Five motels on the Southern California coast recall beach vacations of the past, when stopping at a motor inn was part of the journey.
There aren’t many of these old places, but there are a few — lovingly maintained and still welcoming company the old-fashioned way. Outside, a neon sign flickers whether there is a vacancy. Inside, the lobby is just big enough to accommodate the front desk and perhaps a coffee pot. Read more
A San Diego hotel where rooms start at $450 a night is setting itself apart with a racy atmosphere featuring group showers and firemen’s poles.
The Ivy Hotel, which also features scantily clad waitresses and bottles of wine for $500 to $600, could put a dent in San Diego’s self-described reputation as “America’s Finest City,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Read more
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, is a popular choice for developers in the hottest primary market in the U.S. – New York City. The company’s hotel brands have the fourth largest presence in New York City among major hotel chain companies and the largest midscale chain presence in the market with over 4,000 rooms – more than 1,600 above the next largest competitor.
IHG also has the largest pipeline of new midscale hotels under construction and in planning. Both Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express lead their respective segments in the development pipeline in the New York City market. Read more
Long before the age of inclusion and environmental awareness, there was a funky little hotel chain called Kimpton.
The San Francisco-based company recycles coat hangers and awards discounts to people with hybrid cars. It welcomes gay and lesbian travelers with wedding and gay pride parade packages. It donates money to a constellation of progressive causes.
And, for the first time, the chain is investing in the Valley.
Kimpton recently debuted FireSky Resort & Spa at Scottsdale and Chaparral roads in Scottsdale, its first hotel in Arizona. Read more
Phoenix-based developer Lou Cassise got the go-ahead this week to build two more hotels, a Radisson and a new hotel brand called Aloft.
Both will be six stories high and offer 120 rooms.
The latest additions mark nine hotels racing to open near University of Phoenix Stadium before Super Bowl XLII storms into Glendale next year.
The NFL showcase is eating up open land near the $455 million football dome on the city’s west side. And it’s transforming the city’s meager hotel industry, tripling the 400 current rooms to more than 1,400 rooms. Read more
Supertel Hospitality, Inc., a self-administered real estate investment trust, today announced it has added 15 hotels to its portfolio with the completion of the previously announced acquisition of the Masters Inn hotels. The purchase price for the hotels was $42.7 million. The hotels are located in: Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Orlando, Florida; Kissimmee, Florida (2); Seffner, Florida; East Tampa, Florida; Doraville, Georgia; Marietta, Georgia; Tucker, Georgia; Augusta, Georgia; Garden City, Georgia; Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; and Cayce, South Carolina (2).
“These 15 Masters Inn hotels, with a total of 1,842 rooms, present a great opportunity for Supertel to add clean, friendly and affordable accommodations for business and leisure travelers in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida markets while expanding into Alabama. We believe adding these facilities to our portfolio will strengthen our overall position in the economy and limited service sectors of the hospitality lodging industry particularly in the southeast section of the United States,” said Paul J. Schulte, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Supertel Hospitality, Inc. Read more
Plans are under way to develop two more hotels in Rosemont, which would bring the total in the convention mecca to 19 if all the projects are completed.
The two hotels would be built on a long-dormant but high-profile stretch of vacant property in the heart of the village, officials said Tuesday.
Developers are asking Rosemont to approve plans for a “high-end” hotel, possibly a Conrad Hotel, and a Hampton Inn on a 5-acre tract at the northwest corner of Higgins and River Roads, officials said. Read more
What do Versace, Christian Lacroix and Ralph Lauren have in common (besides presumably impressive walk-in closets)? They all have hotels—and they’re in good company. The Italian fashion houses of Missoni and Moschino will both open fashion/hospitality hybrids this year in Milan. Giorgio Armani recently announced ambitious plans to build branded hotels in New York, Dubai and London. And Versace will add a second resort to its empire this year in Dubai (naturally). Read more
Investcorp has announced its acquisition of a group of hotels located in the US in a series of transactions worth $450 million.
The US Hotel Portfolio comprises nine hotels from the Marriott, InterContinental, Hilton and Starwood hotel groups, located in Illinois, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas and Virginia.
Eight of the hotels have been purchased and the ninth is scheduled to be completed in July.
Three hotels – the Marriott Schaumburg, the Crowne Plaza and the Holiday Inn Express – are located in Illinois.
Two hotels, the Holiday Inn Select and the Marriott Palm Beach, are located in Florida and a further two, the Doubletree and the Marriott Waterford, are located in Oklahoma.
The remaining two hotels, the Marriott Waterside and the Westin DFW, are located in Virginia and Texas respectively.
Combined, these nine hotels supply 2,828 rooms and 252,514sqft of meeting space. Read more
Equity Inns Inc. has signed agreements to purchase five Marriott-branded hotels from Huntington Hotels for a total price of $114.2 million.
The properties include a 150-suite Residence Inn at the Los Angeles International Airport; a 95-suite Residence Inn and 137-suite SpringHill Suites in San Diego; and a 184-room Courtyard and 116-room Fairfield Inn & Suites in Dallas. Read more
Several major and midprice hotel brands will unveil a number of new properties in New York City in the coming months, even as they plan additional properties for the years ahead. The additional guest rooms and meeting space, developed either by hotel companies themselves or by private developers, will mean more choices and greater options for corporate travel and meeting buyers in a time when limited supply has helped to create the strongest hotel seller’s market in the United States.
According to NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism, marketing and events organization, New York’s guest room inventory currently stands at 72,150, a figure that is expected to rise by nearly 20 percent in the next three years. Read more
Soon, smoking will no longer be allowed at Walt Disney Company’s 22 Orlando hotels and time-share resorts. The company is imposing the ban effective June 1. It currently permits smoking at designated outdoor areas. The theme park’s spokesman Jacob DiPietre said the transition will allow Disney to better accommodate the increasing number of guests requesting nonsmoking hotel rooms. He said the ban follows a 2000 measure that restricted smoking throughout Disney’s theme and water parks, limiting smoking to designated areas. Guests caught smoking after the ban could face cleaning surcharges up to $500.
There are some great sites out there. One that we like relates to Canadian Hotels and travel. The other is for summer computer camps for your kids or teenagers while you are on vacation. These summer camps are all around the country. If you are on vacation at a hotel in a strange city and are looking for some fun things to do check out these hard to find theater and concert tickets.
It is time for one of our most popular features, HotelChatter’s annual look at hotel brands with the Best and Worst WiFi experiences.
This year, we are going to boldly say that hotel WiFi landscape has reached an impasse. When we first started doing this report, hotels made our best list for offering up free wireless internet access. The next year, hotels made our best list for offering up free wireless internet access with a high degree of consistency across brands and locations. So we assumed that by 2007, more hotels would be offering free wireless and with greater consistency, seeing that guests love, need and want free WiFi. Alas, that is not what we found. Read more
Embassy Suites Hotels announces the opening of its first property in Fort Worth, TX as the only upscale, all-suite hotel property in Fort Worth. The new Embassy Suites Fort Worth – Downtown, is owned and operated by Texas-based Pearl Real Estate, the same development and management company of the Embassy Suites Lubbock, which has won the brand’s prestigious “Connie Award,” named in honor of Hilton Hotels Corporation founder, Conrad Hilton, for two consecutive years, in 2005 and 2006.
“We are excited to expand the Embassy Suites brand to Fort Worth with Pearl Real Estate,” said Jim Holthouser senior vice president, brand management, Embassy Suites Hotels. “We are confident the high levels of customer service and satisfaction delivered in the Lubbock property will be brought to Fort Worth, propelling the brand’s commitment to customer satisfaction and loyalty.” Read more
Two Hyatt Place hotels have opened in Nashville, marking the newly developed brand’s entrance into the Tennessee market.
Hyatt Place/Opryland at 220 Rudy’s Circle and Hyatt Place Nashville/Northeast at 330 East Main Street in Hendersonville had grand opening events this week.
Additional Nashville-area Hyatt Place hotels include Hyatt Place Nashville/Brentwood and Hyatt Place Nashville/Cool Springs. Read more
The city’s fast-rising occupancy rate has triggered plans for two new hotels at 101st Street and Ellerslie Road.
“We’re just getting the paperwork through the city, then we will proceed,” Vancouver developer Charan Rai said today.
He plans to build a $14-million Gateway Sheraton hotel “catering to small business people,” with 154 guest rooms. Read More
Perfect Escapes, the online expert in luxury hotels and great deals on luxury travel, today announced its top luxury hotels in the United States. This definitive collection of 762 hotels represents only the top 1.5 percent of all hotels in the U.S. From the best boutique hotel on the California Coast, to New York’s most premier properties, Perfect Escapes offers a comprehensive collection of the nation’s upscale hotels. Read more
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. the largest global luxury hotel brand, announced today the launch of the Leading Green Initiative. This innovative program will enable and encourage guests to make a conscious decision toward greener travel by actively supporting Sustainable Travel International (STI), the foremost non-profit organization in responsible tourism. Read more
Two downtown Oklahoma City hotels are among six just added to the member list for the National Trust Historic Hotels of America.
The Skirvin Hilton _ which originally opened as the Skirvin Hotel in 1911 and reopened in February after being closed and boarded up for 19 years _ and the Colcord Hotel help bring the organization’s membership to 213 hotels.
The designation of the two Oklahoma hotels comes during the state’s centennial year. Read more
Northeast and Hyatt Place Cincinnati Airport/Florence celebrated grand openings today, the first Hyatt Place hotels in the Cincinnati area. As a new kind of Hyatt for today’s relaxed lifestyle, Hyatt Place offers travelers a new type of hospitality experience by combining innovative design, amenities and services.
“Today’s lifestyle can no longer be put into ‘work’ or ‘play’ silos. People are shifting seamlessly between professional and personal tasks but hotel offerings haven’t kept up with this shift in lifestyle,” said Jim Abrahamson, senior vice president, Hyatt Corporation. “Hyatt Place is specifically designed around this new breed of travelers, offering guests a mix of comfortable and functional amenities in an environment designed to help them stay relaxed, fulfilled and productive while traveling.” Read more
Supertel Hospitality, Inc. a self-administered real estate investment trust, today announced it has added seven hotels to its portfolio. Supertel has completed the previously announced acquisition of four hotels from Waterloo Hospitality, Inc. for $30.9 million. At the same time, Supertel will lease two additional properties from Budget Motels until the expected acquisition close in July 2007. The Tara Inn and Suites, a 127-room extended stay hotel located in Jonesboro, Georgia, was acquired by Supertel in April for $6 million.
The four Waterloo Hospitality hotels include a Comfort Inn in Alexandria, Virginia and Days Inns in Alexandria, Virginia; Fredericksburg (South), Virginia; and Shreveport, Louisiana. These hotels are part of a six hotel 951 room portfolio that Supertel agreed to purchase from Budget Motels, Inc. and Waterloo Hospitality, Inc. Supertel is leasing the two remaining Days Inns in Bossier City, Louisiana and Fredericksburg (North), Virginia. Read more
Next time you stay at a Radisson Hotel, Park Plaza or one of Carlson Hotels Worldwide’s other holdings, consider that a Scottsdale company is working in the background to the hotel run more efficiently.
JDA Software Group Inc. announced Tuesday that it signed an agreement with the Minneapolis hotel franchisor to provide its revenue-management system across the chain.
In Phase I of the implementation JDA will provide property-specific demand forecasting to each hotel, enabling them to capitalize on brand strengths and property characteristics, officials said in a statement. Read more
LIKE the distant sound of an approaching herd, the rumble of hotel developers coming into Lower Manhattan is growing ever louder. With more than 3,000 hotel rooms under construction or in various stages of planning, hotel capacity there could more than double within a few years.
The luxury W New York-Downtown Hotel & Residences, the brand’s first property in that neighborhood, is scheduled to open in 2008.
Luxury developments include a W Hotel at 123 Washington Street and a boutique hotel at 75 Wall Street. Both projects will offer full-service hotel rooms, as well as residential units for sale. At the same time, a dozen other hotel projects are under way, many of them by the McSam Hotel Group, a developer based in Long Island City, Queens. Read more
