Lodging Daily News

Eco Serendib Villa and Spa, an eight-suite eco-friendly, luxury villa, debuted on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands in June. Harith Wickrema, president of the Philadelphia-based communication and event production company Harith Productions and a faculty member of the School of Tourism and Hospitality at Temple University, is the owner and visionary behind the property. Wickrema wanted to create an environment that would minimize the property’s carbon footprint by incorporating sustainable practices, while also

Ayelet Weinstein admits that when she started B Hotels & Resorts, the new boutique hotel brand that launched with its first hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., earlier this year, she was looking at a different concept. When the organizers of the brand came upon the letter “B” they not only found their name, but also their concept. “It’s more than just a letter,” Weinstein says. “It’s a word that is very prominent in everybody’s language.”

For hotels, sustainability begins at home. That means in order for a hotel to successfully reduce its energy usage, its employees must have the mindset to lead the way. Recognizing this, Motel 6 introduced its “Phoenix My Break Room” energy-saving program. The program is a contest held among Motel 6 and Studio 6 properties to help instill that energy-efficient mindset among its staff members. One location in each of the brand’s 10 operational regions earned

At The Lodging Conference in September, Tom Magnuson, CEO of Magnuson Hotels, announced a new venture and quickly had attendees at a briefing excited. That’s because Magnuson is now also heading up Global Hotel Exchange, a new independent, online travel agency, which promises to offer hoteliers cost-free distribution and the ability to avoid ever-rising fees and commissions. “Global Hotel Exchange is the emergence of a no-cost, OTA-level representation for hotel owners,” Magnuson said in a

Our annual parade of lodging innovators for 2011 is led by Sant Singh Chatwal and Vikram Chatwal’s Dream Downtown. Our salute to innovation continues with 10 creative products that help ease operations, improve the guest experience, and increase productivity. And we take a look back at hot topics our bloggers discussed in 2011. Other highlights of this issue include managing staffing costs and details about a new independent, online travel agency that aims to cut