Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stays in a lot of hotels. This week alone, he was in Korea and Las Vegas, followed by Houston, where he gave the keynote address at the Asian American Hotel Owners Association annual convention. One of the chapters in his new book, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership , documents his travels on the road. Here are 10 suggestions he wishes hoteliers would follow: 1. In the shower, give me one h...

The U.S. economy is improving, but we’re still not cruising down an open highway. Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, said the reason we’re in this sluggish economy today is because of policy errors, and it can be easily cured. “We hear a lot of talk these days about what they call the new normal, that we have to accept an era of slow growth and higher than normal unemployment,” Forbes said. “But actually this is an era—and it’s a v...

The emerging wellness industry has an estimated annual global value of a staggering $1.7 trillion. To give hoteliers a new way to tap into this lucrative market, a spa development and management company has introduced a customized wellness program for the hospitality industry. Trilogy Wellness LLC launched the first location of its new brand, Well & Being Intentional Living, at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Jan. 11. Trilogy intends to open ...

At the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles this week, we met with owners, developers, investors, lenders, management company executives, and other industry leaders to see what plans they had in store for 2013. Here are just a few highlights from our conversations: Bank on It The transformation of the 1926 Dearborn Bank Building in Chicago into Virgin Hotels’ debut property is on track to wrap up in the first quar...

TMI Hospitality celebrated the grand opening of its 91-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott, located across from Sesame Place theme park in Langhorne, Pa., on Thursday. The property, which officially opened in August, is the first SpringHill Suites to feature the new interior package, which plays up bright hues like lime green, magenta, and teal in the lobby and includes an updated guestroom design. More...

Big plans are on the horizon for Sam Nazarian’s rapidly expanding hospitality group SBE, and you’ll be able to read all about it in Lodging’s October cover story. While on a recent business trip in China, Nazarian set aside some time to discuss his big international growth plans for SLS Hotels, the progress of the Las Vegas and New York City properties, and the performance of SLS South Beach, which opened in June. Founded in 2002, SBE now has 40 properties with an additional 31 in development. ...

When was the last time you met a hotelier who was a Ph.D. statistician? To avoid data overload, more hoteliers are taking advantage of revenue management systems to solve their pricing and forecasting problems. Hotels that apply predictive analytics to their business have better insights about movements in the market and shifts in demand, are more confident about the pricing changes they m...

Now that WiFi has gone from amenity to basic necessity, what type of guestroom technology impresses travelers these days? “One of the most significant technology upgrades of the decade is putting computers in hotel rooms,” says Kevin Bidner, CEO of Hotel Communication Network (HCN). As the Lodging staff gears up for HITEC next week in Baltimore, Md., ho...

Hotels are investing in new technologies that will simplify and enhance the guest experience while driving business. For Lodging ’s June cover story, I spoke with industry members about the various technologies their hotels and brands have embraced. Pete Sears, senior vice president of North America operations for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, talked about our 24/7 digital world, and how quickly technology changes.    More...

While visiting the Durkan hospitality carpet booth at HD Expo last week, I was transported to an interactive landscape, surrounded by floating poppies. American streetpainter Tracy Lee Stum, in collaboration with Durkan, pushed the limits of 3D art form to unveil this playful booth feature. Stum, who specializes in interactive 3D chalk art street paintings, used Durkan’s recently introduced Spectronics 25X digital printing technology to bring to life the 3D art form in carpet. The Spectronics 25X ...

Westin has announced a new workspace concept to meet the changing needs of today’s business traveler. After conducting in-depth guest research and monitoring business traveler trends, Westin is transforming business centers and dedicated spaces at its hotels around the world into highly functional, fully equipped workspaces. Modeled to support today’s mobile traveler, the interconnected worksp...

New York City's Algonquin Hotel shared a rendering of its famed Blue Bar, which will be unveiled when the hotel re-opens later this spring. The new Blue Bar will feature an expanded space with a contemporary design. The historic venue will have new lighting and banquette seating with sparkling black, white, and navy fabrics, complemented by a jewel-toned blue carpet. More...

The opening of TRYP New York City Times Square South in February marked a key milestone in Wyndham Hotel Group’s plans to introduce the TRYP by Wyndham brand in major cities throughout the Americas. So far, Daniel del Olmo, brand senior vice president for TRYP by Wyndham, says the New York City property is exceeding expectations in terms of bottom line results. “While the property is unique in its kind against the greater New York City competition, the TRYP...

While the lack of available financing and economic uncertainty has made new hotel construction sluggish in the United States, hotel renovation projects have picked up significantly. “There’s not much new-build activity today, so people are leveraging as much as possible through renovations,” says Jim Looney, owner of design firm Looney & Associates. I recently spoke to Looney for a feature I’m writing on the many reasons for hotels to renovate, which will appear in an upcoming issue of...

Special events that engage consumers and franchisees can be a fun, cost effective way for brands to give back in the major markets where they have hotels and help promote a positive brand image. To deliver and spread its brand message of goodwill and giving back, Howard Johnson launched an initiative called “The Give Happy Challenge” about three years ago, which has grown and become more successful since then. This year, the brand chose four high schools, based on their goodwill efforts in the...

The American Hotel & Lodging Association and STR released a special report, “Distribution Channel Analysis: a Guide for Hotels,” published by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, to assist hotels in determining their optimal channel mix. The report discusses the effects of channel mix on profitability and what the industry can expect in the near term in the distribution landscape. It reviews the size an...