April 2012

Transforming older or historic buildings with good bones into new hotels preserves the past while building the future. With the right approach, architects and interior designers can craft a modern hotel concept around properties with built-in histories that will offer guests authentic experiences and help revitalize communities. Adaptive reuse projects have become more and more attractive to developers, especially since lending has been constricted in our uncerta

The year was 1987, and many businesses were suffering through an insurance crisis. While many industries were affected, hotels and resorts, in particular, were having trouble securing adequate liability insurance. There were very high umbrella limits, which were proving detrimental to many resort owners.  At the time, a group of resort owners would meet once a year as part of the Resort Committee of what was then know as the American Hotel...

Earlier this year, we told you that longtime hotel executive Paul Whetsell would become the new president and CEO for Loews Hotels, succeeding Jack Adler, who retired. Since he took the helm in mid-January, the former board member at Virgin Hotels and founder of Capstar Hotel Company has been living a whirlwind first three months, but he found time in his busy schedule to talk with Lodging Editor Len Vermillion about his plans for the future of the company. 1. ...

The market for the purchase of lodging properties is ever changing. Those of us who have been “in the business” for longer than the short term, have seen the market transition from a buyers market, where we were inundated with lodging properties of all shapes and sizes for sale, to our current sellers market where buyers cannot find a property to purchase, even if it is a “bad” buy. Over the past three years in the 20 to 150 room category, there has been ...

From bellhops and front desk clerks to housekeepers and maintenance staff, every hotel worker plays an instrumental role in the quality of service guests receive. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s “2011 Lodging Industry Profile,” the U.S. travel and tourism industry employed 1.76 million hotel property workers in 2010. As the economy continues to improve and hotel occupancy rates increase, an engaged, motivated, and passionate lodg...

The hopes of the economy turning around have many small hotel owners and operators primed for a successful year. Industry analysts such as STR are projecting increases in all three key performance metrics during 2012.  This year owners and property managers are optimistic they will have the opportunities to address much-needed capital improve...

“Forty years,” Bill Marriott Jr. says simply while on the phone from New York City. He’s explaining to Lodging why he decided it was time to step away from the CEO post at Marriott International Inc.—the hotel conglomerate his father founded 85 years ago—and pass on the reins to longtime President and Chief Operating Officer Arne Sorenson. Marriott Jr., who recently turned 80 years old, held the title of chairman of the board since 1985 when his father, th...

Cleanliness is a main driver of guest satisfaction in hotels, and one of the most important factors that travelers look for when choosing where to stay. Efficiency in housekeeping keeps guests happy and improves a hotel’s bottom line. By investing in the proper training, using consistent procedures, outsourcing services, and embracing technology, hotels can streamline housekeeping operations. More...

Microtel, the economy-scale hotel brand founded in the late 1980s by hotelier Mike Levin and now under the Wyndham Hotel Group family of brands, is in many ways one of the hotel industry’s better kept secrets. The problem is, no one really it wants it that way. With 318 properties in the brand system and a reputation for high quality at the economy level—the brand has won J.D. Power & Associates awards for 10 straight years—the all-new construction brand is somewhat of an enigma. Fact is m...

Long-time real-estate developer Tuckey Devlin and his business partner Matthew Weld entered into a contract with the Ernest Hemingway estate and business entity, Hemingway, Ltd., back in 2005 and began to develop Hemingway Hotels & Resorts, a brand of unique properties based on the famous author's adventurous life. But during the industry's recent downturn, plans became unsustainable, and the company unraveled in early 2011. But now, Heming...

Will the Dallas hotel industry reach a full recovery by 2013? The signs are good. According to STR, the Dallas hotel market in 2011 experienced an impressive double-digit jump in revPAR. The first 11 months of 2011 showed positive indicators of improvement with occupancy up 8.3 percent from the same period in 2010. The Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington area accounts for 29.3 percent of the state's hotel market share. The new Omni Dallas Hotel, complementing the 2.1 milli...

Editor’s Note: This is the 10th in a 15-part series (appearing on LodgingMagazine.com each Monday) examining the performance of various markets in the United States. The following is courtesy of Deloitte’s “Hospitality Vision US Performance Review.” Fort Lauderdale’s metrics, while holding steady, remain flat overall. According to STR, for the first 11 months of 2011, occupancy was up a small percentage point of 5.3 percent from the same period in...

Editor’s Note: This is the ninth in a 15-part series (appearing on LodgingMagazine.com each Monday) examining the performance of various markets in the United States. The following is courtesy of Deloitte’s “Hospitality Vision US Performance Review.” Las Vegas remains one of the largest hotel markets in the world attracting both leisure and business travelers. In fact, the tourism industry continues to show signs of a steady recovery, as the city welcomed ...

Editor’s Note: This is the thirteenth in a 15-part series (appearing on LodgingMagazine.com each Monday) examining the performance of various markets in the United States. The following is courtesy of Deloitte’s “Hospitality Vision US Performance Review. Everything’s looking up in Orlando. STR metrics show that during 2011 (through November), revPAR figures increase...

Editor’s Note: This is the eleventh in a 15-part series (appearing on LodgingMagazine.com each Monday) examining the performance of various markets in the United States. The following is courtesy of Deloitte’s “Hospitality Vision US Performance Review.” In 2011, San Francisco was a top-performing market in the US, with a nearly $8 billion tourism industry whose growth exceeded th...

Planning to develop a sustainable hotel today can be as challenging as solving a linear algebra equation—blindfolded. Purchasing eco-friendly building materials, furniture, and fabrics can lead to a vast amount of time-consuming, extensive research, often with confusing and ambiguous results. As there is no clear definition of the word, “sustainability,” the process is complicated from the start. So, how does a hotel developer truly know w...

High school hospitality students from Monroe Career & Technical Institute in Bartonsville, Pennsylvania, took home the international title in the ninth annual American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) International Lodging Management Program (LMP) Competition held March 28-30, 2012. The three-day event at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort challenged students to the real-life work experiences in a hotel. The competition is organized by EI, vi...

When it comes to economic rebound, much is being made about the leading role luxury hotels have taken in raising rate and how group business has contributed to increasing occupancy. But, what about the little guy? How are limited-service hotels, which get a bulk of their business from transient travelers and highway drivers, faring in the recovery? For the answer, we went straight to the horse’s mouth and talked to two heads of leading limited-service brands, Roger Bloss...

Reasons to renovate: Reflagging; new and updated identity DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh-Green Tree is undergoing an extensive $17 million transformation that is scheduled for com...

Reasons to renovate: Expansion; compete more successfully in emerging markets; create additional revenue opportunities Coeur d’Alene Resort in Idaho completed an extensive year-long multimillion dollar renovation in March that includes a redesigned lobby, restaurant and lounge, outdoor patio, guestrooms in t...

Reasons to renovate: Hurricane damage; new ownership; brand relaunch; refocused importance on meeting space With a design objective of creating a welcoming guest experience, VOA Associates’ Orlando, Fla., office completed a total ext...

As a high school student in his native Minneapolis, Minn., Tim Walker got his indoctrination into the hotel business. He started working in a hotel in his senior year, and has been in the business ever since. “I’ve been in the hotel business my entire life, so it’s really all I know,” Walker says. “I started as a front desk clerk and worked my way all the way to the top.” These days, Walker makes his home in South Florida, a far cry from the ha...

Bill Duncan, brand leader for Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton, knows that Homewood Suites’ Gen 8 prototype is still very viable. However, as development land becomes harder to acquire, especially in the acreage required for the Gen 8 Homewood Suites, he knew another option would be needed. “We were starting to see a trend of modifications to our Gen 8 prototype simply because there were not as many pieces of land out there...

Normally, this column is supposed to cover the tax changes over the prior year and how they impact the hospitality industry. Last year, we commented about how 2010 was an interesting year but little had passed in the tax field. 2010 was all about health care reform, the change in control of the House, and the rise of the Tea Party. It was a very political and partisan year.  If anything, 2011 was worse. Never has so little been accomplished by so many. Brinkmanship w...

Back in January, the famed Algonquin Hotel in New York closed its doors for one of the largest renovation projects in the hotel's history. When returning guests visit the property after it reopens this spring, they will experience the many changes and updates first hand. But one aspect of the property's rich history will remain quite familiar—the 5-year old, blue-eyed Rag Doll cat named Matilda. The feline presence at the West 44th Street hote...

I believe that if I asked 10 different condominium owners, each from a different condo resort or condo-hotel (condotel), where units are marketed for rent to travelers (transient guests), I would find that at least eight (if not all) of them would express unhappiness with the quality of the operation of the services at the condo resort or condotel. I also believe that they would claim that the upkeep of their respective condos and/or the rental revenue stream a...

The Marlin Hotel, which was built in 1939 by architect Laurence Murray Dixon, is a pre-World War II property located in Miami Beach. The building is recognizable for its Art Deco design and entertainment industry connections (The Marlin is home to South Beach Studios), but it's now becoming known for something else entirely—a savvy in-room technology system. In September, the Marlin completed the installation of an Apple-based control system d...

When Don Draper and the rest of the "Mad Men" characters returned to television in March for the show's long-awaited fifth season, the Roosevelt Hotel decided to use the buzz surrounding the series to boost business. The historic New York property has been featured several times on the award-winning AMC drama. The Roosevelt served as Don Draper's temporary residence when Betty kicked him out of their suburban home, and the characters were often...