February 2012

Ian Schrager is plagued by a lifelong curse. Whenever he’s involved with a project, he can’t help but obsess over every single detail. For a perfectionist like Schrager, there’s always room for improvement. “It’s not a gift, it’s a curse,” he insists. Sitting at the head of a conference room table in his New York City office in the West Village, Schrager admits to a visitor that he has made mistakes in his nearly 30 years as a boutique and lifestyle hotelier. Thro

Enchantment Group, which currently includes Enchantment Resort and Mii amo destination spa in Sedona, Ariz., and Tides Inn in Irvington, Va., has seen all three of its properties grow in 2011, up 20 percent in room nights. In addition, it has been awarded the management contracts for Hotel ZaZa’s spas in both Houston and Dallas. Editor Len Vermillion recently caught up with Enchantment Group President Mark Grenoble. 1. Len Vermillion: You’ve been able to increase revenue and clientele in the...

As recently as five years ago, Phoenix Porcelli says she didn’t even realize that hospitality was something that could be a field of study. The Santa Monica, Calif., native, who went to high school in Connecticut, ended up studying at Boston University, and she’s certainly glad she discovered the hospitality business as a career path. Although it’s been short so far—she graduated last May—she already finds herself heading the front desk at one of the world’s most notable and iconic hotels, the Waldorf=Astor...

Calling it part three of its Ambition 2015 growth strategy, The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group welcomed approximately 1,300 worldwide associates and franchisees to Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for its annual Global Business Conference. In 2010 in Orlando, Fla., Carlson first announced its five-year growth plan, which included bringing Radisson Blu to North America and a $3 billion investment to upgrade and grow its brands such as Radisson, Radisson Blu, Park Inn, Country Inns &...

To express its ongoing commitment to arts and culture, and to elevate the guest experience, the Conrad Indianapolis offers its visitors a luxury art experience in a hospitality setting. In the fall of 2011, the property took its arts program to a new level when it partnered with Indianapolis-based ModernMasters Fine Art to create “A Fine Art Experience at The Conrad.” “We were looking for a broker that had an incredible desire to show work outside of the museum experience,” says General Manager G...

A new industry study released yesterday, Empowering inspiration: the future of travel search , identifies trendsetting consumers' behavior and motivations when shopping for travel online and identifies their experience during the destination selection, shopping, and booking processes. The study also details the key trends and predictions for how consumers want to be able to search for travel online in the future. The Amadeus-commissioned study, conducted by Pho...

In our information-hungry society, technology has rapidly transformed the way consumers make purchases today. And as our methods of communication evolve, businesses must embrace new approaches for engaging with their customers. In the lodging industry, this has prompted many hotels to develop mobile apps for on-the-go travelers and offer direct bookings via smartphone and Facebook. Once these digital explorers check-in, they still keep one foot firmly planted in the tech realm, even when they’re on the hunt...

When it comes to doing laundry, most people opt for efficiency. In our homes, we usually do laundry while multitasking around the house. And, many of us opt for efficiency equipment, which can cut down on water and energy usage. Hotels are no different, except that they must deal with much more laundry on a daily basis. While efficiency in hotel laundry operations is often found in new equipment designed to cut energy costs and make the process of washing and drying bed sheets, towels, and othe...

Fires can put hotel guests and employees at risk and result in significant structural damage and business interruption. A comprehensive fire prevention program, complete with employee training, regular maintenance of fire protection equipment, and emergency response plans, can help ensure that hotels are better prepared to handle a fire should one occur. “Fire protection, in being a life safety service and system, becomes that much more important when you’re in a place where people sleep and stay...

Last week, Destination Hotels & Resorts (DH&R) announced that it will manage the 296-room Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va. With a 50,000-square-foot conference center, golf courses, spa, aquatic complex, tennis courts, and six food and beverage outlets, the LaSalle Hotel property has many moving parts. Mike Everett, senior vice president of hospitality investments for Destination Hotels & Resorts, says Lansdowne is ideal for the company’s skill set. This marks the seventh management ...

“The energy is just amazing. I’m looking at a crowd that’s lining up for the NFL Experience and it says that tickets were already sold out for today,” Janis Milham, vice president and global brand manager for Courtyard by Marriott, says from her brand’s “zone” at the weeklong pre-Super Bowl extravaganza at the Indianapolis Convention Center. “There are people everywhere. It’s tons of fun.” La...

“What makes Omni a little different is we really strive to be unique, local, and authentic in all of the different markets,” says Omni Hotels & Resorts President Mike Deitemeyer in an interview from his office in the company’s Dallas, Texas, headquarters. Indeed, Omni has developed a reputation over the years of putting up one-of-a-kind hotels, particularly ...

A guest forms an opinion of an establishment during the initial interaction with an associate. That first interaction is crucial, but so are the second, third, and fourth. All must be memorable and positive. In baseball, the batter gets three strikes. In guest service, we aren’t always so lucky. So how does one develop a service culture that inspires, develops, and motivates employees at all levels of the organization to create value for the organization and deliver their best every time becaus...

PHOTO: Elaine Grossinger-Etess with her mother and legendary hotelier Jennie Grossinger in the 1960s. Elaine Grossinger-Etess says it’s one of her favorite stories, and it illustrates how the former hotelier has never let the concept of hospitality slip far from her mind. “Once my husband, Dr. David Etess, and I were walking up the grand staircase of the Waldorf=Astoria and I saw an empty pack of cigarettes on the floor,” she recalls from her home in South...

Rajiv Trivedi and Wayne Goldberg of La Quinta Inns & Suites sign the the brand's first franchise agreement in Colombia with Grupo TAO's Marta and Luis Fernando Toro. At its annual conference in New Orleans, La., this week, La Quinta Inns & Suites introduced its first franchisee in Colombia. The expansion is the fourth country outside of the United States for the Dallas, Texas-based hotel chain. The announcem...

March 15, 2012 is the ADA compliance deadline. That means next month your property needs to ensure guestrooms, the pool, the front desk, and other public spaces are in accordance with the new regulations, and that your employees are trained on service animals, when to release accessible rooms, and more. And HR has new rules to follow as well regarding accommodating employees with real or perceived disabilities. Hopefully, you’re well on your way toward compliance. But to assist you...

It’s been a little more than a year since Advaya Hospitality President and CEO John Russell and Principal and Chief Development Officer Chris Jones announced the launch of MODO Hotels, a musically inspired brand that will develop hotels in both the United States and India. The pair, along with their partners from India-based Auro Hospitality Group, announced it would develop, acquire, franchise, and operate full-service and select-service hotels that used music and music culture as its backdrop and offered ...

Editor’s Note: This is the first 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, Los Angeles was one of the top-performing metros for ...

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth 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.” The Miami market emerged victorious in overall performance for 2011. Acco...

Editor’s Note: This is thesecond 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 New Orleans, city boosters are feeling a positi...

Editor’s Note: This is the third 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.” The hospitality market in Washington, D.C., was flat compared with most other markets i...

By most accounts, the travel industry is expecting more travelers for 2012. This week, Travelocity added to that optimism with the release of its annual “Traveler Confidence Report.” The report reveals a majority of consumers, 53 percent, plan to travel more in 2012 than they did in 2011 despite a lack of confidence in the state of the economy. <...

In March 15, the new 2010 ADA Standards take effect for new and existing properties. Is your property ready? Below we review some of the most significant changes that will affect the lodging industry. The new regulations are a mixture of newly covered elements, changed standards, and “grandfathered” elements. Compliance with many of these new standards could be expensive, but failure to comply could be even more costly. How did we get here? It is important to know that the Departm...

It’s been a longtime in the making, but Revel, a $2.4-billion beachfront destination on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, is finally set to arrive. Today, the resort announced it will begin welcoming guests April 2 for an eight-week preview featuring 1,800 guestrooms. A progressive schedule of select restaurant openings, gaming, performance spaces, spa, daylife and nightlife amenities will complement the preview. The complete resort experience will premiere on May 25, the kickof...

Tourism is the U.S. Virgin Island’s primary industry, accounting for 68 percent of gross domestic product. The average stay on this group of islands—St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas—is about 4.2 nights, and visitors spend on average a little more than $400 a day. Even at the lowest point of the recession, these eastern Caribbean islands never dipped below 1.5 million cruise visitors a year. But the U.S. Virgin Islands experienced a s...

The lack of available financing and continued economic uncertainty remained major obstacles to construction pipeline growth through the third quarter of 2011. Project migration up the pipeline toward construction was sluggish in the quarter, resulting in extended timelines as developers waited for a more certain economic, lending, and operating environment. Amid a renewed emphasis by franchise companies to refresh their branded properties, many owners and investors who have accum...

Yesterday, TripAdvisor revealed the results of its first-ever 360° survey, which reveals U.S. lodging trends according to travelers and hospitality business owners and managers. Surveys of more than 1,000 U.S. travelers and more than 600 U.S. hotel representatives shows that WiFi Internet access and breakfast included with booking are king, while a turndown service offers very little value.   Of the travelers surveyed, 54 percent said they have canceled a lodg...

Over the years, PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR) has analyzed the cyclical nature of the lodging industry. Most recently, a lot of attention has been paid to the pace of recovery from the depths of the industry recession in 2009. Typical of historical recovery sequences, lodging demand and occupancy levels bounced back strongly in 2010, followed by real increases in average daily room rates (ADR) in 2011. When analyzing changes in hotel spa revenue since 2006, we see a pattern that one might e...

As the new year took hold, Loews Hotels set its future in motion with the announcement of a new president and CEO. In January, Jonathan Tisch, chairman of Loews Hotels and co-chairman of the Board of Loews Corporation, announced that Paul W. Whetsell joined the company effective Jan. 17. He succeeds Jack Adler, who is retiring. Whetsell, who holds a bachelor of arts degree from Davidson College, has more than 35 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Most recently he served as a ...

PHOTO: Annmarie Fairweather works in a guestroom at the Wingate by Wyndham in Brentwood, N.Y., under the supervision of General Manager David Lew. You can also find photos of Fairweather’s experience at Facebook.com/LodgingMagazine . Photos by Susan Farley. Annmarie Fairweather, vice president of brand services for Wyndham Hotel Group, admits that it’s been approximately 18 years since sh...