to me—people couldn't really stop traveling, could they? Would they? And since the answer in my head to both questions was "no," the corresponding next thought to enter my brain was "Well, then they'll need a place to stay." And that was about the extent of my worry as to the future of hotels.

My worries were ignited today, as I sat in on a webinar, "The Future of Leisure Travel: Outlook & Sales Strategies," sponsored by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International as part of the HSMAI University webinar series.

David Bratton, the founder of Destination Analysts, was the first speaker and he marked people's typical worries off on a laundry list—and brought up even more. A survey Destination Analysts conducted online in July, The State of the American Traveler, uncovered the thoughts and travel patterns of 1,000 American leisure travelers (with leisure traveler defined as having taken at least one leisure trip in the past 12 months). It turns out, people aren't traveling—as much—nor are they spending as much when they do travel.

When asked how many leisure trips of more than 100 miles they have taken in the last 12 months, the average was 5.1—a 7.3-percent drop from January's survey and a significant drop from January 2007's mark of 5.7 trips. When asked how gasoline prices have changed leisure travel, 47.2 percent said that they've actually taken fewer trips than they had wanted, and one in four said that they've reduced spending on other items—including hotels.

Another notable point: When asked whether they expected to travel more, less or the same amount for leisure in the coming 12 months as they did in the previous 12 months, the number of people who intend to travel less nearly tripled since January—from 10.5 percent to 28.8 percent.

If they actually get on the road (or in the air), Americans are becoming more thrifty. In every State of the American Traveler survey since July 2006, about 10 to 12 percent of respondents said they would cut back on their spending in travel for the next 12 months. This July, "we’ve had this shift now where 29 percent are saying 'I’m going to cut back on spending,'" Bratton said, noting that in all the surveys he's conducted, it's abnormal to see such a dramatic shift.

And while many people said tighter budgets would lead them to seek out bargains and discounts in travel, Bratton urged listeners to hold strong. "By no means I’m saying you have to discount to attract people, but certainly a large share of leisure travelers are going to be looking for discounts," he said. "The bottom line on this, I think that consumers … are concerned about the economy and about gas prices and the like. ... If I asked people to take the survey today, I’d be willing to bet you 100 bucks that things would be a little worse [than reported in July]."

So what do we do to make it better? Should I be worried—or am I now the one not necessarily worried that the sky is falling, but that the vital statistics of the industry are?

Training the front line

2008-09-15T23:42:00.004-04:00

I'm here in Phoenix for a few days, witnessing something that I don't think has been done before in the hospitality industry. Embassy Suites has flown two employees from each of their 190+ properties here for a training exercise, with the theme of "Make a Difference."

So, what's so special about it? This is not your run-of-the mill brand conference, full of general managers and owners. This is something specifically designed for front-line workers, the people who are interacting with guests and making the properties run. You know, the people who make a hotel a home-away-from-home, more than just a building full of rooms and beds.

Back in June, general managers were told that they had a few weeks to select the two people from their property who would attend this event. The people selected could not be management types. But beyond that, the decision was left up to each property. Some locations had management vote on who would go. Others knew exactly what standout people to send. Still others allowed the employees to select who the lucky two would be.

The approximately 400 people here are boisterous and excited about being able to move their careers forward in a way that many in their positions are unable. They're also excited about being ambassadors of sorts, bringing the corporate messages, sense of excitement and treat-your-coworker-and-guests-the-way-you-want-to-be-treated ethic back to their properties. This evening's program got off to a great start with dynamic and fun presentations by Jim Holthouser, senior vice president–brand management (who even played the piano to thunderous applause) and Rick McCue, vice president of brand performance and support. The evening reminded me of a revival meeting, due to the passion shown by the attendees.

I've met a lot of great, hard-working people from all over the country. Some have been with the company for the better part of a decade, others a scant few months. One woman from South Carolina gushed that this had been her first time on an airplane. This kind of companywide training can't come cheap, but it seems to me that it will have an impact on employee retention levels, and that, in itself, could pay in the long run.

Have a heart

2008-09-11T10:50:00.003-04:00

If you're attending next week's HD Boutique Design show in Miami Beach, you may want to check out the wonderful ISHP event that is being held to benefit Hollywood Heart, a charity organization that helps send children afflicted with AIDS to the Camp Pacific Heartland. The reception will be held at The Fifth (1045 5th St., 305-538-9898) on Tuesday, September 16, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

For more information on this worthwhile event, please email Neil Locke or Stacy Silver.

Finding the products you need

2008-09-11T09:29:00.004-04:00

It can certainly be difficult to find the right product for your property. That's not to say that there aren't enough ice machines or wallcovering suppliers out there. On the contrary, typing in either term into a popular search engine will give you far more than you could sift through in a lifetime.

This is one of the reasons we continue to produce our annual Suppliers Directory. We pare down the list to qualified, appropriate suppliers who work with the lodging industry. We're gearing up toward our 2009 edition, which will be mailed to all 54,000 of our subscribers along with our December 8th issue. But you can also peruse the 2008 version—24/7—at our online version of the directory.

The product categories include:

• cleaning and maintenance

• education and associations

• equipment

• finance

• food and beverage

• franchising

• HR and professional services

• furniture, fixtures and furnishings

• legal

• guest amenities

• property development

• sales and marketing

• soft goods

• technology

Please take a look and try out the online directory today, I think you'll be impressed with the work that our team has put into the product.

Improve the meetings at your property

2008-09-10T17:44:00.011-04:00

Most hotels in the midscale-and-up segments focus a significant amount of daily operations on hosting business meetings. After all, hosting business meetings can provide large revenues for a property.
Which is why, when invited to Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s 2008 Affordable Meetings National event at the Walter E. Washington center in Washington, D.C., I jumped at the opportunity. Making coverage even more relevant to Hotel & Motel Management readers, this year HSMAI introduced Event Technology Expo, a tradeshow within a tradeshow that focuses on advances in digital applications and Web 2.0 services that take planning and hosting meetings to the next level.
“Event Technology is on everyone’s mind,” said Rob Weissman, co-producer of the show. “There is a heck of a lot of education needed.”

Allen Blue, VP of product strategy and co-founder of LinkedIn, a web portal for networking professionals, delivered the keynote address. Blue introduced a new component to LinkedIn — LinkedIn Events — that will help event planners coordinate and promote events and track attendees. Blue said the new component will be an automatic “word of mouth” tool. “If I say I’m attending or exhibiting, that information becomes available,” he said.
A beta version of LinkedIn Events is up and running starting today and event planners can start listing their events for free at events.linkedin.com. The official release of the seed will occur in October and planners will then be able to start building attendee lists and notifying other LinkedIn members of their meetings.
After Blue’s announcement, I caught up with him to chat about how LinkedIn Events will affect the meeting host, presumably a hotel or convention center.
“We are working on making LinkedIn Events valuable for attendees, organizers and the hospitality providers,” he said. “Let’s imagine you’ve got people attending an event, and they are able to discuss the event on LinkedIn. That information can be turned around and used to benefit the hotel. Imagine a system where hotels can build a reputation on past successful events.”

Later on the tradeshow floor, I had a chance to chat with Amber Muslusky, who is part of the sales team at the Wyndham Cleveland near Playhouse Square, right down the street from the Hotel & Motel Management editorial offices. Muslusky was part of a team at Affordable Meetings promoting Cleveland and the benefits of holding meetings there. She updated me on her property’s recent renovation of its meeting space and the acquisition of a new GM. Muslusky promised H&MM an exclusive tour of the remodeled property, so look out for photos from that in the future.

Join our new Facebook group

2008-09-10T09:54:00.004-04:00

Our flagship publication, Hotel & Motel Management magazine, has been around for an amazing 133 years. In that time, we've continued to provide content for our industry in numerous ways, from print magazines to digital issues to eNewsletters to websites to even this very blog.

Now, we're excited about our newest foray online—into the world of social networking. Please check out and join the new H&MM Facebook group. I think that you'll find this group useful and interesting. You'll be able to share your favorite links, photos, videos and discussion items on the group page. And if you haven't yet had a chance to check out Facebook, here's your chance to safely dip your toes into the social networking water. What started out as a college-only social site is increasingly marketing itself to business professionals ... and chances are, many of your colleagues—and competitors—as using it already.

Call for entries!

2008-09-09T10:53:00.007-04:00

Hospitality operators and designers take note! It's time to submit your entries for HotelWorld's second annual Global Hospitality & Design Awards. Awards will be presented in two categories: Hospitality and Design.

Hospitality Awards will be presented in the following categories:

Sustainable hotel of the year
Corporate citizen of the year
Hotelier of the year
Owner of the year
Opening of the year
Ten to watch

Design Awards will be presented in the following categories:

Design of the year
Best guestroom design in luxury, full-service and limited-service segments
Best lobby/public space design in luxury, full-service and limited-service segments
Best restaurant/lounge design in luxury and full-service segments
Best spa design

Winners will be feted at a gala celebration, March 3, 2009, during the HotelWorld conference in Las Vegas. Winners also will be showcased in Hotel & Motel Management and Hotel Design magazines. Finally, winners will take home a beautiful, custom-designed sculpture, pictured above.

Don't miss out! Get the recognition and kudos you deserve. Download your entry form at www.hotelworldexpo.com. Submissions are due October 31. Questions? Contact us at hotelworldawards@questex.com.

Pink sheets for the cure

2008-09-09T07:36:00.004-04:00

I never will forget the first time I ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It was 1999 and I lived in Washington, D.C., the city that held the largest race. I had never seen that many people together in one place, doing the same thing.

As I chugged up a hill near the end I came up next to a young man, probably in his early 40s. He wore a pink note pinned to his back. Pink notes are for people who run the race in memory of someone who has died of breast cancer. This runner's pink note said, "In memory of my wife." He held the hand of a little girl, who looked about six, with long brown braids, a baseball cap and a pink note on the back of her own T-shirt that said, "In memory of my mom."

There's something to be said about the power of a group of people working toward the same goal. That's how I felt that day, and how I feel every time I run the race. We are running so nobody has to wear pink notes anymore.

This October, guests can book a room at any Hard Rock Hotel nationwide and get into bed for the cure with Hard Rock Hotels’ Pink Sheets, part of Hard Rock International’s worldwide Pinktober campaign to benefit breast cancer awareness.

Guests visiting the Hard Rock in San Diego, Biloxi, Chicago, Orlando, Hollywood or Tampa during October can request a guestroom with the brand's special pink Sleep Like a Rock bedding. Twenty-five percent of the room rate will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Hard Rock has sponsored its own breast cancer research campaign for nine years.

More new designs

2008-09-08T08:47:00.003-04:00

Here's a look at the "Unique" design scheme (as previously mentioned) that is being rolled out by La Quinta ...

A "Vibrant" design look

2008-09-05T15:13:00.007-04:00

Redesigning a brand is never easy, especially when hundreds of properties are involved. But consumers expect things to be fresh, and those who stay with outdated looks do so at their own peril.

"A couple years ago, we decided it was time to start looking at new designs,” said La Quinta President and CEO Wayne Goldberg.

The company hired five design firms and had each design a room, with no limitations. Using their Dallas Fort Worth-South location, La Quinta gave each firm a blank box of a room to design and decorate.

“The room of the future for us, so to speak,” Goldberg said.

Once the rooms were complete, they had customers come in and stay in the five rooms, and then held focus groups to see what worked and what guests preferred.

La Quinta now has three new basic design schemes—code-named Unique, Fresh and Vibrant—in their corporately owned hotels, along with a few additional styles for franchises.

Vibrant, a direct result of one of the original five test rooms, is one they use selectively, generally in more corporate locations or large central business districts. It is currently deployed in 26 hotels, and is slated for use in a major new downtown Chicago property that will open in the first quarter of 2009. Locations done in the Vibrant style feature bolder colors and patterns than historically featured in La Quinta properties. Rooms feature burnt orange, pale green and other surprising—but pleasing—hues. The lobby is awash in yellows and reds and even the fitness centers get into the act, with oversized corporate slogans and inspiring phrases splashed across a melon-colored wall.

The majority of the redesigned locations—about 50—are done in the Unique style, and 15 in Fresh, a more tropical look that is being used in locations like Florida and Los Angeles.

“They all share the same element—you will not walk into one of those rooms and not realize that the hotel has been renovated. They’re distinct,” said Angelo Lombardi, EVP and COO.

See more samples of the Vibrant look below.

Starwood scores

2008-09-03T16:08:00.008-04:00

I admit it. I am a slave to points.

If you offer me a way to earn them, I promise I will excel at it. I’ll focus on a goal to reach, horde them until I meet it and then relish in my “purchase” that I like to view as having come free of charge (kind of).

And, also, I don’t think I’m alone.

So for all of those like me out there, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has come up with something for us to work for. And as far as loyalty programs, rewards or any of it goes, you have to admit this one is pretty cool.

As part of its no blackout dates program for cashing in on Starpoints, those enrolled in the Starwood Preferred Guest program will see that flexibility extend beyond hotel rooms. Now SPG offers its members hundreds of flights, with no blackout dates, on domestic and international airlines and on any preferred flight in the class of service they choose.

Again, pretty cool.

Members can go to www.spg.com/flights to book travel just like on any other third-party booking site. I easily found flights from right here in Cleveland, even during the Christmas holiday. The Starpoints can be redeemed for the entire cost of the flight, and members may even earn airline miles while doing it.

Now, granted, it looks like it would cost 20,000 points or more for me to fly just to Orlando. And I’m not quite sure how many Starwood stays it would take for me to ever make it there. But I’m starting to smell a challenge, so here goes nothing.

General manager survey time!

2008-09-03T10:20:00.002-04:00

Let's admit it--we're a society that likes to know what other people are thinking about, spending money on and worried about. The same holds true for the hotel industry.

Every year, we give Hotel & Motel Management readers a glimpse into the mind of the general manager. How much money does he or she make? How much vacation time does he or she get? What worries keep him or her up at night? We'll answer those questions and more in our November issue.

Participate in the survey now! If you're a general manager, follow this link to fill out the short survey. Then look for the aggregated responses in November. Let's get the conversation started...

Hotels better prepared?

2008-09-03T07:52:00.002-04:00

Sometimes chaos has a silver lining, and for the hotel industry--especially in the Gulf Coast--that comes in the form of disaster preparedness. Over the last few days I noticed several articles addressing how hotels and motels prepared for Gustav's potential Katrina-like forces.

This time it seems Gulf Coast hoteliers knew better what to expect in terms of their own preparedness and to maximize business for people who need rooms.

Click here for an article from Forbes.com titled "For New Orleans, Business Unusual."

This post, from the LA Times' Daily Travel & Deal Blog (a good read any day of the year), names the independent and branded properties in New Orleans that closed and stayed open.

And for the historical perspective, here are a few articles from Hotel & Motel Management on post-Katrina hotel business in the Gulf Coast:
• "Hotels struggle to replace Katrina-related business," H&MM, May 15, 2006
• "Industry expects to rebound from Katrina's devastation," H&MM, Oct. 3, 2005

The newest in Luxury

2008-09-02T11:30:00.002-04:00

Luxury Hotelier, our award winning magazine, is busy celebrating its first anniversary. One of the exciting things we're doing to finish out 2008 in grand style is the creation of a special Ultra Openings issue, slated for December. This issue will focus on the editors' picks of what have been the most impressive luxury hotels that have opened their doors in the past 18 months.

If your four- or five-star property has opened in that time period, I'd like to personally invite you to nominate it for Ultra Openings. We've just extended the deadline for submissions to September 26th. There is no cost to submit. Just visit this link for the application form.

Service information for Steve Porter

2008-08-28T11:04:00.005-04:00

The InterContinental Hotels Group is holding a memorial service honoring Steve Porter at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta, Ga. For those who cannot be there in person, IHG is providing a live webcast during the memorial.

The webcast will appear on www.celebratingsteve.com. It will be archived for viewing shortly after the memorial and will remain on the website until Sept. 12. Stories and photos of Steve also are being collected on the site and a book will be compiled for the Porter family.

Several industry leaders who worked closely with Steve sent tributes to Hotel & Motel Management magazine, and they can be read here.

Poll shows positive outlooks

2008-08-27T16:17:00.007-04:00

Eighty percent of voters in a recent HotelTalk poll think the current hotel industry downturn won't have long-lasting effects.
More specifically, 40 percent responded that "It's a cyclical industry and this is just the typical dip," and an equal amount responded that "The industry will recognize rate parity and use revenue management and marketing strategies to come out unscathed."
Only 20 percent of voters said industry fundamentals are in trouble as supply and demand numbers grow so disproportionately.

The question no one can answer is when things will start looking up.
Peter Willis, SVP of hotel acquisitions for The Kor Group, said we haven't seen the full extent of the downturn yet.
"Corporate accounts are actively out to bid," he said. "Our current challenges with the economy were likely not recognizable far enough in advance for property level annual budgeting to capture, especially given the dramatic rise in costs—energy, food/water, fuel for air lift and the downsizing of airline carriers to certain destinations."

Thanks to all who voted in the HotelTalk poll.

Come rest in this room

2008-08-27T11:32:00.009-04:00

George Costanza would be proud. The five-star Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., took home the coveted Best Restroom in America award, given by Cintas, a provider of hygiene products and services. Tens of thousands made their voices heard on the program's website, and in the end, nothing could top the service, cleanliness and public access of the Hermitage Hotel facilities.

The men's restroom was first built in 1910 and remodeled in 1930 as the Art Deco facility you see now, with its lime-green and black leaded-glass tiles, lime-green fixtures, authentic terrazzo floor and two-seat shoeshine station. Apparently, the legend of this restroom has grown throughout the years, and it has been the backdrop for several music videos, business and political negotiations and wedding photos as you can (unfortunately?) see here.

Other hotels that made the top ten are 21C Museum Hotel in Lousiville, Ky., (second); El Monte Sagrado Living Resort and spa in Taos, New Mexico, (sixth); and The Montville Inn in Montville, NJ., (ninth).

My new career as a faucet designer

2008-08-27T08:23:00.005-04:00

Okay, so as they say, I probably shouldn't quit my day job. But in all of the websites that I come across, occasionally one sticks out. What impressed me about the California Faucets website is its "Virtual Faucet Creator."

This interesting tool allows designers—or, ahem, would-be designers—to choose from a selection of spouts, handles and finishes to create a unique end product. My attempt is shown at right. With 17 spouts, 24 handles and 23 finishes, there are more than 9,000 combinations possible. The most amazing part is that the Flash animation on the website creates a realistic montage of your design as you build it. Once you're done, you can name it, print it, save it, download it, or email it.

The company also carries a line of stylish shower drains that look nothing like the boring circular grates that most of us have in our homes. You can check out the site and the Virtual Faucet Creator at www.calfaucets.com.

The green side of Memphis

2008-08-25T13:58:00.003-04:00

I was quite impressed with how green the 6th Annual Memphis Hotel & Lodging Industry Summit felt. The meeting featured recycled cup insulators, notepads, tissues, pens and handouts. Chocolates on the table were made from sustainable organic agriculture. Even our lunchtime tablecloths crafted from recycled water bottles. (I still can hardly believe that one, they felt nothing like what I'd have expected, they almost seemed like a finely woven straw.)

Green also found its way into the program, with a panel discussion on how to make environmentally friendly hotels pay dividends—those of the financial sort.

Moderator Peggy Berg, president of The Highland Group, Atlanta, noted the way we use resources changes over time, from the cars we drive to recycling in our home to selecting locally grown or organic foods. She said that the green movement has many reasons for being hot, both large and small.

“When my mom went to the farm stand for fresh corn, it wasn’t a political statement, it just tasted better,” Berg said.

Dierdre Wallace, founder and president of The Ambrose Collection, Santa Monica, Calif., said her city is a great place to go green because of the very supportive community environment. Her hotel wasn’t originally envisioned as green when it was built, but their outlook has changed over the years.

“It’s not all just about going green, it’s still about offering a great guest experience,” Wallace said. “A lot of the things that we did when we built the hotel were green, though we weren’t thinking about building a green hotel at the time; they were common sense,” she said.

These items included energy efficient windows, efficient energy systems and Energy Star appliances.

Douglas Gamble, owner of The Q Hotel in Kansas City, said, “When you get ready to do this, write a plan. Put it all in writing, and then reach out to other folks and see what they think about it … some things that may be pertinent, be in demand in some areas, may not be in demand in other areas.”

The Ambrose is the first hotel to go through LEED-EB, a rating system for existing buildings, as opposed to the traditional LEED ratings for new construction. Wallace’s hotel has reached silver status.

“LEED-EB is fantastic for existing buildings because it really focuses on operations and maintenance, so you don’t necessarily have to do a whole overhaul of your existing structure, which can be very cost intensive,” Wallace said.

Wallace started policies and programs focused on green initiatives, including a preferred vendor list, an organic continental breakfast and 24-hour room service they cater through a local green café, converting their shuttle to biodiesel fuel, instituting an on-site composting program and creating an “eco team” that monitors all documents and purchases. This helps avoid companies that are greenwashing—touting that they are greener than they really are.
Gamble agreed that greenwashing was something to watch out for.

“We found early on that people who are really sensitive to this stuff are so aware of greenwashing,” he said.

Environmentally friendly changes in a hotel can start in many ways, from operational changes to infrastructure.

“In-house recycling is one of the easiest things that you can do to green your hotel, it is definitely low-hanging fruit,” said Wallace. “We were a little concerned about how our guests would react to the program, seeing these receptacles in our guest rooms, but … they reacted very positively to it.”

Dennis Quaintance, president and CEO of Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C., said his hotel currently has about 4,000 square feet of solar thermal, giving the property more than 60 percent of the energy it needs for hot water.

“It’s amazing, the boilers haven’t kicked on for three months,” he said.

Robert P. Smith, president and chief satisfaction officer, The Allied Group, explained that green can also be a focus both in deconstruction—where up to 90 percent of a building renovation can be reused or recycled—and in reconstruction, by installing environmentally responsible materials and products.

“Currently, the demand outweighs the supply of eco-conscious products and services, so we’re seeing a premium … but we’re beginning to see a shift, as the balance shifts to more prominent display of these products and services, you can expect to see the premium paid … to come down, and the costs become a lot more competitive,” Smith said.

In the green?
“Everyone asks, ‘does this save money?’ Some things do, some things don’t,” said Gamble. But he notes that a lot of government bookings are up at his hotel, as a result of their green initiatives.

Quaintance said it’s possible to do solar thermal fairly inexpensively. They received 30 percent federal and 35 percent state tax credits, and then borrowed $500,000 from the state at 3-percent interest for 10 years.

“When you put it all together, our return is like three years, it’s ridiculous. … We can’t wait for another season to see if there is something that we regret. So far, there hasn’t been, and we’ll put it on our other businesses.”

Additionally, Quaintance said that they were able to accomplish using 41 percent less energy, mostly by incorporating an intelligent, integrated design of the building from the start.
“We took 200,000, almost 300,000 BTUs of load out of the hotel’s HVAC system just by having an efficient building envelope and doing simple things. Everyone’s going to be doing this in a couple of years,” Quaintance said.

Yabba dabba keycards

2008-08-20T08:14:00.001-04:00

You know how the Flintstones had modern-day amenities like vacuums and cars but everything was made of stone or woolly mammoth bones? Well, the "progressive" Democratic guests at the DNC in Denver will be entering their rooms with a Flintstone-esque innovation from Sustainable Cards.

These literally are keycards made of wood. They function in the same way—thin rectangles with a magnetic strip that you swipe to unlock a door—the material is just wood instead of plastic. If there was a colonial times version of the Fintstones, this is what guests at their hotels would have used. The reason for these cards in 2008 is the environment. The cards are 100-percent biodegradable, requiring far less fossil fuels to create them. And to top it all off, the wood comes from sustainably harvested forests.

With thousands of keycards plowed through each year per hotel, this may be an interesting move into a cleaner, greener future. Hey, if we ever want to ride in flying cars and have robot maids like the Jetsons, certain steps need to be taken, right?

Memphis preview

2008-08-19T22:59:00.007-04:00

The Metropolitan Memphis Hotel & Lodging Association and Pinkowski & Co. are kicking off their annual Memphis Lodging Industry Summit ... this year is the 6th iteration of the event.

The kickoff event this evening was a grand cocktail reception and dinner at Memphis' famous Peabody Hotel. Part of the banquet festivities was a MH&LA PAC silent auction, along with a live auction at the start of dinner. The organization even brought in a genuine auctioneer, who wowed the crowd with her down-home southern charm and insanely rapid-fire auction calling.

Tomorrow's schedule looks great, with speakers including Shawn McBurney, Senior VP, Government Affairs for the AH&LA; Tom Corcoran, Chairman of AH&LA and General Chairman of FelCor Lodging Trust, Inc.; Randy Smith, CEO of Smith Travel Research; and Colin Reed, President and CEO, Gaylord Entertainment. More details on the conference will be posted here in the coming days, so please stay tuned.

A look at the bright side

2008-08-18T22:06:00.009-04:00

I had a fascinating chat with Wayne Goldberg, President and CEO of LaQuinta, about the challenges and promise of the select service hotel segment. LaQuinta is growing—and fast. They have 663 hotels open, and their pipeline includes more than 200 projects. The company's hotels are getting fresh looks—from new signage to new exterior paint schemes to new designs, including the envelope-pushing "Vibrant" scheme (see bottom photo).

Goldberg feels that LaQuinta is somewhat unique in that they are both hotel owner-operators and a franchisor. Franchisors like the fact that La Quinta, "has skin in the game," he said. "We aren't asking them to do things at their hotels that we aren't in turn having to do at our 400+ corporate-owned hotels."

The current downturn isn't a huge concern for Goldberg. "This, too, shall pass," he

said. "Everything is cyclical." He notes that we have to learn from our past and the things that we have been through as an industry. Plus, he said, there are some positives. "The pipeline this time, in the upcycle, never got nearly as aggressive or as strong ... that pipeline from a growth standpoint, is not nearly as big as it has been in several of our cycles where, when the demand slowed down, you had all of these new hotels and properties ... the development this time didn't get nearly as out of kilter."

Goldberg also spoke about green issues, but from a slightly different perspective. He explained that as an industry, we have done a very poor job of taking credit for the things that we have historically done.

"The original reason a lot of those things started being done were because there were opportunities to save money at the same time you were doing the right thing for the environment ... but originally, they were designed because they were cost-effective," Goldberg said.

Because of that, said Goldberg, people may have been afraid to talk about these efficiencies, whether they were the use of compact fluorescent bulbs or replacing older PTAC units with newer, more efficient models.

Vote in our first poll!

2008-08-13T10:24:00.003-04:00

Steve Belmonte, president of both Lexington Collection and Hospitality Solutions, recently told me about a conversation he had with Tom Corcoran, founder of FelCor Lodging Trust and chairman of AH&LA, while the two dined during the NYU Conference. In that conversation, the two hospitality industry experts agreed that this is the first time they were unable to wrap their head around a downturn and how soon the industry would rebound. Belmonte said he hears analysts say this is simply another dip in the timeline, but fears there are deeper fundamental issues.

What do you think? Vote in our first HotelTalk poll to the right. We'll discuss the outcome at a later date.

Is Travel and Tourism Promotion necessary?

2008-08-12T15:04:00.002-04:00

Working on our August issue helped me learn about some aspects of the lodging industry that I hadn't considered before. One issue I researched was that of travel and tourism promotion.

The issue centers on getting people to travel to the U.S. This article on CNN.com highlights our problems in this area. Here is a snippet of the figures:

"According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, the United States had 51 million international visitors in 2000, more than 7 percent of the 682 million international arrivals worldwide. But as international arrivals worldwide jumped to 846 million in 2006, the U.S. saw roughly the same number of visitors as it used to -- dropping its share to 6 percent.

Nearly 26 million people traveled to the United States from overseas in 2000. But that dropped drastically after 9/11, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department's Office of Travel & Tourism Industries. The number bottomed out in 2003 with 18 million overseas visitors, and with 24 million last year still had not returned to previous levels."

Basically, we are off our game. To get us back on track, many feel we should spend more government money on commercials and P.R. and promotion to encourage more visitors to vacation here in the states.

I tend to agree with this philosophy in some respects. We should be working to change our image as a nation so that other countries have a more favorable outlook on who and what we are, but I also think there is a cheaper, quicker solution that will jump start the whole thing—not having George W. Bush as president anymore.

I'm not trying to tip my political hat with this; and I'm definitely not saying that Bush is the sole contributor for this problem or any problem. But I do think he is a contributor. Regardless of one's political leanings, President Bush's tenure hasn't made a whole lot of other countries happy. During these past eight years, it has been noted that America's image has taken a hit, which has probably played a part in this drop in numbers. I'm sure it can be hard for some travelers to separate our desirable, hospitable tourist destinations from the image they have of our war-time commander and chief. Now, if you don't care about pleasing other countries, that's fine, but if you are looking to solve what many in the industry feel is a problem, I think this is something to consider.

During the "2008 Obamamania World Tour," it seems Barack Obama is the guy for healing our P.R. wounds. I think a vote for Barack Obama could do more for travel and tourism promotion than any bill Congress could pass. This statement could be way off base, but if travel and tourism is really an issue you care about, I think this position is something to consider.

But, then again, if taxes and card-check are your thing...this may be a poor direction to go.

Turning leaders into celebrities

2008-08-11T14:01:00.007-04:00

Of my passions in life, the first two undoubtedly are pop culture and politics; ask me for a third, and it’s the written word. So, imagine my sheer joy when our staff collaborated to develop the Aug. 11 issue of H&MM, focused on the upcoming elections—finally, I could share my passion for politics through the written word of the magazine. (The only thing that could have made it better would have been if the staff agreed to a photo page of movies that featured presidents in hotels—there must be a few, right?)

But it seems my dreams of mixing politics and pop culture came true when presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain unleashed a new commercial juxtaposing presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama with hotel heiress Paris Hilton.

The commercial says he is “the biggest celebrity in the world—but is he ready to lead?”

No offense to any of you with personal connections to Ms. Hilton herself (after all, I love her role on The Simple Life, and I thought her response video to his commercial was absolutely brilliant), but I found this comparison to be a bit far-fetched. Sen. Obama may be a celebrity, but he is no Paris Hilton. And what makes his celebrity a bad thing?

Many leaders have garnered celebrity status over the years. I don’t necessarily mean they have paparazzi followers and receive red-carpet treatment, but rather I mean that any good leader of any industry will build up fame because of his or her success. Does the fact that Bill Gates is on the A-list mean he can’t run one of the most successful companies in the world? Certainly not.

Yes, Sen. Obama does have celeb status, probably even more so than Sen. McCain. But I think the vigor he instills in so many should be viewed as a breath of fresh air to those people who call youngsters in my generation “apathetic” and “unconcerned” with the future.

It doesn’t matter what position a leader holds—whether it’s president, general manager, editor—Millennials want someone who has this air of celebrity to lead them. We want someone who inspires us, yet also pushes us to do our best. We want someone to promote new, fresh ideas, yet also who can teach us from his or her experience, whether it’s personal or professional.

Our August issue, under the new leadership of our editorial director Paul Heney and the veteran staffers, including Stephanie Ricca and Jason Freed, who both have stepped into new positions, did just that for me. The political topic inspired me and made me want to work hard to publish what we view as one of our best issues; it was a fresh idea for us—a bit different from our straight news style; and I learned from the experience of all the staff members. Each of us has a different background and brought different ideas to the table. Each of us worked hard to set aside any political differences we may have had and present the facts to you, the readers, to make an informed decision. I truly hope you enjoy reading the issue as much as I enjoyed collaborating on it. Let me know any feedback you may have, good, bad or otherwise. And if you want to chat about the issue, let me know—I’m not one to turn down a good debate.

Industry veteran Stevan Porter dies

2008-08-08T14:30:00.004-04:00

InterContinental Hotels Group has sent the following announcement:

It is with much sadness that InterContinental Hotels Group today announces Steve Porter, president of the Americas region and main board director, passed away peacefully at home last evening following a short illness, aged 53.

Steve was an outstanding individual. A man of complete integrity and one of the leading hoteliers of his generation, he was enthusiastic and passionate in everything he did. He was, in every sense, a real ‘people person’ and felt as comfortable in the break room as he did in the boardroom.

A 32-year veteran of the hospitality and related industries, Steve joined IHG in 2001 as COO for the Americas. In 2002 he assumed the role of president. During his time at IHG, Steve led a fantastic team who together have built IHG’s Americas operation into a dominant force in the region. Under his leadership, IHG acquired its sixth brand, Candlewood Suites, and launched its seventh brand, Hotel Indigo, the industry’s first branded boutique.

Prior to joining IHG, Steve served with Hilton Hotels Corporation starting in 1990. He held roles of increasing responsibility including senior and executive vice president of operations where he was responsible for overseeing the management of nearly 350 hotels and more than 40,000 employees. Steve began his career in the hospitality industry in 1976 with Stouffer Hotels.

A big believer in making a difference both professionally and personally, Steve served as an industry expert at various conferences and was very active with many philanthropic organizations. His popularity and innovative thinking meant he was constantly in demand to appear at events across the Americas region.

He was on the board of directors of the IAHI Owner’s Association and was a member and past chairman of the Business Advisory Council for the Richard T. Farmer School of Business at Miami University. He was immediate past chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association Government Affairs Committee and served as Executive-in-Residence at the University of Tennessee.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Steve was a graduate of Miami University and received his Master of Business Administration from Xavier University.

A devoted family man, Steve was a keen singer and loved music. Steve’s other recreational interests included being, in his words, “a casual jogger, a big swimmer and a miserable golfer.”

He will be deeply missed by everyone that knew him both professionally and personally.

He is survived by his wife Francey and their two sons, Charlie and Steve.

Contributions
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society or Miami University.

To donate to the American Cancer Society in honor of Steve, click here.
Donations to Miami University, Steve’s alma mater, can be made here.
Alternately, checks made payable to the American Cancer Society or Miami University can be forwarded to Amanda Nicewander, IHG, 3 Ravinia Drive, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30346. IHG will send an acknowledgment of your donation to Steve’s family on your behalf.

Trump is newest condo-hotel to take hit

2008-08-08T11:10:00.005-04:00

It looks as though the ongoing struggle of condo-hotels has struck gold—the gold and glitz of the Trump brand itself.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported this week that an investor in the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is trying to back out from his contract. A lawsuit filed there asks for a $146,000 deposit to be returned, alleging that the plaintiff was misled into signing a contract in 2005 for $730,000 on the basis that it would be a great investment. However, the claim is that the property was to open last year, while today the building's website shows an opening date in 2009. So now I’m wondering if my own immediate tendency to scoff at lawsuits may be silenced a bit by what could be a legitimate gripe.

While I’m still fairly new to the world of hospitality (I’m officially closing my fourth week here at H&MM today), I do understand that the condo-hotel market has taken some hits recently. Lawsuits are mounting and the market has been left over-saturated by way too many properties. However, when reading back on what Hotel & Motel Management reported on the topic, I found the Trump brand is one that’s actually been touted for its success. In our July 21 issue, contributing editor Christine Blank referenced consultants’ views that the Trump projects have thrived despite the downturn because of a plan to not cater to individuals who want to rent their units, but rather to those who legitimately are looking for a space for personal use.

It looks like the effort wasn’t entirely successful, though. Or maybe that just wasn’t the case at all.

The suit in Florida now shows that at least one buyer was trying to make a buck off of the purchase. The plaintiff is arguing that it was stressed to him during the sale that the condo-hotel could bring potential returns on his investment, especially thanks to the Trump name, the Sun-Sentinel reported. However, while the condo was marketed as an investment, the claim is that it was never registered as a security.

Frankly, a lot of this is still confusing to me. What I do know is that $730,000 is a lot of money. Would I be a bit peeved if I signed a contract to invest that kind of change into a condo-hotel from which I might now never see my expected return? Sure. But would I be willing to believe that return to be guaranteed (no matter how good the sales pitch may have been) when hundreds of other properties are going up, essentially, right down the street? I guess I don’t know the answer. Maybe when I get that raise …

We are not alone

2008-08-08T07:51:00.000-04:00

What blogs do you read on a regular basis (other than this one, I hope)? In our industry alone, there are numerous topics; blogs written by magazines, lawyers, individual hotels, angry travelers and many more. Some of the ones I've run across in just the past month or so include:

www.HotelLawBlog.com

www.hotel-blogs.com

blog.renaissancehollywood.com

www.lochtorridonhotel.com/blog.asp

www.opushotel.com/blog

www.happyhotelier.com

www.younghotelier.com

www.vacantready.com/index

If reading blogs is still new to you, there are a few different ways to find blogs of interest. Certainly, you can ask your friends and co-workers what blogs they read. I've found some great ones this way; and it also gives you a little insight into the person you're asking. You can also do a topic or keyword search at sites like Blog Catalog or Blogger.

Do you have a blog of your own? Which ones do you follow? Let us know, so we can follow what you're up to, and see what you have to say in the blogosphere.

Grab demand by the horns

2008-08-07T14:52:00.006-04:00

Although demand is slipping in the U.S. (down 2.5 percent since Q2 2007, according to Smith Travel Research), there are still plenty of people booking hotel rooms. The trick is learning how to make sure those travelers stay at your place and not with someone else, according to Scott Farrell, VP of revenue strategy for TravelClick.

Farrell, along with other members of the TravelClick team including John Hach, VP of eMarketing solutions, presented a webinar yesterday titled "First Half of 2008 Global Hotel Performance: Finding the Way Forward."

Farrell and Hach said there isn't going to be a spectacular turnaround between now and the end of the year. Expect more of the same, they said. But, Hach pointed out, this downturn is extremely different than the last industry downturn, after Sept. 11, 2001. This time, he said, hotels understand rate parody and realize that if they drop rates now, it will be very hard to recover. Instead, ADR continues to grow and, in turn, as does RevPAR, albeit incrementally.

Both Farrell and Hach stressed the importance of a hotel's online presence. They advised hoteliers to market their property on several different channels instead of relying on one.

"It's not spending more money, it's reallocating money and spending it smarter," Hach said.

Ferrell said today's consumers aren't looking at just one site and booking a room from there. Instead, they are shopping around at many different sites trying to find a better deal. For this reason, the opaque sites (sites that don't display the price right away, such as Priceline and Hotwire) are increasing in popularity because they can offer rooms at a reduced rate, even if its just by $1 or $2. The TravelClick team also said GDS bookings rose from $55 million in 2007 to $56 million in 2008, noting "the value of the travel agent continues to have a significant impact."

Here are four takeaways from yesterday's TravelClick webinar:

Expand your distribution presence: Consumers are learning where to shop online, so make rooms available through many different channels.
Pool the local market: With airline capacity shrinking, a good place to make up for those missing travelers is locally. Offer marketing promotions to nearby travelers, such as gas cards and restaurant gift cards.
Expand your virtual presence: Make continual improvements to your website and let it be known what you have to offer. Invest in a content management system so employees can add things to the website without toying with HTML code.
Measure and benchmark conversions: Drive clicks to your website, monitor where consumers came from and how they booked.

An archived version of the "First Half of 2008 Global Hotel Performance: Finding the Way Forward" webinar will be available here after August 15.

Puerto Rican Ritz

2008-08-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I visited The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino in Puerto Rico to see the property and meet with GM Steven Redkoles. Open since 1997, the hotel renovated guestrooms in 2005 and is in the process of adding 24 ocean-facing balconies to be completed by October.

The last two years have brought exciting changes to the property, especially the addition of two New York-concept restaurants, BLT Steak from restauranteur Laurent Tourondel, and Il Mulino New York. Every night, bustling crowds packed these two hallmark restaurants--Redkoles said 20- to 30-percent of the Ritz's restaurant business comes from visitors staying at nearby hotels.

Everything on property is accessible here, starting with its proximity to the airport and extending to its GM. Redkoles is a veteran of the Caribbean region and of Marriott International. He started his career with the company in 1985, and in 1999 was promoted to area director of operations for Marriott's Caribbean and Latin American regional office. After positions in Brazil and Costa Rica, Redkoles joined the San Juan property in January.

"It's a very exciting time here," Redkoles said, pointing to the property's balcony construction project, the continued success of its newest restaurants and its successful marriage of business and leisure travelers.

"We change lanes here," he said. "You'll feel the business traveler vibe during the week, and then they stay a few extra days for vacation, and more families come in over the weekend. We have the luxury of having both customers. It's a good group base."

Since it has been several years since my last stay in a Ritz-Carlton (that's me at left with GM Steven Redkoles), I noticed immediately the subtle changes the brand is espousing as it ratchets its historic formality back just a slight notch into casual elegance. Yes, I was greeted pleasantly by name, but the "my pleasures" were replaced by friendly smiles and "good morning" greetings. Extended families gathered around the pool, mother-and-daughter duos relaxed in the spa, couples played tennis and a wedding took place poolside on Saturday evening. The feeling was relaxed, yet upscale. Casual elegance.

Personally, I like this approach for Ritz-Carlton, and it supports the brand's newest foray into luxury with its Ritz-Carlton Reserve brand. (In February, our Luxury Hotelier magazine published an interview with Ritz president and CEO Simon Cooper. Read it here.) Reserve properties will be smaller and more intimate, with the goal of reaching a different type of luxury traveler, what the company refers to as "barefoot luxury."

The property, with Redkoles steering the ship, is a hub and a model for Ritz-Carlton's Caribbean expansion, the highlight of which will be the opening of the first Reserve location, Molasses Reef, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, in Turks & Caicos, slated for later this year.

We'll be watching!

Oh, one more thing: Last week in Puerto Rico I heard more about one of The Ritz-Carlton's latest marketing projects, a partnership with American Express. This series of three short films about the Ritz-Carlton guest experience are here. You'll get drawn in.

Florida school going for the gold

2008-08-07T08:55:00.000-04:00

It's been said that the Olympics will be China's chance to showcase itself to the world. Thus far there have been reports about occupancy problems and governmental meddling—not a good start. But on Eight-Eight-OH-Eight, when it's showcase time, joining Beijing on stage will be none other than America's own Florida International University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. (U-S-A! U-S-A!)

How so, you ask? Well, on Five-Five-OH-Eight, FIU graduated 29 students from its program in China—the first graduates from an innovative partnership FIU has set up with the Chinese government. There are 1,000 students enrolled for the fall semester, and 500 to 600 of them will be working various positions on the Beijing Olympic Committee as members of the team managing the 500,000-plus visitors expected for the games.

"We are the first and only program to have an international program of this caliber, where we designed the school, trained the professors and have a very successful enrollment," said Mohammed Qureshi, the school's assistant dean.

It all started when Dean Joseph West was invited to a conference in China. He presented a paper that started the Chinese government's interest in the hospitality education at the international level. Three hospitality schools (FIU, Cornell and another school from Switzerland) were invited to form a partnership and offer a degree in Tianjin. FIU was awarded the partnership based on its proposal.

The Chinese government funded the university's $50 million, 80-acre University Center that includes a 20 story dorm to house 1,000 students, teaching kitchens, computer centers and practice dining rooms. This a similar type of big-dollar deal that SEC college football programs have with their own universities (kidding! ... but not really).

"This program was not to get ready for the Olympics, rather long-term planning to bring in more tourism in China and to meet the growing demands of hotels and restaurants and to be able to hire professional and properly trained managers."

No greenwashing it

2008-08-05T08:10:00.007-04:00

What does a green hotel brand look like, exactly? Well, for one thing, the doors open strangely.

A couple of weeks ago I visited the new Element hotel in Lexington, Mass., outside Boston. Although there are many LEED-certified hotels now, this is the first example of a hotel that is part of a brand requiring LEED certification.
(LEED certification is the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System. It is a third-party evaluation of construction and operations.)

The two sets of exterior sliding doors to the lobby open in opposite directions (the first door opens to the left and the second to the right) to keep outside air out of the hotel and climate-controlled air inside the lobby. I kept forgetting to zigzag through the doorways and almost walking straight into the second door.

Some of the other obvious green features are huge windows with natural light pouring into the lobby and guestrooms (which will be especially welcome on gray winter days in many locations) and the soap and shampoo/conditioner dispensers mounted in the showers.

Something less obvious is the hotel’s foundation. The property is surrounded by rock formations. Instead of blasting that rock on the hotel site and taking it to a landfill, it was ground and put into the foundation.

“We’re slowly trying to figure out what it means to be eco-friendly in the hospitality industry,” said Brian McGuinness, VP for Element and aloft brands at Starwood.

Starwood liked the LEED criteria and wanted to make the buildings green.
“We’re not greenwashing this brand,” McGuinness said.

Operationally, it’s a challenge because green practices can’t impact the guest stay, he said. Something seemingly simple like offering recycling bins in the guestroom means putting an extra bin on housekeeping carts, finding a way to sort recyclables (they’re testing multiple bins in some guestrooms for plastic, paper and glass, and one bin in other rooms, which employees will then sort) and hiring someone to haul the recyclables away. On top of that, McGuinness wants to know where the hauler is taking the recyclable materials.

Denise Coll, president of Starwood's North America division, said this ultimately will be a requirement for new construction, so Starwood is simply ahead of the curve.
California just unveiled a new Green Building Code—voluntary until 2010—so you know other states will follow (read more)

While at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference in June, I heard one hotelier (who shall remain nameless) criticize LEED as not relevant to hotels. I would love to hear from you developers, owners and operators who have worked on a LEED-certified project. What is the process like, and are you pleased with the results? Is LEED the best certification option for the hotel industry? And how many of your guests run into those funny sliding doors—or is that just me?

Ethical dilemma in hospitality

2008-08-01T08:53:00.003-04:00

I just read this story about how a U.S. Senator says the Chinese government is ordering foreign-owned hotels to install software so that authorities can monitor the Internet activity of guests.

My first reaction as a red-blooded, apple-pie-eating, baseball-watching American was to say, "Well, too bad! American companies should put their foot down. If I had an extension of my company in China, I wouldn't bend my ethics."

But then I remember that this is the hospitality industry. Governmental spying (while becoming more popular) is frowned upon in this country, but that is how China operates. And the hospitality industry is founded on being just that—hospitable. So, if you build a hotel in another country, it is only right to abide by their social mores and laws. It's not like they made you build a hotel there.

I just think it's an interesting ethical dilemma. Could you run your business in a manner counter to your own ethics? Are there even alternatives since the government says there will be punishment for non-compliance? Am I making too big of a deal out of this?

iEverything

2008-08-01T08:08:00.002-04:00

I find it fascinating to watch how iPods have proliferated—not just as far as how many people I see with them on the street, in the gym, on planes—but also as far as how many related products they have produced. Users can buy iPod-ready alarm clocks, stereos, car radio adapters, speakers, and a lot more. Heck, pick up any copy of the SkyMall catalog, and you'll probably come across four or five different options. Our industry, following the trends of what consumers want, has intelligently found options for hotel rooms.

The latest variation that I've seen is the Zeppelin B&W, a high-end speaker system for the iPod. B&W is known for having their products everywhere from the famed Abbey Road studios in London to the Jaguar XF automobile.

I haven't actually heard sound through the Zeppelin yet, but what I really like about it is the design ... the sleek, sculptural form is certainly an attention-getter. We've gone back and forth through periods where we wanted to hide speakers and where we wanted to make them stylish accessories. Maybe we're moving into an era of the latter type; the Zeppelin is certainly something that I'd be impressed to see on my hotel room's desk.