July 2011

To stand apart from competitors, open the door to a wider clientele, and improve travelers’ perception of budget hotels, economy brands are repositioning themselves through new design prototypes and renovations. Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 are among the economy brands that are upgrading their properties and adding touches of boutique flair without sacrificing the low prices budget travelers have come to expect. The challenge behind updating economy brands is to provide quality guestrooms at af

In today’s world of marketing, technology offers new channels on an almost regular basis. Gone are the days of simple advertising on television or in print. Nowadays, the Internet, smartphones, and social media have changed the rules of the game. In the travel sector, the change has been immense. Hotels must look at marketing through a different lens to reach a new breed of consumer brought up on computers and instant messaging. Whether it’s via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or any number of ...

Bernie Moyle didn’t intend to start a hotel brand when he graduated law school at Nova Southern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “I was dragged into it kicking and screaming by Roger,” he jokes about his longtime partner Roger Bloss. But since 1999, Moyle and Bloss, with the help of several other associates, not only started Vantage Hospitality, but also created one of the more innovative and fastest- growing franchise brands in the industry. A lawyer by trade, Moyle began his caree...

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), along with U.S. Travel Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and National Retail Federation, announced the Discover America Partnership, a broad coalition of trade associations, corporate interests, organized labor, and various groups that understand the importance of international travel to the United States economy.  It is a lobbying campaign to advance visa and entry reforms in order to regain the share of the international ...

No industry has been more affected than the lodging industry by the significant comeback of bed bugs in the United States in the last decade. In fact, a July 2010 survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky found that 95 percent of U.S. pest management professionals encountered a bed bug infestation in the past year, and 67 percent treated bed bug infestations in hotels and motels. That's why Lodging is presenting a one-of-a-kind conferenc...

Along the Riviera Maya of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, across the water from Cozumel, sits Mayakoba. It’s a rare place that couples luxury and nature. Here, some of the world’s leading luxury hotels and most exclusive residences intermingle with crystal clear lagoons, mangrove forests, and white sand beaches.  “All along the Riviera Maya you can find different hotels,” says Lyn S...

It is no easy matter to keep hotel guests happy during high-profile visits by heads of state and other ranking dignitaries. As general manager of The David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, I hosted and experienced visits by President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Prime Minister of Britain John Prescott, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on short visits, and many more. While it is of paramount importance that hotel security work with and assist the various...

It’s often said that the key to a good hotel room is a good bed and good shower. Just as bedding has morphed from merely comfortable to comfortable and eco-friendly, so too are the bathrooms. These days, hotels are offering up more than just a hot shower; they’re offering bathrooms with efficiency, sustainability, and a sense of the eco- conscious design that consumers are finding increasingly more important when making their choice of stay. As many hotels embark on multimillion-dollar...

It’s been a little more than a year since Stash Hotel Rewards was launched with the aim of helping independent hotels attract frequent travelers. And, what started with 64 independent hotels on May 20, 2010, has ballooned to 147 hotels today, establishing a new avenue for independent hotels to market themselves to the all-important business traveler set. Jeff Low, founder and CEO of Stash, says that it is an entirely new type of hotel rewards program. Low, who created Expedia’s Thank You pro...

Kirk Kinsell has been on the job as IHG’s new president, the Americas for a little more than a month. Following the surprise departure of Jim Abrahamson to Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Kinsell return to the Americas after serving as the company’s president, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. From IHG’s headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., yesterday, Kinsell spoke with Lodging on a number of topics, including his return to the Americas, plans for the future, IHG’s brands, and the sale of In...

Across the pond, from coast to coast, U.S. hotels joined the worldwide celebration of the royal wedding in London between Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on April 29. At the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif., the doorman dressed up as a sentry of the Queen’s Guard and manned his station along Wilshire Boulevard, where two Mini Coopers sporting the Union Jack flag were parked. The hotel’s restaurant, The Blvd, offered a special royal menu that i...

It’s been a tough couple of years in the meeting business: the finally fading AIG effect that placed a stigma on luxury meetings in particular; the reluctance of corporations to spend money on business travel; and the emergence of technologies that promise low-cost substitutes for face-to-face events. A turnaround does seem to be in place, but the meetings landscape has been permanently transformed by all of the above. Some meetings industry leaders see a silver lining in the recent crisis in the...

Panama is certainly no stranger to structural marvels. The Panama Canal can sometimes be found on various lists of modern man-made wonders. And these days, the country is becoming one of the hottest markets for hotel development. So it seems like a natural place for Trump Hotel Collection to mark its first departure from U.S. soil. This week, Trump Hotel Collection opens the highly anticipated Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama...

Small and independent properties have many operational challenges that large properties and chains don’t because they have entire organizations dedicated to managing their operations. This is especially true when it comes to subjects such as Payment Card Industry (PCI) awareness and compliance. PCI compliance is an area where small and independent hotels rely heavily on professional industry associations such as AH&LA and state associations to provide advice, guidance, and education. Thi...

It’s one of every traveler’s nightmares—happening upon bed bugs while on the road. In fact, according to a survey by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), nearly 80 percent of people surveyed are most concerned about encountering bed bugs at hotels. The risk of a bed bug infestation is increased in commercial lodging facilities, due to the constant flow of people and frequent turnover of rooms. Diligent attention to preventative measures and quick reaction to signs of an i...

How much does it cost to host a hotel guest? That’s a question hoteliers frequently ask themselves as they evaluate their rates and budgets. But what about unexpected guests? How much will those unwanted guests that every hotelier fears will check in unexpectedly cost—especially when they aren’t in the budget? Yes, we’re talking about bed bugs. Like it or not, a hotel’s door is always open to them and they may pop in for an extended stay at any moment. Bed bugs are “hitchhikers,” meaning the...

Just about everyone has heard about the onslaught of bed bug infestations that are rampant across the country and, for a host of reasons, these parasites are having a significant impact on the hotel/hospitality industry. But there is another side of this problem that involves more than just insects hiding in the shadows and threatening to affect your business. Bed bugs are now becoming a major cause of litigation against hotel/hospitality companies because of the bites, rashes, and, sometime...

It’s no secret that bed bugs have made a significant comeback in the United States in the last decade and have affected people and industries across the country. However, no industry has been more affected than the lodging industry, as news stories about people finding bed bugs in hotels and websites warning travelers about bed bug infested hotels abound. A July 2010 survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and the University of Kentucky found that a whopping 95 pe...

Bed bugs—the mere mention of the pests can elicit all kinds of reactions from people, from squirming and itching to a demonstrative, “Ewww!” Since the resurgence of the blood-sucking bug over the past few years, experts, some real and some not, have come out of the woodwork to proclaim all they know about bed bugs. As with any major occurrence, there is certainly no shortage of bed bug myths, which, in our online culture, can spread like wildfire. The National Pest Management Association (NP...

As the recovery of demand for the U.S. lodging industry takes hold, a detailed look at the data reveals a more mixed result when looking at specific locations. The good news first: Hotels in all location types reported strong demand increases when compared to the first four months of 2010. These vary from 7.2 percent for suburban hotels to 5.2 percent for airport properties—certainly a great showing and an indicator that business and leisure travel have picked up. This plays right into a very slow growin...

In the March 2011 edition of our monthly Hospitality Market Update newsletter, PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR) made the following observation: “The driving force behind revenue growth in 2011 is clearly price positioning. The higher the room rate, the greater the projected growth in ADR and, consequently, RevPAR.” After analyzing the results of the 2011 Trends® in the Hotel Industry survey, the relationship between price positioning and profits appears to be as strong as the correlation between ...

Property insurance is a valuable asset that can protect businesses in the hospitality industry from both natural and man-made disasters. Such insurance may provide coverage not only for physical damage to and loss of property, but also economic losses resulting from the interruption of your business and during the time your business is recovering.

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In a U.S. federal penitentiary you get up early, eat a minimal amount of food, work hard all day at menial tasks, get paid very little, and can never leave the property. Sound a lot like your hotel these days? If so, it is time to restructure your debt. Almost 25 percent of the 46,000 hotels in this country are in default of their mortgage covenants. A deep recession and o...

There were 3,520 full-size crib incidents reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from Nov. 1, 2007 through April 11, 2010, according to Foundations, a manufacturer of commercial cribs used in hotels. And the dangers don’t end there. The company says that 23 percent of those incidents involved falls from cribs, while 22 percent were related to crib drop-side-related problems, which included drop-side detachment, operation, hardware, and assembly issues. Additionally, 12 percent of incident...

Consider the difference between taking the stairs and riding the elevator to get to your high-rise office:   Stairs: You climb, stair by stair; leg muscles straining every step of the way. Time is slipping by: you have so many things to get done; yet you must climb all of these stairs to get to your destination. Beads of sweat form, you shift the load in your arms: with every floor, the briefcase you’re carrying seems to multiply tenfold in weight.   You fi...

Design is an integral part of a successful hotel business. Colors, patterns, shapes, textures—all of these design elements can affect the mood of both customers and employees. And if done right, they can help your business stand out from the crowd. With a world of design options, how can you tell you’re doing it right? Trend-forecasting is key. As a manufacturer and designer, I use design forecasting as a foundation to all of my work. When developing new products, we are reading the mark...

The summer season that spans Memorial Day through Labor Day is traditionally a peak travel time for North America. What looks different this year compared to last year? With forward-looking data gathered from hotel companies participating in MarketVision Demand Position, we examined the overall trends for June-August this year versus the same time last year, including business demand versus leisure, and performance by chain scale.<...

General managers, housekeepers, maintenance staff, concierges, and all the other employees whose leadership and initiative exemplifies what it means to be in hospitality were honored at last month’s AH&LA Stars of the Industry awards competition in Atlanta, Ga. But while these employees were the ones with the trophies, everyone nominated got a little extra workplace pride, confidence, and the sense that what they do really does make a difference. The next entry deadline isn’t until mid-F...

As the summer travel season approaches, the lodging industry is celebrating a major legislative win. This time last year, AH&LA was fighting an intense battle against the Internet Travel Tax Fairness Act (ITTFA). Opposing ITTFA is our number one legislative priority and hoteliers from across the country visited with their members of Congress during our 2010 Legislative Action Summit (LAS) to explain the threat ITTFA posed to the lodging industry. Aided by a common sense message of fairness, a...

The Westin Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard, Ill., was named the winner of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s (AH&LA) year-long Energy Slasher Challenge. The challenge, launched on Earth Day 2010, helped participating hotels obtain a 5 percent overall energy reduction. The hotel receives a full day with the AH&LA Green Guru for a personal eco-strategy session, as well as other prizes courtesy of HD Supply. Participants could use several tools to help with tracking thei...

Michael Doyle, executive director of the Virtual Edge Institute and a leader in the virtual meeting movement, says he has been sought out by hoteliers and, “While they might be a self-selecting group, I give them a lot of credit. They have gone through a rough patch. On the one hand, they are trying to find the money to paint and put in new carpet, but they are also looking at the technology side of things and realizing there is an opportunity here for them.” That opportunity, says...