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Top 25 Read Articles - September 2012 New iPhone 5 Allows Hotel Guests Worldwide to Check In and Open their Room Lock Employees of the Desmond Hotel in Albany, New York Petition the Federal Government to Decertify Union Representation After Union Officials Refused Contract Offer Change in Apple iPhone 5 Dock Connector Irks Many; Hoteliers Now Grapple with Decision to Keep Soon-to-be Outdated Docking Devices or Start Anew SuiteLinq Identifies Top 10 Services for In-Room Tablet Deployment that Increase Efficiency, Revenue & Loyalty Lodging Interactive Offering FREE CMS & Mobile Website; New customers of the interactive and social media marketing agency that sign up for full digital marketing services will receive a free Content Management System & free mobile website; Offer ending October 31 Golf Channel Anchorman Steve Sands Helps Debut HFTP’s GOLF 20X North Central Group Boosts Operating Efficiency, Guest Service Scores for 26 Properties; Multi-Flag Operator uses a Cloud-Based System, Tablets and Smartphones to Streamline Services at Hilton and Marriott Properties Advice from Incredibly Talented People about Overcoming Creative Roadblocks - Part II / Tommy Taylor Marcus Hotels & Resorts to Acquire the 297-room Cornhusker Hotel and Office Plaza in Lincoln, Nebraska Maestro PMS and Award Winning SilverWare POS Integration Goes Beyond Interfaces; Delivers Convenience, Data Security, Increased Revenue, Efficiency, and 360 Guest Service India's Asiana Place Establishes Relationship with Pegasus Solutions; Contract Includes Distribution, Online Booking and Global Commission Processing Services Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) Fiber Optic Effort to Help Hotel Network Designers Meet Guests’ Future Bandwidth Needs Hotels' 'Resort Fees' Have Become an Unpleasant Reality, So Much So that the Federal Trade Commission is Now Invloved Gary Van Hettinga, New Resorts Casino Hotel CEO, Believes Atlantic City is Underselling Itself and Supports Higher Room Rates Glacier Park Chooses UniFocus' Feedback Survey Solution VingCard Elsafe Unlocks Magic For Give Kids The World Village; World leader in hospitality security provides front desk system and state-of-the-art locking system to non-profit organization for children with life-threatening illnesses Emaar Properties Launches New Hotel Project to Open in Downtown Dubai in 2015; The 63-storey Hotel, The Address The BLVD, will Feature 200 Hotel Rooms and 542 Serviced Residences Hubert Joly Resigns as Chairman of Rezidor's Board of Directors; Staffan Bohman Assumes Position on an Interim Basis Advice from Incredibly Talented People about Overcoming Creative Roadblocks - Part I / Tommy Taylor Las Vegas Sands Names Madrid, Spain as Preferred Location for European Development Loews Hotels & Resorts, Through Coordinated Effort With U.S. Department Of Homeland Security, Becomes First Brand to Offer Complimentary Enrollment to Global Entry and TSA PreCheck™ Program for its Elite Loyalty Members Oahu, Hawaii's Turtle Bay Resort and Unite Here Local 5 Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract Durham, North Carolina City Council Approves Incentives for Second Downtown Hotel Project in Less than Six Weeks The Heat is On: Five Online Travel Trends Set to Explode Where are the Most Expensive Luxury Hotels in the World? Coming in at $2539 Per Night, the 'Le Dune' on the Mediterranean Island of Sardinia Scores the Top Spot September 28, 2012 Gary Van Hettinga, New Resorts Casino Hotel CEO, Believes Atlantic City is Underselling Itself and Supports Higher Room Rates 'Haute' technology - Sofitel Sydney Wentworth says 'Bonjour' to HotSOS Accor Reaches a Secured Pipeline in Brazil of 90 Contracts to be Delivered by 2016; Plans for 250 Hotels in the Country by 2016 with Partners Committed to Invest $1.5 Billion Global Hotel Rates for August Business Travel Come Within 1% of '08 and '07 Levels; Leisure Travel Rates Remain Off of Pre-recession Levels, But Rise Against Prior Year Houston, Texas Hotel Market Energized; With Average Room Rates and Occupancy Rates Currently on the Rise, Experts Project a Continued Upward Trend Through 2016 The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association to Select "Person of the Year 2012" at Inaugural Symposium; Conference to Occur October 22-24 in Los Angeles PolyU Study Finds Brand Management and Reliability Valued in Upscale Chinese Hotels Steve Rushmore, Chairman and Founder of HVS, Named 2012 Hospitality Executive of the Year by Penn State Hotel & Restaurant Society Drury Development Corp. Set to Begin Construction of a $35.5 million 210-room Drury Inn & Suites Hotel in Brentwood, Missouri Steigenberger Hotels AG to Assume Management of the Future Steigenberger Grand Hotel Brussels; The 269-room Property Will Continue to Opearate as a Conrad Brand Until End of 2012 Marriott, Under an Agreement with Operadora Punta Peninsula, S.A. de C.V., and Ownership Group Grupo Diestra, to Open New 300-room JW Marriott Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico Hilton Worldwide Enters Management Agreement with Carvalho Hosken Hotelaria Ltda. for the 298-room Hilton Barra, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; Currently Under Construction with Opening Planned for June 2014 Owner Sun Hung Kai Properties Opens the 359-room Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East in Hong Kong Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Takes First Step to Re-enter Philippines; Signs Preliminary Agreement with Resorts World Manila to Explore the Possibility of Developing a Sheraton Branded Property at Newport City MGM Grand Marks Major Milestone with Completion of $160 Million Room and Suite Remodel Millions Lost in Future Business Due to Construction Delay Caused by Stalled State Tourism Tax Break for the 200-room Westin Hotel on Jekyll Island, Georgia; Seven Conventions Valued at $3.8 Million Cancel their 2014 Plans The IHG Academy, a Global Hospitality Career Training Program, Expands Through Collaboration with Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia, Establishing Canada's First Program Chris Thompson Selected as President and CEO of Brand USA MetWest Terra Hospitality Names David Kingston as General Manager of Hotel Terra Jackson Hole Waterford Hotel Group Appoints Zaldy Cordova as General Manager of the 78-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Danbury, Connecticut Benchmark Hospitality International Appoints Rob Stirling Director of Sales & Marketing for The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe in California Jim Coffey Named as Director of Sales & Marketing for the 195-room Royal Sonesta Hotel Baltimore in Maryland September 27, 2012 Carlyle Group and Sequoia Capital China Offer Proposal to Buy China's 7 Days Group for $625 million Summit Hotel Properties to Acquire Ten Hotels, Including a Portfolio of Eight from Hyatt; Anticipates Completing the Acquisition in Q4 2012 New Hotel Price Index (HPI) Data Shows West Coast Hotel Pricing Growth of 8.6% Outpaced the East Coast's 4.4% Growth for First Six Months of 2012 Houston First Selects Rida Development for New Build 1,000-room Convention Center Hotel in Downtown Houston, Texas Hotels Enabled to Put iPhone5 on ICE; Intelity's ICE software is fully compatible with the new iPhone 5, allaying any apprehensions about expensive necessary upgrades by existing hotel clients. HeBS Digital Wins 2012 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards For Excellence in Website Design and Multichannel Marketing The National Conference Center Releases White Paper on Training as the Top Motivator for Today's Workforce Pools Rule in New Hilton Hotels & Resorts Study of Family Vacations; What do Families Really Want in Resort Vacations? Pools Lead Wish List with Kids' Clubs and All-Inclusive Resorts on the Rise Developer Clancy Cipkala Breaks Ground on $10 Million 100-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Irmo, South Carolina; A May 2013 Opening is Planned St. Louis Airport Marriott in Missouri Begins Extensive $15 Million Renovation of its Public Spaces and 600 Guest Rooms The 97-suite TownePlace Suites by Marriott to Open in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Owned and Managed by Raymond Management Company The 147-room DoubleTree by Hilton Oradea Opens in Romania Owned by SIF Banat Crisana and SC Calipso SA Rosewood Hotels & Resorts to Open the 113-key Rosewood Phuket in Thailand in 2014 Hotel Chandler, A Member Of Small Luxury Hotels Of The World, Revamps With $10 Million Floor-To-Ceiling Renovation Trudy Rautio Appointed Chairman of the Board of Rezidor Hotel Group Rezidor Appoints Wolfgang M. Neumann as President & CEO to Succeed Kurt Ritter Upon His Retirement; Leadership Change Effective January 1, 2013 Hilton Worldwide Names John Rogers Global Head, Embassy Suites Hotels Benchmark Hospitality International Appoints Mark Bock Controller for The 105-key Inn at Rancho Santa Fe in California Aqua Hotels & Resorts Names Kathy Gunderson as Area Hotel Manager and Renette Carpio as Senior Owner Relations Manager September 26, 2012 Loews Hotels & Resorts Selects the IDeaS Revenue Management System for Loews Hollywood Hotel; Los Angeles property will use the automated system to improve efficiency and increase revenue Hilton Raleigh-Durham Airport at Research Triangle Park Installs Flyte Systems' EventBoard for Flight Schedules and Property Events; 'An Essential Guest Service for Every Airport Property.' Hotel Exceeds Expectations with Flight Times and Meeting Information Gaylord Entertainment Releases Reorganizational Structure as Newly Created REIT Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.; Marriott to Assume Management of Gaylord Properties on Oct. 1, 2012 93 Year-old Retired Hotelier Tony Delpiano Remains Ambassador of Aloha; 25 Years After Retiring as an Outrigger Hotels & Resorts General Manager, Delpiano Voluntarily Works the Floor of the Outrigger Waikiki Advice from Incredibly Talented People about Overcoming Creative Roadblocks - Part II / Tommy Taylor Hay Creek Hotels and US Hotels Group Form New Venture and Acquire Two Luxury Boutique Properties, The Orchards Hotel in Williamstown, MA and The Centennial Hotel in Concord, NH from the Carlyle Group HEI Hotels & Resorts Acquires the 115-room Residence Inn Clearwater Downtown in Florida Prism Hotels & Resorts Files Contract to Buy the 431-room Sheraton Hotel and Spa in Fort Worth, Texas for $55 Million Awaiting Approval of Bankruptcy Judge Pegasus Solutions Names Julie Parodi Vice President of Sales Operations; Editor of The Pegasus View Assumes Multi-Faceted Management Role Among Global Sales, Client Services and Support Teams Glacier Park Chooses UniFocus' Feedback Survey Solution The Lodging Conference Presents the Quintessential Venue to Launch Linden Leaves, New Personal Care Essentials for Hotel Guests Educational Institute Offers World Tourism Day Savings on Green Resources LRA Worldwide and Stowe Mountain Resort to Present Case Study at Cornell Hospitality Research Summit HFTP and LINQ360 to Host Networking Cocktail Reception at Global Gaming Exhibition (G2E) in Las Vegas on October 3, 2012 Midas Hospitality Breaks Ground on the 97-room Candlewood Suites - Greenville in South Carolina Chinachem Group Celebrates the Grand Opening of 254-room L'hotel élan in Hong Kong's Business Hub of Kwun Tong Allamanda Hotel Developments Ltd. and Hilton Worldwide to Debut DoubleTree by Hilton on the Island of Mahe, Seychelles Through a Re-branding of the Former Allamanda Beach Resort & Spa Hilton Worldwide Enters Agreement to Operate the New Build 168-room Hilton Garden Inn Montevideo in Montevideo, Uruguay; Expected to Open Late in 2014, Property will Form Part of Montevideo Shopping Center, Uruguay's First Mall, Developed by Estudio Luis E. Lecueder RIU Hotels & Resorts to Open the 538-room Riu Palace Costa Rica in November 2012 MRH West Proposes Extended Stay Hotel, Possibly an Element Hotel, for Park East Area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Gary Van Hettinga Named as President and CEO of Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey; New Operator, Mohegan Sun, and Van Hettinga Working to Rebuild Executive Ranks Solaya Hotel & Resort Names Paolo Sanavia as Chief Executive Officer for Eden Roc at Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic; Resort to Open in December 2012 Benchmark Hospitality International Names Bryan Ashlock Hotel Manager for Turtle Bay Resort, Oahu Michael Mestraud Named Resort Manager for the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara in California Joseph Dantoni Appointed as General Manager for the Melrose Hotel, a Washington DC Boutique Hotel; Managed by The Gallery, a Collection of Luxury Resorts by Remington Hotels September 25, 2012 Cendyn’s Unique Multi-Channel Digital Marketing Campaign for The Peabody Orlando Significantly Increased Group/Meeting Revenue, Resulting in 47:1 ROI; Cendyn’s Data-Driven Strategy Drove Group/Meeting RFPs and Raised National Awareness of Destination Highpointe Hotel Corporation Centralizes Sales Management, Lead Gen in The Cloud to Close More Business; Multi-Property Sales-Account Data and Performance Stats Mean Business for Highpointe Travel Tripper to Provide State of the Art Channel Management Functionality Last Call for Special G2E Invitation: Gaming Executives and Buyers to Meet in Las Vegas for the World’s Premier Casino-Entertainment Event Warwick International Hotels Acquires the 246-room Paradise Island Harbour Resort in the Bahamas Do Brands Matter? New PhoCusWright and Wyndham Vacation Rentals® White Paper Reveals Significant Consumer Demand for a National, Hotel-Backed Brand Planned Westin Hotel in Jekyll Island, Georgia Remains Stalled Loews Hotels & Resorts, Through Coordinated Effort With U.S. Department Of Homeland Security, Becomes First Brand to Offer Complimentary Enrollment to Global Entry and TSA PreCheck Program for its Elite Loyalty Members IHG and International Trade Administration Enter Strategic Partnership to Expand Exporting Opportunities for U.S. Businesses Kinseth Hospitality Companies Proposes the Development of Two Hotels in One Building in Downtown Iowa City, Iowa; Plans Call for a Holiday Inn & Suites and a Staybridge Suites Totaling 180 Rooms Combined PSAV Showcases Technology's Impact on the Future of Meetings at IncentiveWorks; Mobile apps and video conferencing technology are just two of many tools presenting opportunities for planners to expand event longevity Red Roof Inn - Memphis East, TN - SOLD by Warmbrodt Hotel Investments, Inc. Leaving Las Vegas with the 'Innovation' Crown - iRates Emerges the Winner of EyeforTravel's Innovator Award RateGain's Hotel Rate Parity Trends - Asia (Sep - Nov 2012) RateGain's Hotel Pricing Trends - Asia (Sep - Nov 2012) Oahu, Hawaii's Turtle Bay Resort and Unite Here Local 5 Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract $45 Million Guest Room Renovation Underway for Atlanta, Georgia's Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel New York's Radisson Lexington Hotel Rebranded as Independent Operator, the Lexington New York City; Management Group, Highgate Hotels, to Launch Multi-Million Dollar Renovation of the 712-room Historic Property Rezidor Hotel Group to Open the 122-room Park Inn by Radisson Dakar in Senegal in Q4 2014 Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Signs Management Agreement for the 772-room Radisson Hotel & Conference Center Dearborn, Michigan Concord Hospitality Takes Over Management of Three Tampa, Florida Area Hotels Recently Acquired by MIG Real Estate 107 Minority Hospitality Students Receive Scholarships Awarded by the AH&LEF The Dow Hotel Company Promotes Three Key Executives; Robert Levy Elevated to SVP while Randall King and David Fincannon Become VPs Edward Costa, Jr. Appointed as General Manager for The London West Hollywood in California Regent Hotels and Resorts Opens Three New Regional Sales Offices and Appoints New Sales Leadership The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina Restructures its Sales Division with Tryg Brody, Director of Sales, Leading a Nine Member Team; The Historic Property was Recently Acquired by KSL Partners September 24, 2012 Hotels' 'Resort Fees' Have Become an Unpleasant Reality, So Much So that the Federal Trade Commission is Now Invloved Transparency Provided to Potential Guests Scores Points for Hotels Posting Website Links to Reviews, Good or Bad Opened in 1906, Las Vegas' Original Casino, The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Celebrates Completion of First Major Expansion in 50 Years Is Your Hotel Team Ready For Guests Experiencing "Cyber-Fatigue"? / Doug Kennedy Extreme Hotel Makeover Launched for the Holiday Inn On the Beach Destin in Florida; Property to be Closed through May 2013 as Much of Original is Demolished and Rebuilt, Saving the Iconic Round Tower as One of the First High Rises in Town $30 Million Renovation To Begin for the 340-room Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island in South Carolina; Work Commences December 2012 with Spring 2013 Completion Planned Fort Trumbull Hotel Still in the Works, Developer RFP's Likely to be Sought in 2013; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 209 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database BHG, Brazil Hospitality Group, Launches Largest Hotel Complex in the State of Para in Brazil; Totaling 405 Rooms, The Tulip Inn Hangar and the Soft Inn Hangar Open in the Hangar Hotel Complex Smartphone Coasters Promote Your Message; From small companies to large corporations like The Ritz-Carlton, Smartphone Coasters have quickly grown into the ultimate promotional product for businesses looking for an advertising edge. BridgeStreet Residences, Serviced Apartments and Suites Named "Corporate Housing Provider of the Year"; The Forum for Expatriate Management Announced Americas EMMA Winners on Sep. 13 in Las Vegas Lodging Interactive Continues to Win Multiple Industry Awards for Website Design Free Educational Webinar: Point-to-Point Encryption: Best Practices & PCI Compliance Update Four Points by Sheraton to Debut in New Brunswick, Canada with the 160-room Four Points by Sheraton Edmundston; To Open in July 2013 Following the Renovation and Re-flagging of the Former Clarion Hotel The 118-room Courtyard Waterloo St. Jacobs to Open in Waterloo, Ontario in the Former Best Western Plus St. Jacobs Country Inn; Owned by St. Jacobs Country Inn Inc. and to be Managed by Palm Holdings Seven Stars Resort on Grace Bay Beach on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos To Roll Out Series of Capital Improvement Projects and Service Enhancements For the Fall/Winter Season Stephen Kallaher Named Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Omni Hotels & Resorts Steigenberger Hotels AG Appoints Puneet Chhatwal as Chief Executive Officer Effective January 1 , 2013 Dorchester Collection UK Properties, The Dorchester, 45 Park Lane and Coworth Park, Add New Talent in Culinary, Housekeeping and Sales with Five Executive Appointments September 21, 2012 Facebook to Begin Charging Businesses to Target Users with Offers and Deals Under Rising Pressure from Wall Street Developer Pelion Sunrise Receives Cheers and Jeers for Proposed $300 million Indoor Ski Resort that will Include a 300-room Hotel in Sunrise, Florida Time-Share Industry Begins to Sees Daylight Ahead but Concerns Remain for Future Development Projects Tampa, Florida's New 137-room Epicurean Hotel Slated to Open November 2013 as Part of Marriott's Autograph Collection; Partners, Mainsail Lodging and Bern's Steak House to Break Ground Next Month on the Culinary-centric Boutique Hotel UniFocus Offers Management Leadership Courses as Part of Expanded Training Program JW Marriott Luxury Brand to Debut in Panama with the JW Marriott Panama Golf & Beach Resort; To Open in Rio Hato through the Conversion of the 118-room Bristol Buenaventura IHG's Hotel Indigo Brand Expanding in Europe with Additions of the 77-room Hotel Indigo Barcelona-Plaza Catalunya and the 60-room Hotel Indigo Birmingham-Waterloo Street North American Hotel Prices Up 5 Percent from 2011, According to the Latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI) Dorney Hospitality Facing Foreclosure on its 105-room Wingate by Wyndham in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania Spending by International Visitors to the U. S. Increased by $350 Million, a 3% Boost, in July 2012 Over July 2011 The Generation Companies Celebrates Topping Out of their 123-suite Home2 Suites by Hilton in August, Georgia; A March 2013 Opening is Planned Owned and Operated by Wurzak Hotel Group, the 180-room Sheraton Valley Forge Hotel Opens in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania The Woodlands Residence Inn Lake Front in Woodlands, Texas, Completes Property Wide Renovations Sebastian Kraemer Appointed as Chief Operational Officer of AZIMUT Hotels Mark Cooper Named as Chief Executive Officer for the International Association of Conference Centres Carmin Blair Promoted to General Manager for the 92-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Park Place in Jackson, Tennessee September 20, 2012 The Hay-Adams in Washington, D.C. Selects the IDeaS Revenue Management System; Luxury hotel will use the automated system to optimize revenue and increase operational efficiency The Staggering Costs to Hotels Managing Leads in an e-RFP Explosion / Tom Costello Best Known as Developer for Minnesota's Grand Lodge Hotel Waterpark in Bloomington and the Grand Rios Hotel and Water Park in Brooklyn Park, Jeffrey Wirth, Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay $6.45 million Fine for Tax Fraud India's Top Six Cities to Add Around 50,000 Rooms in the Next 5 to 6 Years According to New Report; The Indian Hospitality Story 2012 & Beyond Shows New Delhi to See the Highest New Hotel Room Supply in the Next Five Years JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® releases 2nd Edition of The HMA Handbook, Hotel Management Agreements for hotel owners, developers, investors and lenders / Jim Butler Lodging Forecast 2013 – A Primer / Robert Rauch Planning Has Begun to Turn the Circa 1925 Former Miami National Bank Building in Downtown Miami, Florida into the Boutique Langford Hotel; A Late 2013 Opening is Anticipated for the 132-room Property IHG Signs Deal with Almadina Real Estate Development to Open the First Crowne Plaza Resort in the UAE; The 442-room Crowne Plaza Resort Ras Al Khaimah is Scheduled to Open in 2015 Foreclosed on in February 2011, the 263-room Holiday Inn Grand Island in Buffalo, New York Going to Auction U.S. Travelers, 76% of them, Share Travel Experiences on Social Networks According to TripAdvisor Survey; Of the 1,700 Surveyed, 42% Use Social Media for Travel Planning while 40% Use it for Travel Inspiration Best Western Endorses RateGain Channel Management Solution GuestWare Seeking an Implementation & Training Specialist for its Seattle Based Office Lodging Interactive Offering FREE CMS & Mobile Website; New customers of the interactive and social media marketing agency that sign up for full digital marketing services will receive a free Content Management System & free mobile website; Offer ending October 31 SuiteLinq Identifies Top 10 Services for In-Room Tablet Deployment that Increase Efficiency, Revenue & Loyalty Golf Channel Anchorman Steve Sands Helps Debut HFTP's GOLF 20X; Sands Will be on Hand to Launch the Exhibit Featuring Golf and Clubhouse Related Technologies During HFTP's Annual Convention & Tradeshow, October 17-18 in Orlando, Florida Cornell School of Hotel Administration Turns 90; Program Began with One Professor and 20 Students who Attended their First Class on September 20, 1922 International Boutique Lifestyle Leadership Symposium, Scheduled for Oct. 22-24, 2012 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, review sessions and new discount offer for registering 2 or more. Produced by BLLA Orlando, Florida Area Hoteliers Pleased with Growth at Summer's End; Occupancy and Room Rate both Rose by 3% for August 2012 over August 2011 Newly Proposed East Peoria, Illinois Marriott Hotel Won't Compete with Peoria's Other Marriott Project Due to Demographics Says Developer InterMountain Management Interstate Hotels & Resorts Opens the 118-room Holiday Inn Express Utrecht Papendorp in the Netherlands; The Fourth Property to Open in a Nine-Hotel Portfolio for Joint Venture Partnership with TVHG The 151-key Andaz Savannah Opens in Georgia, Completing the Renovation and Re-branding of the Former Avia Savannah The Hilton Hotel Sacramento Arden West Reports a Brisk Return of Business Following the Approval of a New Employee Contract; Hotel Union Members Voted Unanimously to Approve the New Agreement The Largest Marriott Convention Facility in Canada, The Marriott Gateway on the Falls Completes $15 million Upgrade Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Names Wayne Taylor Executive Vice President, Global Development Carlson Rezidor Appoints Franck Courmont as General Counsel for Asia Pacific Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Asia-Pacific Retains Christoph Berger as General Manager of the Recently Acquired 255-key Outrigger Phuket Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand; Berger to Oversee Major Renovations to the Former Laguna Beach Resort Scheduled to Reopen in April 2013 Hotel Equities Promotes Malinda Foster to Sales Coach September 19, 2012 Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Duncan, Oklahoma, Opening this Month with Mobile Key by OpenWays; New construction hotel is scheduled to open Sept. 20 with OpenWays' front-desk bypass option that enables travelers to unlock their room doors via mobile device Weight Loss Resorts Are A Boon for Developers / David J. Sangree & Laurel A. Keller Lodging Econometrics Q2 2012 U.S. Lodging Report Reveals Development Trends Are On The Rise with 1,180 New Project Announcements in the Pipeline, Up 22% over Previous Year European Hotel Investment Drops 16% as Lack of Available Debt Continues to Dampen Market Felcor, as Part of its Repositioning Strategy, Agrees To Sell Two Non-Strategic Hotels, the 370-room Embassy Suites, New Orleans-Convention Center and the 296-room Embassy Suites, Nashville-Airport for an Aggregate Purchase Price of $70 million Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) Fiber Optic Effort to Help Hotel Network Designers Meet Guests' Future Bandwidth Needs; Planned Resources to Include Best Practice Documents, Design Guides, a Bandwidth Calculator Tool and Webinars Disputes for the Blake Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina Extend Beyond Unhappy Democratic Delegates; Past and Present Owners Locked in a Two Year Court Battle Over Ownership Current Hotel Projects Underway for Victoria, Texas will Add 500 Rooms to the Area within 12 to 18 Months Cornell Center for Hospitality Research Reports Examine How Hotels Report their Carbon Footprints and How Hospitality Stocks React to Corporate Earnings Surprises Lawsuits Over Worker Pay Soars as Economy Struggles; Over 7,000 Federal Lawsuits Filed During Past Year, Tripling Since 2002 Ultima Hospitality, in Partnership with Argosy Real Estate, Acquires California's 100-key Tam Woods Hotel, North San Francisco Mill Valley; Recent Renovations will be Further Enhanced with Targeted Improvements and Re-Branding as a Holiday Inn Express Arapahoe Lodging and Marriott Celebrate the Opening of the TownePlace Suites Denver Airport at Gateway Park in Colorado; The First TownePlace Suites to Open as Part of Marriott's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment) Volume Program The 148-room HYATT House Falls Church Opens in Fairfax, Virginia Under the Leadership of General Manager Michael Gouzie and Director of Sales Allison Sayer Owned and Managed by Raintree Hospitality, the 93-room Courtyard Mankato is Set to Open in Mankato, Minnesota in Early October The Little Mermaid Wing, the Fourth and Final Puzzle Piece, Opens Adding the Finishing Touch to Disney's Art of Animation Resort Marriott to Open the 110-room Renaissance Izmir Hotel in Turkey in Late 2012 McKibbon Hotel Management to Manage Seven Hotels for Wheelock Street Capital Sage Hospitality Signs Management Agreement with Wheelock Street Capital Affiliates for 2 Hotels; Adding the 229-suite DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Minneapolis and the 257-room Hilton San Diego/ Del Mar to its Portfolio Marriott's Autograph Collection Continues Global Expansion with Three New Hotels in Europe; Joining by Year-end are the Fontecruz in Portugal and, French Hotels, Hotel De Bourgtheroulde and Hotel L'Hermitage Gantois AH&LEF Awards Scholarships to 24 Hospitality Students and Industry Professionals; Industry Suppliers Provide Critical Funding to AH&LEF Agenda and Speakers Set for the California Lodging Expo & Conference to be Held September 25, 2012 2012 Wisconsin Lodging Conference & Trade Show Set for October 21-23; Annual event to be held the Kalahari Resort Convention Center & Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells Newly Renovated Minneapolis Marriott Northwest Hotel And Conference Center Adds Key Appointments to its Executive Team Marriott Vacations Worldwide Names Cliff Delorey Executive Vice President and Chief Resort Experience Officer HSMAI Appoints Erin O'Neill as Managing Director of the HSMAI U.A.E.; Will Deliver Resources to the United Arab Emirates and Middle East Market September 18, 2012 Major Hotel Brand Shifts Nearly $20 Million in Revenue Using Knowland Data; Hundreds of opportunities were provided to regional sales team resulting in over 56,000 new room nights for events through 2019 Video Report: InvoTech Showcases HITEC Mobile Trends, Launches Handheld Wireless System, Announces New Logo; Advanced UHF-RFID Inventory Tracking and Handheld Wireless Scanning Transform the Industry; Company Ramps Up for 20-Year Anniversary Celebration Flip.to Lands Hospitality Veteran, Kristi White, as Vice President of Global Sales Strategy; Seasoned hospitality sales and revenue management executive to lead growth strategy for hotel brand advocate platform Even Smaller Hotels Must Plan Their Work and Work Their Plan / David Brudney Beyond Vanity Metrics: Measuring ROI in Social Media / Daniel Edward Craig Wheelock Street Capital Acquires 15 Hotels in Two Separate Transactions for an Aggregate Purchase Price of $221 Million Simone Development and Marriott to Open Luxury Hotel at New Metro Center Atrium Complex in the Bronx, New York; The 125-Room Residence Inn, Scheduled to Open in 2014, will be the First Luxury Hotel in the Bronx US Hotels Group Acquires Two Boutique Properties from The Carlyle Group; Adding The Orchards in Williamstown, Massachusetts and The Centennial in Concord, New Hampshire to its Portfolio After 33 years as The Imperial Palace, Caesars Entertainment Renames the Las Vegas Property to 'The Quad Resort & Casino'; Embarks on Phased Property Wide Renovation to be Completed Late 2013 First JW Marriott Hotel Opens in New York City with the JW Marriott Essex House New York; A Rebranding of the 509-room Jumeirah Essex House with Stephen Batta as the New General Manager Regent Hotels and Resorts Signs Strategic Alliance Agreement with Rezidor Hotel Group AB; Rezidor to Develop and Operate New Regent Hotels - Exclusively in Russia/CIS, Baltics, Middle East & Africa and Jointly with Regent Hotels and Resort in the Rest of Europe Advice from Incredibly Talented People about Overcoming Creative Roadblocks - Part I / Tommy Taylor MICROS is Growing - Come Join Us; We are currently recruiting for Sales Executives and Implementation Specialists in offices and dealerships through North America Clear Sky Software Installed at Bel-Air Country Club Improving Efficiencies of All Beverage Inventories Renovation Plan Earns Rave Reviews at DoubleTree by Hilton South Bend; An extensive, top-to-bottom renovation by property owner The Hotel Group to all guestrooms and corridors, lobby, meeting space, atrium, food and beverage outlets and equipment is making the full-service hotel sparkle and guests smile SAI and Control Green Partner to Streamline Productivity and Maintenance Management; While working in the cloud, the SynergyMMS maintenance management solution from System Associates Inc. now integrates with Control Green's guestroom equipment monitoring system to dispatch work orders and stop problems before they start FAMA Technologies Extends PAR Springer-Miller's Reach in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) Names Winners of the Annual Boutique & Lifestyle Hospitality Awards; Jonathan Plutzik, Principal Owner and Chairman, The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida Named Boutique & Lifestyle Hotelier of the Year Durham, North Carolina City Council Approves Incentives for Second Downtown Hotel Project in Less than Six Weeks; The Gentian Group Plans Conversion of the Former Mutual Community Savings Bank into a 54-room Select-Service Hotel New Report Indicates Opening of the $92.8 million Renovation of the Hotel Pere Marquette in Peoria, Illinois Could be Next April, 60 days Later than Proposed Crowne Plaza Brand Returns to Tulsa, Oklahoma with the Conversion of the Former Hilton into the Crowne Plaza Tulsa-Southern Hills Starwood's Element Brand to Debut in Europe with the 133-key Element Frankfurt Airport in Germany; Set to Open in 2014 through an Agreement with Bari Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts Debuts in China with The 160-key Royal Begonia, Sanya, a Luxury Collection Resort on Hainan Island W Hotels Worldwide Opens its First Singapore Property with the 240-room W Singapore - Sentosa Cove; Owned and Developed by an Affiliate of City Developments Limited Wyndham Hotel Group Expands in China, Signing Management Agreements to Add Four Hotels in Sanya, Huangshan, Hangzhou and Xuzhou to Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Brand Driftwood Hospitality Management Chosen to Manage the 750-room Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri on the Lake of the Ozarks GHM Signs Agreement to Manage The Chedi Nusa Penida, a 100-villa Resort Under Development on an Island Southeast of Bali, Indonesia; Developer, Singapore's Sinni Villas, Plans a 2015 Opening The 202-room Holiday Inn Chicago Matteson Conference Center in Matteson, Illinois Completes $12 Million Renovation Xanterra Parks & Resorts Appoints Betsy O'Rourke as Vice President, Sales and Marketing Edward Maynard Named General Manager of the 774-room Westin New York Grand Central as the $65 Million Renovation and Re-flagging of the Former New York Helmsley Hotel Nears Completion Urgo Hotels Hires Roger Amidon as General Manager for the 239-key Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Resort & Spa in Florida September 17, 2012 U.S. Hotel Managers Nailed Their Budgets In 2011 / Robert Mandelbaum & Viet Vo VFM Leonardo Hosts Hotel Marketing Webinar - Business Travel 2.0: How to Better Market Your Hotel to Business Travelers; 45 Minute Webinar for Hotel Marketers on September 19th Philippine Supreme Court Orders Makati City Hotel to Pay $1.24 Million to the Heirs of a Norwegian Guest who was Robbed and Killed in his Hotel Room in 1999 For South Florida Hotels, the Lehman Brothers Collapse in 2008 was a Larger Crisis and has Taken More Time to Recover From than the Attacks of 9/11 Recent Sovereignty and Territorial Incident in the Diaoyu Islands Casts Shadow Over Japan Tourism; Chinese Tourists and Travel Agencies Canceling Trips to Japan with Numbers Dropping by 30 to 50% Benchmark Hospitality International's Top Five Dining and Wine Trends for 2012 Indian Hotels Company May Face Stiff Competition to Retain Taj Palace; Delhi Development Authority (DDA) May Conduct Open Bid for Eligible Chains Once 30-year Lease Expires Next Year Summer Hotel Rates at Key U.S. Destinations See an Average 17% Increase Over Same Period 2011 with no Decline Anticipated Anytime Soon W Hotel Project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wins Approvals to Proceed; Construction of the 500-room Hotel to Begin in Spring 2013 with Completion Set for January 2015 Welcome to the Convention Center Hotel Arms Race; Proposed Hyatt Hotel at the Oregon Convention Center Faces Growing Competition as Cities Nationwide Improve Facilites to Lure Conventions Michael A. Leven, President and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, to be Honored with the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) Lifetime Achievement Award Finally, Some GOOD NEWS from Washington, DC / Jim Butler, Catherine Holmes and Victor T. Shum New Property Manager and Owner for 87-Room Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Huntsville; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Have Updated 286 Hotels in the Last Two Weeks with Changes in Personnel, Property Management or Ownership Interstate Hotels & Resorts Assumes Management of an Eight Hotel Portfolio Owned by an Affiliate of Investcorp International; Expands Interstate's Managed Portfolio by 2,096 Rooms Hotel Assets Group Closes Two Hotel Transactions VingCard Elsafe Unlocks Magic For Give Kids The World Village; World leader in hospitality security provides front desk system and state-of-the-art locking system to non-profit organization for children with life-threatening illnesses Best Western Engages with RateGain to Build Wider Electronic Distribution Network HFTP Builds Stronger Roots in India Through Partnership with the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) Spokane, Washington Hoteliers See Good and Bad in Plan for Proposed 700-room Downtown Hotel Near Convention Center RDA Hotel Management Takes Over Management of the Sheraton Suites Hotel in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; RDA Owner, Rennick Andreoli, Becomes Part Owner of Hotel and Plans for Sales Collaboration with his other Area Hotels Emaar Properties Launches New Hotel Project to Open in Downtown Dubai in 2015; The 63-storey Hotel, The Address The BLVD, will Feature 200 Hotel Rooms and 542 Serviced Residences AC Hotels by Marriott to Debut in Paris, France with the 166-room AC Hotel Paris Porte Maillot; To Open in 2014 Under a Franchise Agreement with SHEPI SNC Hilton Worldwide and RB Hotels Limited Sign Franchise Agreement to Open the 175-key Hilton at the Ageas Bowl / Southampton at England's Latest Test Match Cricket Venue; To Open in Early 2014 Operated by Sanguine Hospitality Starwood Hotels & Resorts Opens the 396-room Sheraton Fuzhou Hotel in Fujian Province, China; Owned by the Zhonggeng Group The 153-room JW Marriott Cusco Opens in Peru at the Gateway to Machu Picchu; Built on Grounds of Colonial Monastery and Features Ancient Inca Artifacts IHG Opens the 286-room Crowne Plaza Tulsa - Southern Hills in Oklahoma Completing Renovation and Conversion of the Former Hilton Hotel Owned by McSam Hotels and Operated by Packard Management Group James E. Ayres II Named General Manager of The 45-suite Angler's Boutique Resort in Miami Beach, Florida; The Resort is Managed by Coral Hospitality BayStar Hotel Group Hires Christopher Foerst as General Manager of the 150-room Holiday Inn - Capitol Center in Tallahassee, Florida Ben Shih Named as Director of Sales and Marketing for The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in California Dietmar Sawyere Appointed as Chef and Director of Restaurants at the 210-key Hayman, a Private Island Destination in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia; Hayman is Owned and Operated by Mulpha Australia Limited and is a Member of The Leading Hotels of the World September 14, 2012 New iPhone 5 Allows Hotel Guests Worldwide to Check In and Open their Room Lock; As anticipated, the newly-launched iPhone 5 is compatible with the Mobile Key by OpenWays Crypto Acoustic Credential technology Intelity's ICE Featured in Top Rated Aloft Hotels; Intelity technology aids Aloft hotels in Tallahassee and Abu Dhabi in providing a distinguished guest experience Change in Apple iPhone 5 Dock Connector Irks Many; Hoteliers Now Grapple with Decision to Keep Soon-to-be Outdated Docking Devices or Start Anew Port of Bellingham, Washington Seeking Proposals for Hotel at Bellingham International Airport Florida's Longboat Key Club & Resort Moving Forward with $400 Million Islandside Redevelopment Project Gaylord Entertainment Company to Transfer Management of Nashville, Tennessee's Radisson Hotel Opryland, General Jackson Showboat, Gaylord Springs Golf Links, and Wildhorse Saloon to Marriott International; Gaylord will Continue to Own and Operate Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium Red Lion Hotels Signs Franchise Agreement for Hotel at Denver, Colorado International Airport; The Future 87-room Red Lion Inn and Suites Denver Airport Owned by Tower Hospitality will Open by November 2012 Wyndham Vacation Ownership Acquires Shell Vacations LLC; Assumes Management Operations of 19 Resorts in North America Growth, Not Just Recovery, Ahead for Miami's Hotel Industry Forecasts Lodging Experts Leisure Travel Continues to Increase while 33% of Online Bookers Do Not Complete their Intended Reservation; According to Q2 2012 Report from HSMAI and iPerceptions Analyzing the 'Online Satisfaction and Experience in the Hospitality Industry' Lessons From the Field: A Tale of Two Restaurants / Dr. John Hogan The 343-room Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa on Grand Cayman Island Undergoing Property-wide Renovation Project; Scheduled for November 2012 Completion Delta Hotels and Resorts Named Hotelier on Toronto, Ontario's Thunder Bay's Waterfront Redevelopment; To Open the 150-room Delta Thunder Bay Hotel and Conference Centre in Early 2014 Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts to Open Second Property in the Middle East with the 280-room Swissôtel Jadaf Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; Expected to Open by Early 2016 Accor Opens First Pullman in the UK with the 312-room Pullman London St Pancras UNWTO Predicts International Tourism on Track to Hit One Billion by End of 2012; International Tourists Worldwide Grew by 5% in First Half of 2012 with Asia Leading Growth First Global Tourism Economy Forum Connects the Chinese Tourism Industry with the Rest of the World; 1,000 Delegates from More than 20 Countries Discussed the Global Interdependency of Tourism and Economic Growth AH&LEF Names Three Students to Receive its Most Prestigious Scholarship, the Arthur J. Packard Memorial Scholarship; Catherine Blankenship Receives the 1st Place Award while 2nd and 3rd Place Awarded to Daniella Nillen and Ellisa Thompson Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Appoints Joy Linsday as Vice President of Human Resources in the Americas Denver, Colorado's 80-room Oxford Hotel Appoints Afsi Bird as General Manager Amanda Lewin Named as Corporate Sales Manager for The Alexander, A Dolce Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana; Being Developed as Part of CityWay, the 209-room Hotel is Set to Open in January 2013 Tony Patterson Named as General Manager of The Hotel School Sydney in Australia September 12, 2012 Flip.to Taps Hospitality Technology Visionary, Ed St. Onge, as President of Global Sales; Industry leader to direct sales and marketing for the worldwide expansion of the brand advocate platform for hotels Maestro PMS and Award Winning SilverWare POS Integration Goes Beyond Interfaces; Delivers Convenience, Data Security, Increased Revenue, Efficiency, and 360 Guest Service Federal Authorities Seek to Seize Two Kansas Clarion Hotels After Owners Were Charged with Knowingly Hiring Illegal Immigrants; A First in the State of Kansas, Focus of Law Enforcement Shifts to Employers and Away from Employees' Red Lion Hotels Suspends Formal Strategic Alternatives Process on Recommendation of the Strategic Alternatives Committee; Further, Donald K. Barbieri, Chairman of the Board, to Retire Faced with $1 million Bond Payment Deadline, Hard Rock International Scraps Atlantic City Casino Project Summer 2012 Sizzling Hot for U.S. Hotel Industry; Average Rate Increase of 17% Over 2011 White Lodging and REI Real Estate Services Planning to Develop a 300-room Hotel in Austin, Texas; Plan Follows Closely After White Lodging Began the 1,012-room JW Marriott Convention Hotel Project in Austin Marcus Hotels & Resorts to Acquire the 297-room Cornhusker Hotel and Office Plaza in Lincoln, Nebraska; Has Assumed Management and Plans Renovation and Re-branding to the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel Evolution Tower Corp. & W Hotels Worldwide, Through a Joint Venture, to Develop 203-room W Panama; Slated to Debut in 2016 as Part of 50-floor Mixed-Use Evolution Tower Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in South Carolina Plans $30 Million Makeover for its 412 Guest Rooms and All Public Areas Much Debated Plan for a 250-room UCLA Hotel and Conference Center Gains Approval by Key Regents; Facility Expected to be Complete in 2016 The iRates Hotel Revenue Management System has been selected as one of the most innovative companies in Hotel Technology and will be presenting at the EyeforTravel Distribution Summit NA Sept 13-14 The Madison to Partner with VingCard Elsafe; Guest Rooms Now Feature Signature RFID Online Locks Managed by Orion Hotel Assets Group Closes 43 Hotel Transactions During June, July and August India's Asiana Place Establishes Relationship with Pegasus Solutions; Contract Includes Distribution, Online Booking and Global Commission Processing Services Eleven & Clearview Networks form Key Hospitality Partnership to provide above-property software platform for managing guest high speed Internet access to hotels Travel Exports Rise in July as Other Exports Fall; Travel Responsible for 12% of U.S. Export Gains for 2012 MIG Real Estate Enters Florida with Acquisition of Three Hotels in the Tampa Bay Market; Increases Hotel Portfolio to 8 with the Courtyard and Residence Inn in Oldsmar, Florida, and Residence Inn in Lutz, Florida The 150-room Courtyard Newark Downtown to Open this Month in New Jersey; Owned by Tucker Development and Robert Finvarb Companies and Managed by Marriott International Home2 Suites by Hilton Debuts in Georgia, Opening the 81-suite Home2 Suites Columbus; Owned by Nirvana LLC and Managed by RAM Hotels Hilton Worldwide Continues Growth in Latin America; Current Portfolio of 51 Properties with More than 20 Projects in the Development Pipeline Hospitality Management Corporation Signs Management Contract for the 86-room Hampton Inn Suites Waxahachie in Texas Jumeirah Group Appoints Chris Ely as General Manager for the Jumeirah Dhevanafushi Resort in the Maldives Trudy Rautio Appointed Chairman of Carlson Wagonlit Travel Board of Directors Benchmark Hospitality Names Kirsten Andresen as Regional Director of Public Relations for the Company's Northwest Collection of Luxury Properties Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia Makes 4 New Appointments to its Management Team; Managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts Joel Harrington Named as Executive Chef for Cima at the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa at Beaver Creek Mountain in Colorado September 11, 2012 Clients' Online Success Fuels Recognition for Hotel Internet Marketing Leader; Vizergy Named Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company for Second Consecutive Year Agilysys to Hold Insight 2013 User Conference; Conference to Feature Educational Sessions, Networking Events, Partner Pavilion Special G2E Invitation: Gaming Executives and Buyers to Meet in Las Vegas for the World’s Premier Casino-Entertainment Event Cornell Hospitality Research Summit Preview: Over 90 Presenters & Panelists Share Top Industry Ideas Sunstone Hotel Investors Agrees to Sell Three Hotels for an Adjusted Gross Sale Price of $107.1 Million ($128,100/key); Continuing Steps Toward Improving Portfolio Quality and Strengthening Balance Sheet San Diego County Hotel Sales Heat Up with Two High Profile Coastal Properties Sold / Lori Weisberg Many California Delegates Serve Up Poor Reviews for Democratic National Convention Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina Claiming it Charged Five-Star Rates for Low-Star Rooms EB-5 Financing for Hotels is Now Mainstream Institutional / Jim Butler Financial Analysts Give Thumbs Up for Station Casinos' Proposed $775 million Financing Deal to Replace Existing Debt Hutton Hotel Elects Parallax Software by Percipia Networks for Guest Room Technology Integration Sonnenblick-Eichner Company Arranges $17,125,000 of Financing for the Hilton Garden Inn Ames, Iowa and Hilton Garden Inn Lakeland, Florida The Plasencia Group Advises Carlyle Group on the Disposition of Westin Annapolis Hotel Real Estate Veteran Hank Wolpert Joins HREC Investment Advisors as Vice President in firms Dallas Office HREC Investment Advisors Arranges the Sale of the Snow King Resort and Conference Center - Jackson Hole, Wyoming Milestone Internet Marketing Seeking SEO/SEM Specialist/ e-Strategist in Santa Clara, California Hilton Lincoln Centre in Dallas Seamlessly Integrating Sales and Service via PSAV HFTP's ProLinks Introduces Premium Content Webinars; Two Sessions Offering Tips to Achieve Better Results at Work and Play to Occur September 18 and 19, 2012 Hard Rock International and Mission Hills Group to Open Hard Rock Hotels in Shenzhen and Haikou, China in 2015 Hilton Worldwide Signs Agreement to Operate the 103-room Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina; To Be Developed by Abasto Tucumano SA Industry Icons Mark the Pairing of Two American Brands as Arnold Palmer & Bill Marriott Celebrate the Opening of the 109-room SpringHill Suites Latrobe in Palmer's Pennsylvania Hometown Accor Surpasses 100,000 Rooms in Asia-Pacific with the Opening of the 550-room ibis Hong Kong Central and Sheung Wan The 229-room Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel Opens in Silver Spring, Maryland; Owned by Integrated Capital, the Former Crowne Plaza has Undergone an Extensive Renovation and Conversion Project Phase Two of $34 Million Makeover Completed for the 485-room Hilton Palacio del Rio in San Antonio, Texas Benchmark Hospitality Names Craig Waterman as General Manager for the 349-key Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming Fairmont Makes Worldwide Management Appointments Dan Piotrowski Appointed as General Manager for Tennessee's 800-room Omni Nashville Hotel; Silvia San Martin Named Director of Sales and Cindy Berdan Joins as National Sales Manager for Southeast Region The Inn at Little Washington Welcomes Thomas F. List II as its New General Manager Hilton Glasgow Welcomes Simon Magnus as Food and Beverage Manager September 10, 2012 Columbia Pacific Opportunity Fund, Investors in Red Lion Hotels, Demand that Red Lion Start Selling Hotels or Push will be Made to Replace Board Members Stating Current Board has Failed to Produce a Strategic Plan United Arab Emirates Travel and Tourism Sector Most Advanced in Mideast as Indicated by Visa's Travel Data; UAE International Visitor Spending Increased by 28.7% in 2011 Over 2010 - Tourists Continued to Visit During the Arab Spring 2011 Hubert Joly Resigns as Chairman of Rezidor's Board of Directors; Staffan Bohman Assumes Position on an Interim Basis Nobody Asked me, But...No. 93; July Breaks U.S. Hotel Occupancy Record; 65-and-Older Population Soars; Hotel History: Hotel New Netherland / Stanley Turkel Can Allentown, Pennsylvania's $234 million Hockey Arena Complex Fill Three Hotels? Lone Downtown Hotel Currently Posting a $2 million Loss and Occupancy Rate of Only 35% Las Vegas Sands Names Madrid, Spain as Preferred Location for European Development; First Phase of Due Diligence Effort Complete, will Now Study Size, Scope, Specific Location, and Financing for Project Chesapeake Lodging Trust Acquires the 429-room Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina in San Diego, California for $62.0 Million Chicago, Illinois Tops Nation in Tax Burden for Travelers; The GBTA Foundation Releases Ranking of Destinations with the Nation's Highest and Lowest Tax Burden on Travelers 125-Room College Hill Hotel Project Waiting On Zoning Approval; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 168 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Lanyon Announces Significant New Customer Wins and Expansions Q2 Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI) Results Indicate Lower Hotel Customer Satisfaction World-Wide, More Price-Sensitive Guests Wake Up to the Ultimate Clock Radio; The Sunbeam® Hospitality Team introduces the clock radio guests have been dreaming of. Pegasus Solutions Names Jennifer Sampson Vice President, Product Management of Pegasus Financial Services; 13-year Company Veteran to Head Division Facilitating $38 Million in Monthly Commissions HREC Investment Advisors Arranges the Sale of the Embassy Suites Anaheim North Hotel - Anaheim, California Intelity Docks Technology on LaunchPort; Intelity and LaunchPort are teaming up to offer docking stations for iPads featured in hotel rooms Digital Alchemy Partners With Evision Worldwide Expanding Range of Online Marketing Services for Hotels; Combined platforms extend new opportunities in CRM, guest communications and online revenue optimization to growing client base Courtyard by Marriott to Debut in Chile with the 200-room Courtyard by Marriott to Open in Santiago in Q4 2014 IHG and Select Group Sign Agreement to Open the 328-key InterContinental Dubai Marina in 2013 Rezidor to Open the 122-room Park Inn by Radisson Cape Town Newlands in South Africa in Q1 2014 Hyatt Opens the 141-room Andaz Napa in Northern California Completing the Re-Branding of the Avia Napa Wyndham Hotel Group Opens the 130-room Ramada Encore Hotel in Guadalajara, Mexico, its 100th Property in Latin America The 108-suite Residence Inn by Marriott Opens in Idaho Falls, Idaho; Managed by the Woodbury Corporation Richfield Hospitality Names Allen Kramme as Senior Vice President of Operations Jan Joris Appointed as General Manager of The 421-room Hotel Brussels on Waterloolaan; New Owner, Pandox AB, has Launched an Extensive Renovation September 7, 2012 Trump Organization and Hilton Worldwide Partner to Bring Luxury Vacation Ownership to Trump International Hotel Las Vegas; Hilton Buys 300 Condos for Hilton Grand Vacations Employees of the Desmond Hotel in Albany, New York Petition the Federal Government to Decertify Union Representation After Union Officials Refused Contract Offer; With No Contract for a Year and a Half, Did Move Ultimately Prompt Union Officials to to Ratify Agreement? 'It's Not Easy Being Green' / Hans Pfister Hilton Worldwide Signs Agreement with GLP Hotels for a 154-key Conversion Project to Open the Hilton Noumea La Promenade Residence in Noumea, New Caledonia; Mid-2013 Completion Planned for the Renovation and Re-Branding of the Current La Promenade Travel Industry Continues to Put Americans Back to Work; Job Creation Outpaces Rest of Economy by Nearly 30% Quadriga Hires Industry Veteran to Lead Sales Efforts Globally; David Goldstone joins global leader in network, multimedia, Internet and technology platform solutions for the hospitality industry Accelerate Your Performance with the New BI Tool from UniFocus For Sale: 3 Acre, High Visibility Hotel Development Site in Broward County, Florida Concept Amenities Appoints Kerry Dowen as VP of Sales for North and South America Innovation in Action: Meet 5 new companies battling it out for the EyeforTravel innovation crown in 2013 Comprehensive Market Analysis of the Tuscaloosa, Alabama Hotel Market to be Available to Tuscaloosa Area Hospitality Association Members Construction Begins on the New 860-room, $110 million Fort Benning Army Lodge at Fort Benning, Georgia IHG Plans Robust Expansion in Indonesia; Reveals Strong Pipeline Focused on the Midscale Market with Plans to Launch Hotel Indigo, its Fifth Brand in the Market Owned by Tyvola Hospitality and Managed by CN Hotels, the 89-room Home2 Suites by Hilton Opens in Charlotte, North Carolina The 89-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Opens in Hutchinson, Kansas; Owned and Managed by Hutchinson Hotel, LLC Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii Completes $15 Million Renovation of the Main Lobby and 245 Lagoon Tower Guest Rooms Blake Crawford Appointed as the Complex Director of Sales and Marketing for The Westin Beach Resort & Spa, Fort Lauderdale and the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel in Florida Affordable Suites of America Prepares for National Expansion with Key Management Team Appointments; Chris Rutherford Named Chief Operating Officer and Tammy Hart-Coon to Serve as Chief Business Development Officer FairBridge Hotels Appoints Erin Winternheimer as Systems Interface Specialist September 6, 2012 Next Century Associates, Owners of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, Receive Approval for the Redevelopment Project at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza; Work Expected to Begin in 2014 for the 1.5 million square feet of Mixed-Use Facilities North Central Group Boosts Operating Efficiency, Guest Service Scores for 26 Properties; Multi-Flag Operator uses a Cloud-Based System, Tablets and Smartphones to Streamline Services at Hilton and Marriott Properties Milestone Internet Marketing Experts Present Strategies for Tourism Industry to Leverage Changes in Search Technology and Social Media Caesars Entertainment Stock Continues to Fall as Analysts Suggest Debt May Need to be Restructured and Assets Like the World Series of Poker be Spun Off Huge Hotel and Entertainment Complex Proposed by the Seminole Tribe Would Have Major Impact on Northwest Broward County, Florida; Turning Coconut Creek into a National Gambling Destination, the Facility Would Create More than 1,000 Permanent Jobs Aaron Gomes, Who Lost His Brother, Douglas, and Father Dennis, Within Weeks of Each Other, Leaving Resorts in Atlantic City for Position in Australia With Several Hotel Projects Already in the Works for Buffalo, New York, the Hamister Group Moves Forward on a $40 Million Revitalization of the Tishman Building Which Would Include 123-room Hotel; Construction Expected to Begin before Year-End with Completion in 2014 Italy Reports Hotel Guests Plunge 9% in July, Typically the Country's Hottest Month, Overall Fewer Guests in 2012 as Recession Rages On Proposal for Publicly Subsidized, $157 million to $201 million Hyatt Hotel and Convention Center in Portland, Oregon Advances to a Vote Plan for 1,000-room Hotel Next to the Minneapolis, Minnesota Convention Center Surfaces Again; Hennepin County Hires Local Firm to Conduct Feasibility Study Less Than 60 Days Away - REGISTER TODAY for the First Inaugural International Boutique & Lifestyle Leadership Symposium USA Today and ABC News Report Guest Satisfaction Lowest in Seven Years; Adding Lodging Interactive's Guest Review System to a hotel's website gives owners and operators control over their online reputations HREC Investment Advisors Arranges the Sale of the Hilton Garden Inn at Six Flags - Valencia, California Modus Hotels Completes Transformation of Washington, D.C.'S West End Corporate Apartments to Upscale, Boutique Avenue Suites Hotel The Peninsula Hotels Debut Phase One of a $60 million Renovation of its Flagship Property, The Peninsula Hong Kong Along with Revitalization of Brand with New Global Marketing Campaign and Guestroom Technology The Dow Hotel Company to Manage the 174-room Lakeway Resort and Spa near Austin, Texas; Robert Kisker Named General Manager Pyramid Hotel Group Selected to Manage the 802-room Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles; Michael Washington to Continue as General Manager Omni Hotels Extends Partnership with CNL Lifestyle Properties to Continue Operating the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire Driftwood Hospitality Management Selected to Manage the 100-room Holiday Inn Express Wilkesboro in North Carolina Owned and Managed by Kana Hotel Group, the 88-suite SpringHill Suites by Marriott Opens in Huntsville, Alabama To Keep Up with Demand, Starwood Aloft Brand Steps up Growth Through Conversions; Opens the 253-room Aloft San Francisco Airport and the 139-room Aloft Nashville West End Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Opens the 127-room Radisson Petra Concepción Hotel in Chile Scholarships Totaling $386,500 Awarded to 267 Hospitality Students Via AH&LEF's Core Scholarship Programs Choice Hotels Promotes John Thompson to Vice President, Shared Services Michael Davis Joins BayStar Hotel Group as Vice President of Business Development Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Names Mark Turina as Sales and Catering Manager for the Best Western The Plaza Hotel and the OHANA Honolulu Airport Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York Names Christopher Eagle Restaurant Chef Overseeing the Property's Three Restaurants Ricky Rivera Named as Executive Chef for The Courtyard Isla Verde Beach Resort in Puerto Rico Olivier Piganiol Named as Executive Chef at the 364-room Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in Vietnam September 5, 2012 Open Hospitality Offers Google Hotel Price Ads; Division of Pegasus Allows Hotels to Drive More Search Traffic Directly to Brand Website Where are the Most Expensive Luxury Hotels in the World? Coming in at $2539 Per Night, the 'Le Dune' on the Mediterranean Island of Sardinia Scores the Top Spot Newly Released Survey Reveals How U.S. Travelers are Likely to Vote - Romney or Obama? And, Beyond the Presidential Race, Expiration of Bush-Era Tax Cuts Expected to Have Adverse Effect on Future Travel Foreclosure Finalized on the Sheraton Charleston Airport Hotel, One of the Largest Full Service Hotels in the Charleston, South Carolina Region; The 289-room Hotel is Now Likely to be Sold by Lender, U.S. Bank National Association Seminole Tribe Plans 1,000-room Hotel in Coconut Creek, Florida; The 20 Story Hotel Tower, Topping a Mega Entertainment Complex would Become National Gambling Destination Red Lion Hotels Sells the Red Lion Hotel Sacramento at Arden Village in California for $9 Million, Adds New Franchise, the Red Lion Hotel Woodlake Conference Center Sacramento Public/Private Partnership to Build $15.6 Million Kent State University Hotel & Conference Center in Kent, Ohio; The 95-room Hotel, Part of a $100 million Downtown Redevelopment Project is Slated to Open in Spring 2013 AWH Partners, LLC, a Joint Venture of Winston Harton Holdings, LLC and August Group Ventures, LLC in Partnership with The Lane Organization LLC Acquire the Waterfront Boca Raton Bridge Hotel and Plan Multimillion-Dollar Reinvention Benchmark Hospitality Adds 500-room Bonaventure Resort & Spa in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to its Management Portfolio; New Owner, Hospitality Investing Group, Plans an Extensive Renovation of the Former Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Millennium UN Plaza Completes $30-million Transformation of its 154-room West Tower and Unveils New Identity as ONE UN New York; Phase II and III of Comprehensive Renovation for the Two-Tower Building Scheduled for 2013 The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa in Denver, Colorado Joins Marriott's Autograph Collection; Quorum Hotels & Resorts will Continue to Operate the Circa 1892 Hotel The Heat is On: Five Online Travel Trends Set to Explode Hotel TV Industry Veteran Beth Carey Joins KoolConnect; Carey will focus on KoolConnect's new VU solution that makes a hotel more like home by turning a regular TV into a Smart TV Pineapple Hospitality Appointed Master Distributor for Littlefootprint Lighting Hotel Assets Group Closes a Texas and Oklahoma Hotel Portfolio The Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton Are Committed to Luxury Service and the Creation of Memories for Guests; Evolution of Digital Space Allows for Opportunities to Showcase How These Memories are Made Through New Videos, 'The Art of The Craft' Hospitality Graduate Recruitment Launches ExecSearch by HGR Brand / Jeff Ross What Not to Do in Revenue Management - Part One / Jean Francois Mourier AH&LA Partners with Hotel Cuisine & Lifestyle Initiative; National Partnership Offers Members Competitive Foodservice Procurement and Marketing Services C.H.O.C. Development Gains Approval for 175-room Hotel with an Indoor Race Track and Convention Center in Soutlake, Texas Developer Key Hotel Planning Upscale Hotel as Part of $25 million Redevelopment for Former Cinema Site in Toledo, Ohio Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts Open the 187-room Four Seasons Hotel Pudong, Shanghai; Rainer Stampfer Opening General Manager The 149-room DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Huntsville South Opens in Alabama; Owned by Enterprise Lodging of Huntsville and Operated by Yedla Management Company Marriott International Opens the 127-room Courtyard San Jose Airport in Costa Rica TMI Hospitality Opens the 91-suite SpringHill Suites by Marriott Philadelphia Langhorne in Pennsylvania Michael H. Mahoney to Take Over as Western International's President and Chief Executive Officer; Founder and Current President, B. Gene Carter, to Become Chairman Gemini Hospitality Management Appoints Michael Hutchins as Vice President of Sales Development Zayne Boon Appointed as General Manager of the 380-room Novotel Bangkok IMPACT in Thailand Chef Cary Roy Named as Sous Chef for the 250-room Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa in Florida September 4, 2012 Grace Chojnowski-Kellogg, Owner of the Toledo Hilton Hotel Recalls Thrill of Special Guest, President Obama; In Zeal to be Certain All was in Order, Did She Clean His Clothes? It's Likely to Remain a State Secret Finley Hamilton, the Second Franchisee of the Hilton Chain and Developer Responsible for Naming Orlando's I-Drive, Dies at 89 Florida Lawmakers Urge New Health Standards for Hotels Cleaning up after Meth Labs Despite Reports of Improved Economy, Many Americans Skip Earned Vacation Time in Rough Economy Feeling Tethered to Their Desks; 65% of Working Americans had Unused Vacations Days at End of 2011 Wave of New Hotels Proposed for Seattle, Washington; Could Result in a 15% Increase in Lodging Supply Global Hotel Prices Rise in all Regions During the First Half of 2012 Representing a Global 4% Increase According to Hotels.com Hotel Price Index Leading Lebanon Hotelier Sites 10,000 Jobs at Risk Due to Smoking Ban; 1,000 Cafes Specializing in Nargileh at Risk if All Indoor Smoking is Prohibited The 155-room Ibis Christchurch in New Zealand Becomes First City Hotel to Re-Open Following the February 2011 Earthquake New Property Manager and General Manager for 146-Room Jacksonville Hotel; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Have Updated 259 Hotels in the Last Two Weeks with Changes in Personnel, Property Management or Ownership Valley Forge Casino Resort to Host the 1st Annual Northeast Gaming Technology Roundtable Milestone Internet Marketing Seeking SEO/SEM Specialist/ e-Strategist in Santa Clara, California Joining Salt Lake Renaissance and Reshaping of Downtown Core; The Salt Palace Convention Center and South Towne Exposition Center turn to PSAV for onsite event technology expertise Peabody Hotels Expands Relationship with Infor to Deliver Exceptional Guest Service; Infor HMS to Help Unify Processes, Maximize Revenue and Improve Efficiency for Recognized Industry Leader HSMAI's MEET to Feature Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Sessions as Part of New Partnership; The Meeting and Event-Planning Industry Show Occurs this Week, Sept. 5 & 6, in Washington, D.C. Accepting Tourism Responsibility, Doing Due Diligence and Setting Standards of Care / Dr. Peter Tarlow Hungarian Hotel Market is Holding its Own Despite the Country's Economic and Financial Challenges According to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' Hotel Intelligence Report Interstate Hotels & Resorts Assumes Management of the 179-room Holiday Inn West Bay Traverse City in Michigan; New Owners, ValStone Partners, Plan Multi-Million Dollar Property Renovation HHM Increases Management Portfolio by 25%, Adding 23 Newly Built Hotels in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas Under the Marriott, Hilton and IHG Flags Benchmark Hospitality Adds the 349-key Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to its Portfolio Hilton Worldwide Signs Agreement to Open the 317-room Hilton Istanbul Kozyatagi Conference Center & Spa, a Debut for the Brand on the Asian Side of Istanbul, Turkey Rezidor to Open the 203-room Radisson Blu Hotel Cotonou in the Republic of Benin; A Q2 2014 Opening is Scheduled Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts Debut the 171-room Four Seasons Hotel Baku, Azerbaijan; Tarek Mourad Opening General Manager Accor Opens the 331-room Pullman Anshan Time Square in Liaoning Province, China; China Becomes the Biggest Market for the Pullman Network All Inclusive Collection Names Gina Tsirmpas as the Canadian Director of Sales - Meetings & Incentives Top 25 Read Articles - August 2012 Hilton Worldwide Appoints Bill Murphy as Chief Information Officer U.S. Travel Industry Continues to Help Drive Country's Economic Recovery; On Pace for Another Record-Setting Yearwith an 11% Increase Over 2011 Data and Analytics: The Blueprint of Service Design Northwest Inn is Oklahoma's First Certified Guest Service Property Grand Skylight Hotel Shenzhen Deploys IDeaS Solutions and Services for Revenue Optimization Gordon Ramsay's "Hotel Hell" Leaves Owners of the Roosevelt Inn in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Reeling Talk About Experiential Tourism; for $6,800, Las Vegas Visitors Can Live the Life of James Bond Replete with Martini's - Shaken not Stirred Intelity Reaches Milestone With 50 ICE Mobile Hotels; The leading provider of mobile guest service software for hotels marks its 50th client, NYC's Bryant Park Hotel, to opt for its mobile platform No Directions and NO KETCHUP! - It's The People That Make The Difference / Doug Kennedy Hotels Urged to Enlist in Combating Sex Trafficking; Hotel Employees are Front Line Defense in Stopping Exploitation Atlantic City, New Jersey's Ailing Revel Casino Asks for Help From its Lenders; Seeking Up to $100 Million to Make it Through 2012 and 2013 Which are the World's 50 Best Hotels of 2012? The Results of the Annual Travel + Leisure Survey are in! Finger Lakes Hotel is Best Western's First Certified Guest Service Property Hotel Del Coronado Raving About PSAV, from Event Technology to HSIA; The legendary West Coast resort and spa transitioned to PSAV in May to bring provider consistency, new technologies and exceptional service to the 'Del' General Services Administration to Freeze Per-Diem Rates for Fiscal-Year 2013 at the Current 2012 Levels Rise in Average Daily Rates in Orlando, Florida and Nationwide Points to Hotel Comeback, Yet True Goal is Return of Hotel Staffing to Pre-Recession Levels Pineapple Service: The Smallest Gestures Can Make The Biggest Impressions / Roberta Nedry Vail Resorts Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Jones, to Retire at End of Year How to Succeed as a (Woman) Executive; Excerpts from the Women's Leadership Conference and Phyllis James, EVP and Chief Diversity Officer for MGM Resorts International Event Technology Pros Commonly Onsite at Top Meeting Hotels; Half of the highest-rated Meeting Hotels in the United States, as identified by Cvent, rely on PSAV® Presentation Services for onsite audiovisual support; PSAV claims a focus on people, not just technology, makes all the difference Following Disabled Veteran Incident, Odessa, Texas Hotels Review and Reinforce Disability Policies Warmbrodt Hotel Investments, Inc. Selected to Advise in the Sale of Select Service Portfolio Staffing For Prosperity / Robert Mandelbaum Hotels Don't See Social Media as a Priority, says Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) Research; Survey shows hotels are going back to basics by increasing focus on offline and direct sales to reduce third-party costs instead of new social media techniques A Thank You to Prince Harry; Naked Shenanigans Great for Las Vegas Tourism and a 'For Shame!' - to Those that Broke 'The Code' August 31, 2012 The E's of Management: Twelve Must-Have Attributes for Good Managers / William P. Fisher. Ph.D. 4 Email Fails That Sales Managers Must Avoid / Tom Costello Why is White-Collar Crime on the Rise? The Problem is Lack of Values / Rakesh Malhotra Who knew? A Hidden Gift Shop Under the Wynn Casino - One of its Best Assets - 88-year-old Mary Kepler Integrated or Best-of-Breed Systems; Maybe we should be asking different questions when choosing systems. / Jon Inge Northpoint Hospitality Could Face Yet Another Hurdle for Proposed River Street Hotel and Retail Complex in Savannah, Georgia Hotel Assets Group Closes a 20-Property Hotel Portfolio Intelity Celebrates Five Years As Industry Leader; The Orlando-based hospitality technology company marks its fifth year providing hotel guest service software Dauphin County General Authority, Owner of the Hyatt Regency at Pittsburgh International Airport, In Arrears $8.4 million to Taxing Bodies; Fine Print on Tax-Exempt Project Mandates Other Bills be Paid First Thailand's Tourism Industry and Hoteliers Urged to Make Use of New Technology in Order to Not Fall Behind When Asean Becomes an Economic Community in 2015 Greer Cos. Planning New 105-room Hampton Inn in Lexington, Kentucky MGM Resorts International Names Anton Nikodemus to Newly Created Position of President & COO of Casino Marketing Destination Hotels & Resorts Names Jack Schmidt General Manager of the The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, North Carolina Vella Ramasawmy Appointed General Manger for Soon to Open Kempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi in East Delhi, India Kevin Escoto Named Director of Operations for the Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Del Mar Sheretha Yarber Appointed Convention Services Manager for Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in South Carolina August 30, 2012 Sabre Hospitality Solutions selected by New World Hotels to Launch Private Label Chain Code; New World Hotels offers special introductory offer to travel agents; 18 percent commission and complimentary internet access through December Hospitality CEO's Score High in Emotional Intelligence, are Self-Motivators, Team Players and Excellent at Building Rapport According to New HVS Executive Search Analysis The Buffalo Sabres Win Intense Development Competition for Area Known as the Webster Bloc; the $123 million Project will Include a Hotel and Aims to Draw 500,000 New Visitors Annually Joint Venture Between Gramercy Capital and Goldman Sachs Expected to Purchase the LVH Hotel-Casino, the Former Las Vegas Hilton, Out of Foreclosure Recent Court Documents Indicate Sale is in the Works for Semiahmoo Resort Near Bellingham, Washington to Warnick + Co. but No Deal is Imminent Sale of East Fort Worth, Texas Unfinished Hotel to Fort Worth Lodging Nears Closing; Project Halted in May 2009 was Planned as a LaQuinta Inn & Suites Los Angeles County Hotels See Record Occupancy Rates of 83.9% in July Aided by Comic-Con, San Diego Hoteliers Enjoyed Increases of 6% in RevPAR for July, 2012 Hawaii Still Enjoying Red Hot Streak with Visitor Spending Jumping 17.8% in July FelCor Closes on Sale of the 222-room Embassy Suites - Anaheim-North Hotel in California for $25.5 Million to Urban Common Hunter Realty Arranges Sale of the Wingate by Wyndham in Cleveland, Tennessee International Association of Conference Centres (IACC) Selects SpeedRFP to Facilitate Meeting Online Requests for Proposals UniFocus' Survey Solution Helps RIVUE Restaurant & Lounge WOW its Patrons JMBM's Chinese Investment Group Happenings and Events / Jim Butler NEWH, Inc, The Hospitality Industry Network, Names Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Kohler Co., the 2012 Icon of Industry Walt Disney Co. Plans Expanion of Hawaii's Aulani Resort at its First Anniversay as a Result of Customer Demand Expedia Releases Study Examining the Summer Travel Mobile Device Habits of Americans; 70% of Bookings through Mobile App are Looking to Travel within 24 Hours while Location and Convenience Trump Luxury IHG Corporate Responsibility Innovation Fund Launches to Identify and Invest in Partners with Innovative Positive Community and Environmental Solutions The 203-suite Embassy Suites Chattanooga - Hamilton Place in Tennessee Celebrates Topping Out; Developed by Legacy Property Group and Owned by Chattanooga Hotel Property Investment, with Opening Planned for Q2 2013 DoubleTree Debuts in Iowa with the 100-room DoubleTree by Hilton Des Moines Airport; Newly Renovated and Re-branded the Former Radisson is Owned and Operated by Heart of America Group All-Inclusive Resort, Sandy Bay Beach Resort, in Negril, Jamaica to Welcome Guests as of November 2012; A Re-branding of the Sandals Resort, Beaches Sandy Bay Choice Hotels Ascend Collection Debuts in Boston, New Orleans and Gettysburg; Adds enVision Hotel Boston, The Blake Hotel New Orleans, and the Federal Pointe Inn in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Portfolio Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Appoints Scott Meyer as Senior Vice President, Midscale Hotel Brands, Americas Sage Hospitality Names Ed Blair as General Manager for the 403-key Embassy Suites Denver - Downtown/Convention Center in Colorado Heather Steenge-Hart Appointed as General Manager for The St. Regis Aspen Resort in Colorado Scott McAbee Named Associate Director of Sales for the 179-room Mayfair Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove, Florida August 29, 2012 Bucking Economic Trends, Continued Record Levels of U.S. Hotel Demand Leads to Improved RevPAR and Profit Projections Forecast by PKF Hospitality Research Gordon Ramsay's "Hotel Hell" Leaves Owners of the Roosevelt Inn in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Reeling The Doctor Is In: Ten Questions to Help You Check the Vital Signs of Your Client Relationships / Andrew Sobel Annual Portrait of American Travelers Survey Reveals that Emotional Power of Travel Now Trumps Americans Economic Concerns; Emphasis Now on the Experience Versus the Cost U.S. Travel Association Honors Tourism Marketing Organizations with Awards at Annual Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO); Diane Shober Named 2012 State Tourism Director of the Year Lauren 'Larry' Koonin, CFO of Summit Hotel Management, Passes Away Developer Westar Associates to Build a $20 Million, 130-room Hotel in Atascadero, California; Completion Planned by Q2 2014 Infor Delivers Specialized Asset Management for the Hospitality Industry; Hospitality Industry to Improve Performance, Boost Savings with Infor10 EAM Hospitality Edition City Nites Checks In for Better Customer Service and Growth with Infor; Infor HMS Centralizes Booking Process across Portfolio; Rapid, Mobile iPad Check-In Personalizes Guest Experience Royal Orchid Hotels Leverages New Technology Solutions for Smart Growth; Hospitality company utilizes RateTiger for double figure growth The International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show® (IHMRS) Names Finalists for the 2012 Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design; Pierre-Yves Rochon Named Designer of the Year Getting the Word Out for Big Sky, Montana - Community Works to Showcase Area as More than a Snow Ski Destination, Rather, a Year Round Wonderland Tour Operators: Who's in Control? / Jean Francois Mourier Accor Opens the 550-room Ibis Hong Kong Sheung Wan, the Second Ibis in Hong Kong The 134-room Courtyard Sarasota University Park to Open in University Park, Florida; The Former Comfort Suites is Owned and Managed by Buffalo Lodging Associates New Chinese Hotel Group, Ahn Luh, Signs Management Contract on its First Beach Resort; Owner, Huidong County Daya Bay Delta Island Club, Expects to Open the 100-room, Delta Island Hotel on Xunliao Bay Near Shenzhen in 2016 Oakwood Premier, the Luxury Brand of Oakwood Asia Pacific Serviced Apartments, Debuts in China with the Opening of the 225-key Oakwood Premier Guangzhou Axel Gasser Appointed as General Manager for the 179-room Mayfair Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove, Florida August 28, 2012 Despite Near-term Economic Uncertainty, U.S. Lodging Recovery Remains Intact, Says PwC U.S. Report Mandarin Oriental, Miami Security Scores 98.8% in Independent Security Audit; Property Safeguards Guests with InvoTech Advanced SAMS Security System Early Registration and Award Nominations for Cornell Hospitality Research Summit Close Soon Special Invitation: Complimentary Exhibit Hall Admission to the World's Premier Casino-Entertainment Event G2E Dodd-Frank Act Presents Hotels with Decisions on Credit and Debit Card Charges / Jim Butler & Robert Braun JRK Hotel Group Acquires the 472-room Sheraton Downtown Nashville Shuttered Since 1992, Hawaii's Coco Palms Resort and Former Playground of Celebrities, has Unknown Buyer Hinting at Interest in Acquisition Overall, South Florida Hotels not Severely Impacted by Tropical Storm Isaac Hand Truck Site is First to Offer Easy Made-to-Order Bellman Carts RateGain's Channel Management Solution on Pace to Deliver One Million Hotel Reservations Annually; ChannelGain solution achieves 98.5% success rate in updating channels for hotel clients ResorTime.com Partners with Nonprofit 'Find a Dream'; New Members May Win a One Week Vacation and $500 toward Airfare GuestWare Expands in India and Middle East with Reseller CADD Emirates; Hostech, the hospitality division of CADD Emirates ready to promote and service GuestWare in Middle East and India U.S. Travel Association Transitions its Marketing Outlook Forum to Travel and Tourism Research Association; TTRA to Launch Global Travel Outlook Conference October 25-26 in Chicago IHG and Owner, Inter Oceanica Hotelaria Ltda, Break Ground on the 110-room Holiday Inn Express Rio Branco is Brazil; A Late 2013 Opening is Planned Rezidor to Open the 300-room Park Inn by Radisson Dubai Al Jadaf in Dubai in 2015 Fifth Street Gaming to Assume Operations at Two Siegel Group Casinos, the 162-room Gold Spike Downtown and the 171-room Siegel Slots and Suites Swiss-Belhotel International Launches Expansion of 2-star Zest Hotels Brand in Indonesia Owned and Managed by Baywood Hotels, the 80-suite TownePlace Suites by Marriott Opens in Eagle Pass, Texas Hospitality Management Corporation Adds the 190-key Holiday Inn Jonesboro in Arkansas to its Management Portfolio Christopher K. Ivy Joins Interstate Hotels & Resorts as Executive Vice President, Development and Acquisitions Karl Kruger Appointed as General Manager of the 440-room Fairmont Newport Beach in California Waterford Hotel Group Names Barri Bialko as Director of Sales for the 78-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Danbury, Connecticut Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts Names Tilman Fuchs as Director of Brand Marketing Brian McDonough Appointed as Restaurant and Wine Manager for the 106-room Tides Inn on the Chesapeake Bay in Irvington, Virginia August 27, 2012 A Thank You to Prince Harry; Naked Shenanigans Great for Las Vegas Tourism and a 'For Shame!' - to Those that Broke 'The Code' U.S. Hotels Expected to Collect $1.95 Billion in 2012 for Extra Fees, a 5% Increase Over 2011; Experts Credit Improved Occupancy Rates and Higher Charges for Existing Fees, Not an Introduction of New Service Fees Ameriprise Financial to Acquire Downtown Minneapolis' Hotel Ivy from Dougherty Funding Which Foreclosed on the Property Earlier this Year Accor Completes $55 Million Sale and Variable Lease-Back Agreement for Two MGallery Hotels in Germany and the Netherlands; Buyer is the Hotel Real Estate Investment Fund of Internos Real Investors Pinnacle Entertainment Postpones August 29 Grand Opening of the $368 Million 205-room L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge in Louisiana; Final Step in Formal Licensing Delayed by Tropical Storm Isaac $1 Million Deposit in Bankruptcy Court Account Buys Time for Vestin Originations, Owner of the Sheraton Hotel and Spa in Fort Worth, Texas; New November 24th Deadline to Win Approval for Reorganization Plan to Avoid Foreclosure Cosmopolitan and MGM Resorts Leading Las Vegas Strip Companies in Profits in Yet Another Transition Year Following Recession Renovation of Public Space at Courtyard Kansas City Hotel to Start Next Month; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 155 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Atlantic City Casinos Adding Resort-style Entertainment Options as Lure of Gambling Continues to Fade Roomlinx Forges First-of-its-Kind Programming and Marketing Relationship with DISH Sahara Apartments Selects Count Me In for Time and Attendance with Facial Recognition Hues Boutique Hotel in the United Arab Emirates Foresees Good Times for Hospitality Industry; The New Brand Plans to Launch Six Properties in the Gulf Region by 2014 China's Budget Hotels are Subdividing into Different Sectors and Claim there's Lots of Room for Expansion Centennial Plans Under Way for Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier Park, Montana; Built by Great Northern Railway Workers 100 Years Ago, the Grandeur of the Lodge Still Brings Gasps Speakers and Agenda Set for Thailand Hospitality Technology Conference, September 5, 2012 / Terence Ronson Budget Hotels in Indonesia Tapping into Growing Demand of Cost Conscious Travelers Sofitel to Open the 171-key Sofitel Casablanca Tour Blanche in Morocco The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. Opens Its First Hotel In Austria On Iconic Schubertring Boulevard, the 202-room Ritz-Carlton Vienna The 412-key Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur Opens in Malaysia Marriott Opens the 383-room Renaissance Shanghai Caohejing Hotel in Shanghai, China; Managed in Partnership with Shanghai Caohejing Park Huagang Properties Ltd Sara Moore Appointed as General Manager of the 284-room Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center in Maryland; Jay Lefkowitz Named Director of Hotel Operations Lisa D. Green Named General Manager of the 237-room Inn at Pocono Manor in Pennsylvania August 24, 2012 Anger Flares with Owners of Small Hotels Along the Gulf Coasts of Florida and Texas Over Proposed BP Oil Spill Deal; AAHOA Estimates its Members Own 60% of the 1,280 Hotels Affected by the Spill but are not Covered in the Settlement Hotels Urged to Enlist in Combating Sex Trafficking; Hotel Employees are Front Line Defense in Stopping Exploitation Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Acquires the 258-room, All- Suite, W Los Angeles from Starwood Hotels & Resorts for $125 million; Property will Continue to be Managed by Starwood No Directions and NO KETCHUP! - It's The People That Make The Difference / Doug Kennedy Corporate and Leisure Hotel Rates Increase Again in July; Global and North American Leisure Bookings Edge Closer to 2011 Volumes Starwood Hotels & Resorts to Double Portfolio in Russia and CIS with Seven New Hotels by 2015; CEO and Senior Executives Tour Russia in Pursuit of Development Opportunities Aloft Brand to Debut in Russia with the 200-room Aloft St. Petersburg Slated to Open in 2015; Owned by Remstroyintour LLC and Ludmila Kudryavtseva Okaloosa County, Florida Approves Development of Emerald Breeze Resort on Air Force Property in Fort Walton Beach; The $24 Million Hotel Will be Built, Owned and Run by the Developers While the Land will Remain in Military Hands Stonebridge Companies Set to Proceed with Construction of the 131-room Marriott Residence Inn Near Washington State University in Pullman, Washington; Plans to Break Ground in October 2012 Mixologist's New Cocktail Menu Gets Historically Political Celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck Stands the Test of Time GuestWare Seeking an Implementation & Training Specialist Hotel Del Coronado Raving About PSAV, from Event Technology to HSIA; The legendary West Coast resort and spa transitioned to PSAV in May to bring provider consistency, new technologies and exceptional service to the 'Del' Finger Lakes Hotel is Best Western's First Certified Guest Service Property Interstate Hotels & Resorts Uses Hilton Concord as Test Property for Rollout of Sustainability Initiatives Tourism in Hawaii Sees Bright Days Ahead as Steady Growth for Islands Expected Through 2016 Maryland's Visit Baltimore Reports Healthy Hotel Bookings for Last Fiscal Year Ending June 30th; Booked 475,554 Convention Room Nights in City Hotels as Far out as 2032, a 4% Increase Over Prior Year Musicly Driven Boutique Property, Hotel BPM Brooklyn, Makes Its Debut R.D. Olson Development and Wynmark Company Open the 106-room, $28 Million, Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Santa Barbara County, California The 106-room Hotel Indigo Veracruz - Boca del Río Opens in Veracruz, Mexico; Managed by Sebaspol Management Company Owned and Operated by McKibbon Hotel Group, the 115-room Aloft Asheville Downtown Opens in North Carolina The 103-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Set to Open in Watertown, New York; Owned by Thousand Islands Hospitality and Managed by Hemisphere Management Hotel Equities and CDE Hotel Properties Re-Open the 82-room Fairfield Inn in Clearwater, Florida Upon Completion of Renovation of Guest Rooms and Public Spaces Gulph Creek Hotels Selected to Manage the 143-room Hilton Garden Inn in Frederick, Maryland The Kessler Collection Names Joseph Kelley General Manager of the 126-room Mansion on Forsyth Park in Savannah, Georgia Elegant Hotels Group Names Joanna Roterberg as General Manager of The House; Completes Extensive Five-month Renovation of the 34-suite Adults-only Boutique Hotel in Barbados Troy Wood Hired as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, Located on the Pueblo of Santa Ana in New Mexico August 22, 2012 Grand Skylight Hotel Shenzhen Deploys IDeaS Solutions and Services for Revenue Optimization Long-Term Vendor Partnerships Prove To Be A Savvy Business Strategy; Operator-Vendor Relationships Build Trust for Off-Site Hosting that Protects Data, Increases Security VBrochure Offers Hotels Ability to Deliver Multi-Media Experiences Targeted to Corporate Travelers; Hotels Subscribing to VFM Leonardo's VBrochure Find Great Success Targeting Corporate Travelers by Displaying Business-Focused Multi-Media Experiences Online The Rainmaker Group Named to Inc. 500\|5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies In America For Second Year In A Row Starwood Hotels Completes Sale of W Chicago - Lakeshore to Chesapeake Lodging Trust for $126 Million; Chesapeake to Launch Renovation of the 520 Guestrooms and Public Spaces, Starwood to Continue to Manage Hotel Under the W Flag Public Display of (Board) Affection: U.S. Hotel Boards Prioritize Self-Evaluation and Communication; Sunstone Hotel Investors leaps to the top in the 14th annual HVS Executive Search Top-Performing Board analysis of U.S. public hotel companies Three Cases of Legionnaires' Disease Linked to the Downtown JW Marriott Chicago Hotel MGM Details Proposed $800 Million Casino Plan for Springfield, Massachusetts Democratic National Convention Committee Suing Quality Suites in Pineville, North Carolina for 20 Rooms Sands China Ltd. Set to Open the Sheraton Macao Hotel, the World's Largest Sheraton with 3,896-rooms as Part of the Latest Phase of Development at Sands Cotai Central Hyatt Hotels and Unity Infraprojects Limited to Develop the 125-room Hyatt Place Nagpur in India; Opening Planned for 2016 Closed Since 2009, the 97-room Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, California Plans $28 Million Renovation and to Re-Open in Q2 2013 Northwest Inn is Oklahoma's First Certified Guest Service Property Towne Park Adds Kansas City Marriott Downtown; Now Serve 35 Big Box Properties Nationwide UniFocus Showcases User Benefits with Redesigned Website - www.unifocus.com Data and Analytics: The Blueprint of Service Design U.S. Travel Industry Continues to Help Drive Country's Economic Recovery; On Pace for Another Record-Setting Year with an 11% Increase Over 2011 HSMAI Relaunches Enhanced Website; HSMAI's Foundation Sponsors Knowledge Center Offering Expanded, Segmented Content Travel Industry Plays Key Role at Republican National Convention; Event Provides Perfect Opportunity to Advance the 2012 Vote Travel Campaign American Liberty Hospitality and Investment Partner, Gentry Mills Capital, Acquire the 97-room Alden Hotel Houston-Downtown in Texas; New Management Team - General Manager, Nick Massad III and Director of Sales & Marketing, Dawna Calderon Owner, Australia and NZ International Investment Group Pty Ltd, to Welcome the Holiday Inn Parramatta in Australia; A Re-branding of the 181-room Clarion Hotel on the Park Parramatta Richfield Hospitality Expands Management Platform into China; Forms Joint Venture with Shanghai China-based Ownership Group to Operate Hotels in China with Signed Management Agreements for Two Hotels and Six Additional Contracts Nearing Approval Grand Traverse Resort and Spa Near Traverse City, Michigan Completes Guest Room Renovation and Several Multi-Year Infrastructure Projects Hilton Worldwide Appoints Bill Murphy as Chief Information Officer Scott McClinton Named General Manager for the 336-room Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles in Chantilly, Virginia Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi Appoints Jeff Segan as Vice President of Hotel Operations Ramon Carillo Named Executive Chef for the 600-room Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa in Puerto Rico August 21, 2012 Price Fixing Claims Go International; New U.S. Lawsuit Filed Alleges Travel Websites and Major Hotel Groups Conspired to Fix Rates Coakley & Williams Uses Online Local Event Marketing to Attract Travelers; Savvy Operator Fills Rooms with Travelers Who Google Events, Not Hotels In a Top-to-Bottom Shakedown of How to Make a Difference by Exploiting Best of Breed Solutions, New Chain Ciena Hotels & Suites will Bristle with New Guest Facing and Operational Technology AAA Parking Selected To Operate Florida Atlantic University Parking Services Atlantic City, New Jersey's Ailing Revel Casino Asks for Help From its Lenders; Seeking Up to $100 Million to Make it Through 2012 and 2013 U.S. Hotels & Resorts Reportedly to Collect $1.95 billion in 2012 in Surcharges, Up 5.4% Over Last Year; More Fees Make for Weary Travelers Caribbean Hotel Profits See Largest Increase Since 2008 Reports PKF Hospitality Research Landmark Group's $25 million Westin Hotel in Jekyll Island, Georgia On Hold; Tax Incentive Program Unlikely to be Offered Forcing Developer to Seek Alternate Construction Financing Sonesta Invests $40 million for its First Hotel in Costa Rica, the 171-room Sonesta Hotel Casino Escazu Expected to Open in Q2 2013 Rise in Average Daily Rates in Orlando, Florida and Nationwide Points to Hotel Comeback; Yet True Goal is Return of Hotel Staffing to Pre-Recession Levels Tradewinds Hotels and Resorts Diversifies Product Offering with Distribution Control; Malaysian hotel group boosts bookings by increasing exposure in new markets Smoke-free Casinos a Growing Trend Across Country Hyatt Hotels and Island Hospitality Partners to Open the 104-room Hyatt Place Manatí in Puerto Rico; Currently Under Construction with Expected Opening in Early 2014 Atlanta, Georgia Developer, Paramount Hospitality Management, Plans First New Build Downtown Hotel Since 2006 in Knoxville, Tennessee; Recently Purchased Site to Build a 120-room Residence Inn by Marriott Colorado Springs' Waldo Canyon Fire Took a Serious Toll on July Hotel Bookings with Occupancy Rates Dropping 13.3% Las Vegas' Riviera Hotel Reporting a Smaller Operating Loss in Q2 2012 of $4 million Compared to $5.5 million in the Same Year-ago Quarter Trans Orient Establishment and IHG Open the 378-room Crowne Plaza Doha - The Business Park in Qatar; A Debut for the Brand in Qatar New Owners, Partners CC, Reopen the Gold Rush Hotel and Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado; Invested $1.5 Million in Renovations Five Year Extensive Renovation of the 1,147-key Boston Marriott Copley Place Completed DoubleTree by Hilton Washington DC-Crystal City Renovates Lobby to Reflect New Brand Style The Inn on Fifth in Naples, Florida Begins $1.7 Million Renovation of the 87-room Inn; New Look to Mirror the $16 Million Expansion Project Currently Underway at the Property FairBridge Hotels International Improves Customer Service with Certified Tourism Ambassadors; Expands Training Standards to Include Certification for Front of House Employees Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Appoints Rose Kutzli as Vice President, Branding Sage Hospitality Names Kevin McKee Division Vice President of Finance for Premier & Lifestyle Portfolio HHM Names Wayne Carney as Vice President of Financial Services Thailand's Plaza Athénée Bangkok, a Royal Méridien Hotel, Names Gilles Evrard as Hotel Manager Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces Appoints Wayne Murphy as Director of Food & Beverage for the 273-room Taj Boston in Massachusetts The 120-room L'Auberge Del Mar in California Hires Sandra Rankin as National Sales Manager August 20, 2012 Life Imitates Artlessness: The electronic crisis junkie / Michael Schubach Travelodge Agrees to Financial Restructuring and Initiates a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA); 49 Hotels or 8% of the Estate No Longer Viable for Continued Operations Under Travelodge Flag Carlson Appoints Trudy Rautio as President and CEO; Hubert Joly Resigns Staffing For Prosperity / Robert Mandelbaum Following Disabled Veteran Incident, Odessa, Texas Hotels Review and Reinforce Disability Policies With Final Approval Secured, White Lodging to Start Construction on the $300 million, 1,012-room, JW Marriott Downtown Convention Hotel in Austin, Texas General Contractor Selected for 750-Room Orlando Hotel Renovation; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 148 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database From Pricing Complaints to Personal Attacks: How to Respond to Challenging Guest Reviews / Daniel Edward Craig Customer Loyalty in as Little as 17 1/2 Minutes! / Bob Taylor and Jim Hartigan California Hotel Defaults Decrease / Howard Mathews Pineapple Service: The Smallest Gestures Can Make The Biggest Impressions / Roberta Nedry Questions I Wish You Would Ask Me - Bill Hurley, International Hotelier / Dr. John Hogan A 'Terrific Opportunity': Your Customers on the Go with New Search Tools / Pamela Whitby Owners of Boutique Hotel, The Mansion on Delaware Avenue, in Buffalo, New York Look to Fill Niche; Considering the Development of Hotel and Conference Center to Meet Current Market Need Sale of The Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Reading, Pennsylvania on Track to Close by October 2012; New Owner Plans to Complete $15 Million in Improvements Hersha Hospitality Trust Acquires the 130-room Courtyard by Marriott in Ewing, New Jersey; Purchases Remaining Interest from Joint Venture Partner Marshall Hotels & Resorts Adds Two Management Contracts and Two Receiverships; Properties in Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri Hospitality Management Corporation Chosen to Manage the 84-room Holiday Inn Express Sherman in Texas Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts Returning Home with Planned Opening of New 259-room Four Seasons Hotel Toronto The 321-room Hyatt Regency Chongqing Opens in Southwest China The 132-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott to Open in Valdosta, Georgia; The Former Wingate Hotel is Owned and Managed by Peachtree Hotel Group The 162-key BEST WESTERN Town & Country Inn in Cedar City, Utah Earns Brand's "BEST WESTERN PLUS®" Descriptor; Name Change Communicates Enhanced Amenities, Experience Bruce Siegel Appointed as General Manager for Sundy House in Delray Beach, Florida Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio Names Randee Ruane as Group Sales Manager Joaquin Escudero Named as Resident Manager for Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in Peru August 17, 2012 Strategic Hotels & Resorts Acquires New York City's Iconic Essex House Hotel for $362.3 Million; The 509-room Hotel will Rebrand as the JW Marriott Essex House New York California's 121-room L'Auberge Del Mar Hotel Reportedly Up for Sale After Having Undergone a $26 million Renovation Four Years Ago / Lori Weisberg Hospitality Industry Mourns Passing of Long-Time Operations Executive, Michael W. Sansbury Ma-and-Pa Can't Compete - Harford County Maryland's Hess Family Leaves Hotel Business after 46 Years; Hess Hotels Group Completing Sale of Five Hotels Citing Difficulties in Keeping Up with Expectations of the Modern Hotel Industry TripAdvisor and TrustYou Partner to Provide Hotels a More Comprehensive Tool for Monitoring Reviews; New Global Partnership Gives TrustYou Clients Authorized Access to TripAdvisor Review Content With Gaming Commission Approval, Rotate Black Ready to Start Building $112 Million Casino Resort at Gulfport Harbor in Mississippi; Plans for Hemingway Hotel and Resorts to Operate the 205-room Hotel Kalahari Resorts Sets Sights on the Poconos; While Early in the Planning Stage, Project Could Include a Combination Indoor Water Park, Convention Center and Hotel; Estimates for Development to Exceed $100 million In Costa Rica's Big Hotels, Convenience is King; All-Inclusive Model Highly Successful Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Second Only to Oahu, Hawaii, Leading the Nation in Hotel Occupancy Growth According to Report by Smith Travel Research Florida Tourism Headed for Record Year with 22.1 million Visitors in Q2 2012; Orlando Hotels Reporting Occupancy Rates of 72.8%, Up from 70.8% and ADR up 3.4% Cancun, Mexico Celebrates High Occupancy Rates for Summer 2012 REI Investments Proposes a 168-room Hyatt Place Hotel for Bloomington, Indiana IHG and LFPI Hotels Management Germany GmbH to Open the 126-room Hotel Indigo Düsseldorf-Victoriaplatz in Germany; The Conversion from the Lindner Rhein Residence into a Hotel Indigo Will Open in 2013 Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino in Nevada Completes $20 Million Transformation The Opening of the 80-room Hotel Warner in West Chester, Pennsylvania Fills a Longtime Void in Town; The Borough's Only Lodging now Occupies the Site of the Last Movie House, the Warner Theater Chile's 57-room Singular Patagonia Gears Up For Second Season; Opened in 2011, the Renovated and Restored Post-Victorian 1915 Bories Cold Storage Plant Gets Further Enhancements Toni Knorr Named Winner of Cornell MMH Outstanding Alumna Award The Association of Corporate Travel Executives Names Recipients for Asia and Australasia "Three Under 33" Award; Belinda Doery, Jake Hower and Aditya Loomba Honored as Next Generation Industry Leaders Dimitris Manikis Appointed as Managing Director of RCI South Africa; Will Continue as Vice President of Business Development in Europe and the Middle East The 130-key Gstaad Palace in Switzerland Appoints Melanie Ehlert as Director of Sales and Marketing L'Auberge Del Mar in California Hires Misty Stewart as Spa Director for the Spa L'Auberge August 16, 2012 Said to be the Largest in the History of Native American Gaming, $850 million in Financing Secured for California's Rohnert Park Casino; Stations Casinos, Owners of Nine Major Hotel Casinos, to Manage Station Casinos Poised to Pay Off $150 million in Debt Following Financing Deal with Indian Gaming Partner The Proposed 21c Museum Hotel Gets Conditional OK from Lexington, Kentucky Design Review Board; Work Could Begin on the Rehabilitation of the Circa 1912 Building by Year-End Act Global and Think Local: How Not to Get Lost in Translation Morgans Hotel Group to Open the 160-room Delano Moscow in Russia; Set to Open in 2015 as Part of Capital Group's OKO Development Project in Moscow City Kevin Bermeister and Partners Acquire the 185-room Leonardo Inn Hotel Jerusalem; Purchased Shares of Owner, Kedem Hotel Jerusalem Ltd., for $17.5 Million Boston's 383-room Fairmont Copley Plaza Celebrates its 100th Year Following a $20 Million Renovation and Restoration Maintaining its Historic Details and Ornate Elegance Marriott International to Debut in Ukraine with the 173-room Renaissance Kiev Hotel; To Open in Mid-2013 Following Expansion and Renovation of the Former Leipzig Hotel Hilton Worldwide Opens Dual Branded Property in the U.K.; Hilton and Hampton by Hilton at St George's Park Open in Partnership with The Football Association's New National Football Centre in Burton upon Trent B4Checkin Secures First African Lodging Property Client with Sarova Hotels Installation; Communication and feedback software systems implemented at eight award-winning hotels across Kenya and East Africa Event Technology Pros Commonly Onsite at Top Meeting Hotels; Half of the highest-rated Meeting Hotels in the United States, as identified by Cvent, rely on PSAV® Presentation Services for onsite audiovisual support; PSAV claims a focus on people, not just technology, makes all the difference Warmbrodt Hotel Investments, Inc. Selected to Advise in the Sale of Select Service Portfolio New Study by Cornell Center for Hospitality Research Shows Corrisive Effects of Negative Employee Attitudes on Turnover and New Hotel Pricing Tool to Optimize Room Rates Now Available HFTP Representatives to Discuss Top Tech Trends at the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India Annual Convention in Goa, India Wyndham Orlando Resort in Florida Launches Multi-million Dollar Renovation and Expansion; Owner, I Shops, Initiated Plan as Part of International Drive Revitalization Love Hotel Management Company Assumes Management of the Newly Named West Palm Beach Hotel in Florida; The 162-room Hotel Recently Completed Conversion, Formerly a Comfort Inn Owned by Bhavi Hotels and Managed by SMG Hotels, the 96-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton Doylestown Opens in Pennsylvania Navy Lodge Gulfport in Mississippi Opens 50-Room Expansion Ed Fuller, Recently Retired President of Marriott International, Named President of Laguna Strategic Advisors LLC Carlson Appoints Mary Plunkett as Vice President, Global Talent Management and Development The Kessler Collection Names James McKenzie as Operations Manager of Kessler Canyon, a 23,000-acre Luxury Guest Ranch in Colorado Benchmark Hospitality Appoints Angela Rodden as Director of Human Resources for the 219-room Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, New Mexico August 15, 2012 General Services Administration to Freeze Per-Diem Rates for Fiscal-Year 2013 at the Current 2012 Levels Gaming Executives and Buyers to Meet in Las Vegas for the World’s Premier Casino-Entertainment Event: Special G2E Invitation Hilton Worldwide Names 2011 North American Hotel Development Award Winners; Michael V. Harrell, Vista Host, Inc. Receives Lifetime Achievement Award Zacks Equity Research Provides U.S. Hotels & Lodging Highlights: Focus on Morgans Hotel Group, Red Lion Hotels, Great Wolf Resorts, Starwood and Marriott R.D. Olson Development Breaks Ground on $60 million Tustin Pacific Center, a Mixed-Use Development in Tustin, California; Project Includes Two Hotels, a 149-room Residence Inn by Marriott and a 145-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Hotel Development Going Strong in Bismarck, North Dakota with Six Hotels Currently in Various Stages of Completion; Nearby Mandan Sees Need for More Israel Reinstates Hotel Star Ratings after More than 20 Years; Rating Regulations Expected to Lower Hotel Room Rates by 5 to 7 Percent India's Hospitality Sector Prepares for Tough Season as Travelers Cut Budgets; Direct Impact of Delayed Monsoons, the Euro Zone Crisis and Continued Global Economic Uncertainty Details Revealed for The 21c Museum Hotel Planned for Lexington, Kentucky; To be an Historic Rehabilitation of the Circa 1912 Building, Lexington's First Skyscraper The Wurzak Hotel Group to Open the 180-room Sheraton Valley Forge in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania How to Succeed as a (Woman) Executive; Excerpts from the Women's Leadership Conference and Phyllis James, EVP and Chief Diversity Officer for MGM Resorts International Creating a Buzz: Social is "made for building relationships with guests" / Pamela Whitby Occupancy is Up, Room Rates are Up but Employment in Hospitality Remains Down, Why? Tourism Boost not Translating to Jobs in Palm Beach County, Florida Haiti Tourism: Pipe Dream or Realistic Prospect? PolyU Wins Honor for Advancing Hospitality and Tourism Education; Receives McCool Breakthrough Award from the International Council of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education Thayer Lodging Group Issues a Cease-and-Desist Letter to University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee; Stop Including Our Hotel in Talks as a Possibility for Student Housing Owner, Riviera De Goa Resorts and Hotels Private Limited, and Hilton Worldwide Open the 105-room DoubleTree by Hilton Goa-Arpora-Baga in India; The Newly-Renovated Former Riviera De Goa Becomes the Third DoubleTree in India Owned and Managed by Makan Hospitality, the Candlewood Suites North Little Rock North Opens in Arkansas; IHG Debuts New Candlewood Suites Interior Design Scheme with the Opening California's Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa, Formerly Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, Villas and Spa, Completes Rebranding and Multi-Million Dollar Renovation Vail Resorts Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Jones, to Retire at End of Year Waterford Hotel Group Appoints Christopher Flagg as Director of Development Freddie Khoo Named as Director of Food & Beverage for the Four Seasons Hotel Houston in Texas August 14, 2012 Kathleen Garcia Named Knowland Chief Sales Officer; Senior global sales leader from OnVantage, Starcite and Active Network, brings over 25 years of proven experience in hospitality sales and marketing to high growth company Are Independent Hotel Operators Leading the Way in Driving Property Management System Evolution for Greater Flexibility, Increased Functionality and Service? Maestro is PMS of Choice for Indies That Require Reliable Technology, Expert Support, and Close Vendor Partnerships to Maximize Productivity and Profitability Cornell Hospitality Research Summit Will Feature Over 80 Industry-focused Presentations Google, Attempting to Become the 'Go-to' Source for Travel, to Acquire Frommer's Travel Guides for an Undisclosed Sum Travelodge, Saddled with Massive Debt, Reported to be Preparing a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA), Looking to Off-Load Leases for Least Viable Properties India Hotels and Resorts Suffer Under Recent Tiger Tourism Ban; India's Supreme Court Effort to Protect the National Animal May Not be the Best Solution Hotel Restructuring, Workouts, Receiverships and Bankruptcy. The Art of Heavy Lifting. / Jim Butler 2012 AH&LA Lodging Survey Identifies Key Trends in Amenities, Facilities and Programs; Focus Remains on Eco-Friendly Practices, Increased Technology and Health Conscious Programs Casino Workers' Union, UNITE HERE, Files Lawsuit Challenging Atlantic City's Opposition to Public Vote on Proposed Employee Benefit Changes Fine Dining at Your Fingertips with Intelity's ICE; Hotel guests can order room service from Mondrian SoHo's new restaurant, Isola Trattoria & Crudo Bar, or Hotel Bel-Air's Wolfgang Puck restaurant using Intelity's ICE on in-room iPads. Streamline Your Food Product Control Accurately and Automatically with New Clear Sky FOOD and Gordon Food Service Interface, a Complete Back-office Food Inventory Management Solution Hospitality Marketing Exchange Workshop to Help Hoteliers Maximize Online Revenue; Google Travel executive to keynote hands-on learning experience provided by Digital Alchemy and GCommerce to help hotels increase digital presence Lodging Interactive's Top 5 Budget Items for 2013; The interactive, social media marketing agency identifies digital marketing programs that hotels need to budget for in 2013 in order to remain competitive Study Reveals Business Travel Leads to Happiness and Personal Growth; Fairfield Inn & Suites Surveys 1,001 U.S. Business Travelers to Discover the Impact of Frequent Business Travel on Work, Home Life and Personal Well-Being Bellagio in Las Vegas to Commence $40 million Redesign of all 928 Guest Rooms and Suites in Spa Tower First Phase of $14 Million Renovation Complete for the 386-room Hotel Albany in New York as it Continues Transition Towards Hilton Brand AC Hotels by Marriott Debuts in France with Opening of the 221-room AC Hotel Ambassadeur Antibes-Juan Les Pins in the Former Hotel Ambassadeur on the Cote d'Azur Westin Hotels & Resorts Debuts New Nature-Inspired Public Space Concept at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, California; Design to Roll Out Worldwide throughout 2013 with Five Additional U.S. Properties Gaining New Features in 2012 Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Opens the 117-room Inn at USC Wyndham Garden Columbia on the Campus of the University of South Carolina Fleming's Deluxe Hotel Frankfurt Main-Riverside Set to Open in Germany; Owned and Operated by HMG Hotel Management & Servicegesellschaft mbH & Co KG and a Worldhotels Partner Senih Geray Appointed as General Manager for the 151-room St. Regis Atlanta in Georgia Three Key Team Members Named to Sales and Food & Beverage Teams for the 201-room Montage Beverly Hills in California; Megan Conlin, National Sales Manager; Kathryn Carlton, Director of Group Sales; and James Proctor, Dining Director Mona Ingram Named as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hilton Orlando in Florida August 13, 2012 Is Time Running Out for Atlantic City's $2.4 billion Revel Casino? Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsey's Newest Order: Improving Hotels Resorts Casino Owner, Morris Bailey, Doesn't Mince Words, "We Needed Help"; Partnership with Mohegan Sun Can Make Atlantic City's First Casino a Formidable Competitor Cities With the Most Meeting Space, Not Neccessarily Hotel Rooms or Attractions, Draw Largest Conventions Connecticut Clarion Gets a New General Manager, Will Soon Convert to a DoubleTree; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Have Updated 253 Hotels in the Last Two Weeks with Changes in Personnel, Property Management or Ownership What's Old is New - Hotel Developers Promise Enhanced Neighborhood in Oxford, Mississippi with New Structure on the Site of an Old Hotel; Planned Hotel Indigo to Look 100 Years Old the Day it's Finished, with Exterior Fitting for a Late 1800s Streetscape Michigander Brings Detroit Flavor to Vegas Hotel; Owner of The D Las Vegas Investing $20 Million to Upgrade the Former 638-room Fitzgeralds Casino-Hotel Cool Hotel Pools: Many are Opening for Non-Guests with Special Events; Second in a Series - Las Vegas The Top Social Media Blunders Hotels Continue to Make and How to Fix it, Now / Kirsten Rhode Uniguest Unveils Breakthrough Products That Deliver Information, Entertainment to the Hotel Lobby in Novel Ways; TouchTable and TabletDispenser are key products in SocialAdvantage Pacifica Capital & Brokerage, Inc. Arranges Financing for Arizona Hotel Merchant Link Names Ben Jared Director of Business Development, Retail Educational Institute's New High School Curriculum Prepares Students for Global Hospitality and Tourism Careers Florida's Manatee County's Website Features Database Designed to Aid Hotel Developers Leaders of South Carolina Hospitality Association are Re-Energized by Recent Work to Rebuild; Several Changes for Improved Administrative Procedures Near Final Adoption Dubai International Capital's Majority-Owned Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding Company and IHG Open the 274-room Holiday Inn Express Bahrain; Luca De Stefano Appointed as General Manager Casa de Guadalupe Boutique Hotel Joins RCI Network of Affiliated Resorts; The Hotel is Built in an Eighteenth Century Historic Building in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico The Kessler Collection Names Betsy Wirth as General Manager of the Bohemian Hotel Celebration in Florida John Loyacano Named Director of Operations for the 237-room Sheraton Hartford Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut; Managed by Waterford Hotel Group Anwar I. Musa Appointed as Director of Revenue Management for the 369-room Westin Westminster in Colorado August 10, 2012 Hotels Don't See Social Media as a Priority, says Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) Research; Survey shows hotels are going back to basics by increasing focus on offline and direct sales to reduce third-party costs instead of new social media techniques Talk About Experiential Tourism; for $6,800, Las Vegas Visitors Can Live the Life of James Bond Replete with Martini's - Shaken not Stirred Owner of Pennsylvania's 712-room Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown Plans for October Completion of Long-Delayed Expansion Project; The End is in Sight for the Former Pittsburgh Hilton & Towers after Five Years, a Previous Owner's Bankruptcy, and an Investment of More than $15 Million Intelity Reaches Milestone With 50 ICE Mobile Hotels; The leading provider of mobile guest service software for hotels marks its 50th client, NYC's Bryant Park Hotel, to opt for its mobile platform Summit Hotel Properties Reports 2nd Quarter 2012 Net Loss of $1.5 million Compared to Net Income of $.6 million Same Period Last Year; RevPAR Increased 11.7% Supertel Hospitality Reports Q2 2012 Net Income of $1.6 million Compared to Net Loss of $4.5 million in the Same Quarter 2011; Advanced RevPAR 3.9% / Operating Statistics Cool Hotel Pools: Many are Opening for Non-Guests with Special Events; First in a Series - Los Angeles HREC Investment Advisors Arranges the Sale of the Courtyard by Marriott - Oxnard, California Faculty Member and Two Alumni of The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University Honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards; Recognizing Dr. Ray Schmidgall (Hilton Hotels Professor of Hospitality Financial Management), Dr. Reginald Foucar-Szocki (BA '77) and Professor Robert B. Zemke, Jr. (MBA '66) A Game-Changer for Downtown Naperville, Illinois, the Development Proposed by Marquette Companies Includes a 130-room Holiday Inn Hotel; Project Clears First Hurdle with Planning and Zoning Approval Celebrating its 100th Anniversary, The Beverly Hills Hotel Named the First Historic Landmark for the City of Beverly Hills Barn Owls, Protected Native Birds of Prey, Check in at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront Hotel as the Most Unconventional of Guests The Guest Information Management: The New Intangible Asset Value in the Experiential Hospitality / Osvaldo Torres Cruz Hospitality Management Corporation Chosen to Manage the 134-room Holiday Inn Garland in Texas Schlitterbahn Beach Resort on South Padre Island, Texas Opens New 221-room Hotel; Construction Continues on Indoor Water Park Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Opens Two New Hotels in India; The 117-room Radisson Kandla in Gujarat and the 147-room Radisson Blu Ghaziabad Near New Delhi The 100-suite Residence Inn by Marriott Opens in Coralville, Iowa, Owned and Managed by Hawkeye Hotels Hilton Brisbane in Australia Completes $38.9 Million Renovation as the 319-room Hotel Celebrates its 25th Anniversary Marcus Hotels & Resorts Completes Renovation of Lobby Lounge at the Historic Hilton Milwaukee, Built in 1927 Aqua Hotels & Resorts Names David Sosner as General Manager of the 350-room Kaua'i Beach Resort in Hawaii The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, California Adds Craig Tonks as National Sales Manager Hans Rouillard Named Executive Chef of the 310-key Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia; Owned by LaSalle Hotel Properties and Managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts Marcus G. Lindner Appointed as Executive Chef for The Alpina Gstaad in Switzerland; The 56-key Hotel is Slated to Open in December 2012 Carmen Rodriguez Appointed as Executive Chef of the 157-key La Posada de Santa Fe in New Mexico James Escarzega Joins Cushman & Wakefield's Global Hospitality Group Eight Antigua Scholars Receive a Collective Total of $28,900 from CHTA Education Foundation; Jan Joseph, Student at Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute, Receives $3,000 Educational Grant August 9, 2012 Hospitality Upgrade Launches HU Interviews; The first release in the HU Interview series is Bob Gilbert, President and CEO of HSMAI Regatta Travel Solutions Works with ICE Portal to Develop High Quality Rich Media Content for CVB Booking Engine Milestone Internet Marketing, Inc. Wins 2 Best In Class Awards for Website Design and Internet Marketing Strategies Brazil's Lodging Fundamentals Continue Upward Trajectory with Record Hotel Gross Operating Profits of 36.5% of Total Revenue for Owners Prestige Hospitality and Hilton Worldwide to Develop First Three-Flag Hotel Village in Canada; Calgary Airport Hotel Village will Include Hampton Hotels, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Homewood Suites Brands '...Then Move the Pasture!' Why it matters to move your customers from the comfort of grazing in the pasture of status quo, before your competition does! / Gary Hernbroth Complimentary Training Seminars with Dr. Bryan K. Williams! Two Keys to Empower & Inspire Your Team to Provide World-Class Service and Two Key Ingredients of Engaging Service 21c Museum Hotels' $48 Million Plan to Turn the SunTrust Building in Durham, North Carolina into a 125-room Hotel and Art Museum Likely to Move Forward; Tax Incentive Deal Approved by City Council European Economic Woes Taking Toll on U.S. Travel Websites Such as Priceline and Orbitz Triggering Steep Declines in Stock Values DoubleTree Plans to Open the 87-room DoubleTree by Hilton Liverpool in the U.K. in Summer 2013; Owned by Municipal Annex Limited Aloft Hotels to Debut in South Korea with the 120-room Aloft Suwon; To Be Developed in Partnership with Youngshin HRD, Slated to Open in October 2014 Parking Services Provider, AAA Parking, Selects UniFocus Time and Attendance Digital Alchemy's New Campaign Central is Virtual Headquarters For Hotel e-Marketing; Central dashboard interface offers at-a-glance and in-depth reporting of e-marketing communications data for hotels McLaren Technologies Completes High Speed Internet Access Project at the InterContinental Sydney Hotel WEDGE Hotels Acquires Portfolio of Four Hilton Properties; Kana Hotel Group Retained as Management Company Las Vegas Lands Third, Behind Orlando, Florida and Washington, D.C., as Top Convention Destination Hotel Association of Canada Seeks Entries for their 2012 Hall of Fame Awards for Excellence Australian Tourism - Lost in Transition or Beating the Odds?; Tourism Australia Chairman, Accor Pacific Chief and Academics to Debate at The Hotel School Sydney Industry Futures Forum, August 20, 2012 QT Hotels & Resorts Group to Open the 200-room QT Sydney in Australia, a Member of the Design Hotels Group Accor Opens the 247-room Novotel Saigon Centre in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam Hyatt Hotels, The Kolter Group and Interstate Hotels & Resorts Open the 134-room Hyatt Place Delray Beach in Florida Owned by Merced Partners and Managed by Wischermann Partners, the 251-room Sheraton Hartford South Hotel Opens in Connecticut; The Former Marriott is Undergoing a $6 Million Renovation and Conversion Project Multi-Million Dollar Renovation and Rebranding Nears Completion for the 197-room Crowne Plaza Hotel Boston-Woburn in Massachusetts, Formerly the Holiday Inn Boston-Woburn Executive Chef Brock Bowes is Key Local Ingredient Added to Team at the 100-room Oak Bay Beach Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada The Marti Group Appoints Frédéric Médigue as Consultant and Executive Chef for the Newly Opened 270-room Marti Istanbul Hotel in Turkey August 8, 2012 Intercontinental Hits Back at Hotel Price-Fixing Claims The PERRY South Beach Hotel Website Sees Wide-Open Opportunities, Thanks to Evision Worldwide and Open-Source WordPress Special Invitation: Complimentary Exhibit Hall Admission to the World’s Premier Casino-Entertainment Event G2E Disney Reports Largest Quarterly Earnings in its History Turning a Profit of More than $1.8 billion Red Lion Hotels Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Loss of $.4 million Compared to Net Income of $19.1 million Same Period 2011; RevPAR for Owned and Leased Hotels Increased 5.4% Steigenberger Hotel Group to Open the 440-room Steigenberger Airport Hotel Amsterdam at Schiphol International Airport Through a Re-branding of the Dorint Hotel Amsterdam-Airport Through a Management Agreement with Ojsc Tsum-Voronezh, Marriott to Open the 220-roomVoronezh Marriott Hotel in Russia in 2015 The National Conference Center's Open Letter Regarding GSA Spending, 'Let's Seek Long-Term Solutions, Not Shortsighted Reactions', Draws Strong Positive Reactions Developers Envision European-style Village for Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Hollywood Beach Complete with a $30 Million Condo-Hotel with a Synagogue HOMI, a Leading Mini Bar Management Firm, Seeking Experienced Sales Account Managers White Mountain Academy Hospitality Student Wins CHART/AH&LEF Scholarship Mobile Services Top Airlines' Priority Lists; To Meet Travelers' Expectations, Hotels Need to Invest in the Same / Andrew Sanders Red Roof Inn - Detroit Airport West, Belleville, MI - SOLD by Warmbrodt Hotel Investments, Inc. Gold Medal Revenue Management / Jean Francois Mourier Construction to Begin this Fall on a 100-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Bloomington, Illinois; To be Owned and Operated by Hospitality Specialists New Ownership Group Formed for the 231-room Hilton Dallas/Rockwall Lakefront in Texas; Previous Owner, Whittle Development, Partners with The Redstone Companies and BBA Capital to Acquire the Hotel School of Hotel Administration Introduces Next Level of Hospitality Higher Learning With Cornell Advanced Programs Charlotte, North Carolina Restaurant and Hotel Operators Uneasy about the Effects the Proposed US Airways-American Airlines Merger Could Have on the Local Economy PolyU Wins First Prize in Global Student Competition at Seoul Youth MICE Challenge of the Korea MICE Expo 2012 Marriott International Opens the 212-room Renaissance Istanbul Bosphorus Hotel in Turkey Under a Franchise Agreement with Polat Holding A.S. Hotel Managers Group (HMG) Opens the Newly Constructed 69-room Comfort Inn and Suites in Lake Point, Utah The World's First Elliptical Cycle Demonstrated at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in South Carolina; Guests at Select U.S. Westin Hotels Can Take Their Workout Outdoors this Summer Dustin Resnick Named as Senior Director of Acquisitions and Development for HHM, Formerly Known as Hersha Hospitality Management Hilton Worldwide Appoints Jorge Gutierrez as General Manager of the 222-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cariari San Jose in Costa Rica Otto Svensson Appointed as the General Manager of Melia Atlanta Hotel in Georgia Mark Heisler Named as President and CEO for Janko Hospitality Lynn A. Dell Joins Prestige Hospitality Group as General Manager of the Clarion Hotel in Bristol, Connecticut Chef Bill Downes Hired as Executive Chef for the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards in Maryland August 7, 2012 Please Join Us at The 18th Annual Lodging Conference…Selling Out Fast Colorado Springs CVB Signs with Regatta Travel Solutions KoolConnect Revolutionizes VOD Features and Pricing; New VU solution includes an EPG, VOD and Smart TV apps for 70% less MGM Resorts International and Morgans Hotel Group Create Partnership to Introduce the 1,100-key Delano Las Vegas, an All-Suite Hotel at Mandalay Bay; Transformation of the Current THEhotel to be Complete in Late 2013 How to Buy a Hotel Handbook: Franchise issues in hotel purchase and sale transactions / Jim Butler Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Casino to Take Over Management of the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey IHG Reports Interim Results to June 30, 2012; Profits of $286 million, up from $269 million in the Year-Ago Quarter; Global RevPAR Up 6.5%; Plans to Return $1 billion to Shareholders Gaylord Entertainment Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Income of $9 million Compared to $8.6 million in the Year-ago Quarter; RevPAR Increased 7.5%; Additionally, Company Announces Repurchase of $185,000,000 of its Shares of Common Stock from TRT Holdings and as a REIT Will No Longer Develop Large Scale Properties as a Means for Growth / Hotel Operating Statistics MGM Resorts International Reports Q2 2012 Net Loss of $145.5 million; Net Revenue for Domestic Resorts at $1.5 billion for Current and Prior Year Q2; Las Vegas Strip RevPAR Increased 5% Strategic Hotels & Resorts Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Loss of $3 million Compared to Net Income of $39.5 million Same Period 2011; U.S. RevPAR Up 8.9% Hospitality Properties Trust Reports 2nd Qtr. 2012 Net Income of $27 million Compared to $44.2 million the Year-Ago Qtr.; RevPAR Increases .5% Caesars Entertainment Corporation Reports 2nd Quarter 2012 Loss of $241 million Compared to Loss of $155.5 in Year Ago Quarter Chatham Lodging Trust Posts 2nd Quarter 2012 Net Income of $2.2 million Compared to Net Loss of $1.9 million Same Period 2011; RevPAR Increased 7.6% Tropicana Entertainment's Nevada Net Revenues Fall $1.2 million in Q2 2012; Overall Company Profits are Up; Laughlin, Nevada Casino Market Continues to Struggle as Las Vegas Bounces Back DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Miami Airport & Convention Center Partner with PSAV 4C Hotels Increases Direct Bookings by 5% Managing Guest Reviews; Hotel group increases TripAdvisor ranking 30 points through proactive guest review management Observations on Hotel Safety and Security for Hospitality Brands and Hotel Management Companies / John Hogan Red Lion Hotels Sells the 478-room Red Lion Hotel Denver Southeast in Colorado for $13 Million The Global Tourism Economy Forum - Macau 2012 to Debut September 9-11, 2012; High-Profile Speakers to Explore New Paths to Economic Growth Two Grand Forks Lodging Hotels, the GuestHouse Town House and Settle Inn, to be Auctioned Following Bank Foreclosure New Website Launched to Help LGBT Customers Find and Book Gay and Lesbian Welcoming Hotels IHG's HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts Signs Eight Management Contracts in First Five Months after Brand Launch Developer Gets Approvals Needed to Move Ahead with a $44 million 210-room Hampton Inn & Suites near the Fort Worth, Texas Convention Center; Completion Expected for Fall 2014 Neighboring Hotels Object to Planned 6-story Hyatt Place Hotel in Columbia, South Carolina; Attorney Retained to Challenge the Special Zoning Allowing the Hyatt to Build Higher Florida's 720-room Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate to Add 55,000-Square-Foot Conference Center, To Open in January 2013 Priority Placed on Sourcing Material Locally for the Recent $25 Million Renovation of the 533-room Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis, Minnesota; 80% of FF&E was Produced in the U.S. or Canada with Many Items Coming from within 500 Miles of the Hotel Aqua Hotels & Resorts Completes $2.5 Million Renovation of the 51-room Aqua Lotus Honolulu in Hawaii William (Billy) Bos, Senior Manager of Worldwide Sales for Best Western Named as Allied Member of the Year by the Global Business Travel Association Kristi Bonsack, Director of Wellness for the Longboat Key Club & Resort in Florida, Named to International SPA Association Board of Directors Doubletree by Hilton Appoints Kieran Donahue as Vice President of Global Brand Marketing Benchmark Hospitality International Appoints Norbert Relecker as General Manager for the 219-room Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, New Mexico Morty Valldejuli Appointed as General Manager/Area Managing Director for the Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands Halekulani Corporation Names Ulrich Krauer as General Manager of 453-room Halekulani in Waikiki, Hawaii August 6, 2012 Discounted Room Rate Followed by Free Wi-Fi are Most Popular Hotel Incentives According to Survey of More than 25,000 Hotel Owners and Managers Today's Hotel Property Deals Involve Less Risk and More Balance, According to New HVS London Report; Hotel Contracts - to Lease or Not to Lease Proposed Frink Hotel in Clayton, New York Hits an Unexpected Roadblock; State Law on State Funded Hotels & Convention Centers Could Have Hoteliers Paying Housekeepers as Much as $50K a Year Rendering Project Financially Impractical Shuttered Former Macon, Georgia 307-room Hilton Stands Vacant with Unknown Future; Never Quite Living up to its Promised Glory, the Property Seemed Doomed from its 1967 Beginning Developer, North Point Hospitality, Proposes Hotel/Retail Complex to Transform Former Georgia Power Regional Headquarters in Savannah, Georgia Bidding for Renovations to 1544-room Chicago Hotel in August 2012; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 150 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Hotel Owners in Lebanon Dispute Ernst & Young Report of Rebound in the Country; Citing that their Survey is Selective and Reflects Only a Minority of Hotels in Beirut, Ignoring those Outside the Capital City Not a Dead End Job in Las Vegas: Cocktail Waitresses Make Lifelong Careers Serving Casino Customers and Some Earn $50,000 or More Per Year Hotel Industry Growing at Double to Triple the Rate of the Nation in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; City has Recently Grown in Popularity as a Destination Launch of New Walt Disney Company Projects Should Boost Financial Results; Analysts Predict 'Strong' Growth Across Vacation Businesses Majestic International's Hospitality Division Seeking Sales Representatives for United States Expansion; Specifically for the Pacific North West, Hawaii and the Mountain States Hotel Assets Group Closes Five Transactions New Hotel Projects in the United Arab Emirates to Intensify Competition for the Region Los Angeles' Craft Cocktail Scene Spills Onto a Wider Stage; Mixology is all the Rage - Much Like the Foodie Revolution of the 1980's Ascott to Acquire The Cavendish London in Q4 2012 for $311 Million; The 230-key Hotel will be Re-Branded as the Ascott St James London Lakes Entertainment Subsidiary, Evitts Resort, Purchases the 215-room Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort for $6.8 Million; Future $25 to $30 Million Renovation and Gaming Facility Development Planned for the Resort Construction Begins for the $6.5 million 90-room Hampton Inn and Suites in Jamestown, North Dakota; Owners, Vibha and Brian Patel, Plan for Completion in 2013 Owner, AREA Property Partners, Launches Multi-Million Dollar Upgrade for the 375-key Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center in Massachusetts Sage Hospitality Opens the 150-room SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown at Metro State in Colorado; Hospitality Students to Get Hands-on Experience Working in the Hotel as it Adjoins the Metropolitan State University of Denver's Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center The 110-room Hotel La Jolla, a Kimpton Hotel, Opens in San Diego, after Extensive $4 Million Transformation; The Property is Owned by Westport Capital Partners and Cove Equity Group "Rock n' Roll Chef" Kerry Simon Partnering with All Inclusive Collection to Open the "Mansion by Simon" Restaurant at the 1,787-room Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic Choice Hotels International Names C.A. Anderson as Vice President of Development for Cambria Suites Carol Bullock Named as Corporate Vice President of Sales for Sonesta International Hotels Corporation Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Appoints Jan D. Goessing as Area Vice President (New York and Boston) and General Manager of the 248-room Mandarin Oriental, New York Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts Appoints Kevin Furrer as General Manager of Swissôtel Resort Phuket in Thailand Chef Jesse Souza Appointed as Executive Chef for the Riviera Palm Springs Resort in California August 3, 2012 Which are the World's 50 Best Hotels of 2012? The Results of the Annual Travel + Leisure Survey are in! Israel's Hospitality Industry as a Model in Dealing with Today's Growing Terrorism Threat / Dov Shiloah and James C. Braver Indian Conglomerate, Sahara Indian Pariwar, Acquires Controlling Interest in New York's Iconic Plaza Hotel for $570 million KSL Capital Partners Acquires The Belfry, a Renowned Hotel and Golf Resort in Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, North Warwickshire, England; Resort to be Managed by De Vere Group; Comprehensive Renovation Planned Garrison Investment Group and Chartres Lodging Group Acquire the 300-suite Tremont Suites Hotel & Grand Historic Venue in Baltimore, Maryland; Kokua Hospitality Takes Over as the Management Company Nobody Asked me, But...No. 92; Better Than Expected; More New Hotel Brands; Hotel Room Cleanliness; Lawsuit To Remove Hammons CEO Dowdy; Hotel History: U.S. Grant Hotel; Quote of the Month / Stanley Turkel Sunstone Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Income of $4.1 million Compared to Income of $31.1 million Same Period Prior Year; RevPAR Increases 7.6%; Completes Acquisition of the 357-Room Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile Orient-Express Hotels Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Adjusted Net Earnings of $14.8 million Compared to $10.2 million Same Period 2011; Same Store RevPAR Down 2% in U.S. Dollars Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Reports Q2 2012 Net Income of $5.4 million Compared to $1.8 million Same Year Ago Quarter; Increase in RevPAR of 12.9%; Hotel Statistical Data Manatee County, Florida Commissioners Put Out a Call to All Hoteliers - 'We Need More Beds' Engineering 101: Revitalizing Your Property After Years of Deferred Maintenance / Richard Manzolina Summit Hotel Properties Completes Twelfth Hotel Acquisition with the 96-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Dallas (Arlington), Texas for $15.5 Million Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Conference Center Earns Prestigious National 'Pinnacle Award' for 2012 VingCard Elsafe Captures the 'Essence' of HITEC 2012 with Successful Launch of World's First Invisible Door Lock; Hotel market shows enthusiasm for unique minimalistic locking solution unveiled at world's largest hotel technology show Yellow Dog Software Provides Multiple Hospitality Properties with Retail Inventory Management The Fairmont San Francisco Raving about PSAV's Revenue Contribution, Structure and Customer Service; Since the AAA 4 Diamond, ExxonMobil 4 Star hotel transitioned to PSAV in 2010, revenues have more than doubled and are on a steady incline Fifteen Professionals Earn Certified Hospitality Trainer (CHT) Designation at CHART Conference Caribbean Marketing Company, CTDC, to Re-launch Travel Website with Enhanced Design & Search Capabilities; Request for Proposal Issued Seeking Editorial Content Partners for CaribbeanTravel.com Tourism and Good Health: Medical Tourism / Dr. Peter Tarlow Exploring Hospitality: Review of the Hotels Bridging Health Care Conference Become an Online Superstar / Jean Francois Mourier South Commonwealth Partners Intends to Build 123-room Hotel Atop City Owned Market Garage in Roanoke, Virginia Maine's Portland Press Herald Newspaper's Former Home Eyed for 100-room Boutique Hotel Kempinski Hotels to Open THE ONE Executive Suites, a 244-key All-Suite Hotel and Residence in Shanghai, China Etkin Johnson Group and White Lodging, Through a Joint Venture, Break Ground on 212-room Marriott Denver Westminster; Scheduled to Open in Fall of 2013 Work Progresses with the Topping Out of the 162-suite Embassy Suites Salt Lake - West Valley City in Utah Scheduled to Open in December 2012; The Hotel is being Developed by West Valley Lodging Initiatives and will be Managed by Renascent Hospitality Cancun, Mexico Welcomes First Hard Rock Hotel as the All Inclusive Collection Completes Re-flagging of the Former Cancun Palace to the Hard Rock Hotel Cancun; Puerto Vallarta's Vallarta Palace also Rebranded as Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta Owned and Operated by InverHoteles, New 143-room Hampton Inn by Hilton Opens in Guadalajara, Mexico and is Hampton's 15th Hotel in Mexico Phillips Academy Selects Waterford Hotel Group to Manage the 30-room Andover Inn in Andover, Massachusetts Rick Segal Appointed as Vice President, Owner Relations for Latin America for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Benchmark Hospitality International Names Tom Garcia as Vice President of Operations Tropicana Las Vegas Inc. Appoints Daniel M. Wade as President and Chief Operating Officer of the New Tropicana Las Vegas James C. Miles Appointed as General Manager/Chief Operating Officer of The Otesaga Resort Hotel/Cooper Inn in Cooperstown, New York All Inclusive Collection Welcomes Peter Scudieri as Northeast Regional Sales Director The 483-room Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, Names Sean O'Connell as Executive Chef and Kevin Phenegar as Director of Food & Beverage August 1, 2012 U.S. Supreme Court Releases Explosive Records Revealing Secret Deal to Conceal Past Crimes of Felix Sater, a Developer of the Failed Trump International Hotel & Tower in Ft. Lauderdale Valley Forge Casino Resort Celebrates Grand Opening with InvoTech Uniform Tracking System; InvoTech Uniform System Reduces Labor Expense, Automates Tracking for Staff of 1,000; Interfaces with Automated Conveyor System to Provide Clean Uniforms in Seconds Hyatt Hotels Reports 2nd Qrt. 2012 Net Income of $39 million Compared to $37 million Same Period Last Year; RevPAR Increased 7.6% Hersha Hospitality Reports 2nd Quarter 2012 Net Income of $13.1 million Compared to a Net Income of $6.6 million in the Year-Ago Quarter; RevPAR up 8.2% Chesapeake Lodging Trust Posts Net Income of $9 million in Q2 2012 Compared to $2 million in the Same Quarter 2011; RevPAR Increases 9.7% Outlandish and Extraordinary Experiences: Ten of the Quirkiest Lodgings In America Ask For The Sale To Increase Bookings By 440% / Doug Kennedy Two Decades Ago the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club was Renovated and Reopened by Developer Fred Guest Sparking a Renaissance in Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida The Smart Hotelier's Guide to 2013 Digital Marketing Budget Planning / Max Starkov and Mariana Mechoso Safer JN+A and HVS Design Release 2012 Hotel Cost Estimating Guide; Available as Free Download The Rising Mobile Tide: Five Trends for 2012-2013; Putting in place a mobile strategy is no longer a nice-to-have, it is the essential weapon in a fast-paced and competitive sector. EyeforTravel.com identifies some emerging themes Cuningham Group Completes Work on New Margaritaville Casino in Mississippi and Redesigned Golden Nugget in Atlantic City; Minneapolis-based design firm highlights a pair of iconic brands - the Jimmy Buffett lifestyle and Landry's Restaurants - in two distinct resort destinations. Wisconsin's 510-room Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel is Sold at Auction to its Lender, Wachovia Bank Commercial Mortgage Trust The Admiral Fund Acquires the 132-room Holiday Inn Express Fort Worth Downtown Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas; To be Managed by Aimbridge Hospitality Cornell Hospitality Quarterly Features Study Identifying The Relationship Among Corporate Cultures, Strategic Orientation, and Financial Performance Even as Morgans Hotel Group Seeks Buyer for the Delano, They Want to Stay on as Operator Torgerson Properties and Local Business Owner Marc Carpenter Developing a 111-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton in Rochester, Minnesota; Construction to Begin in Spring 2013 with an Early 2014 Opening Oxford Capital Group Closes on $23.3 Million Purchase of Property in Downtown Crossing Area of Boston and Confirms Plan for a 250-room Boutique Hotel White Lodging & Host Hotels & Resorts Break Ground on New 225-room Hyatt Place Nashville/Downtown in Tennessee; Hotel is scheduled to open in fourth quarter of 2013 The 145-room Radisson Blu Hotel, Chisinau to Open in 2013 in Moldova's Capital City Following the Renovation and Reflagging of an Existing Hotel Okura Hotels & Resorts to Open the 208-room Okura Prestige Taipei in Taiwan Campus Apartments Completes its First Hotel Development with the 136-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton - University City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Opens the 308-room Radisson Blu Plaza Chongqing, China, Owned by Chongqing Xunsheng Real Estate Development Co, Ltd Marriott International Expands Global Sales Network in Spain; Opens New Global Sales Office in Madrid to Support Growth in Spain Choice Hotels International Opens 88 New Hotels in Q2 2012 The 500-room Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre in Texas Completes $18 Million Transformation RIU Hotels & Resorts Nears Completion of $14 Million Renovation of the Hotel Riu Palace Macao in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; To Reopen this Month and will Become the First Adults Only Hotel in the Americas Jumeirah Group Appoints Donald Bremner as Hotel Manager for Jumeirah Creekside Hotel Midas Hospitality Promotes Chris Shinkle to Area Director of Operations McKibbon Hotel Group Selects Sebastian Peralta, Stephano Anamisis and Vanessa Faberlle to Join the Orlando, Florida Airport Gateway Management Team Overseeing Two Hotels Opening in August and December of 2012 Sarah Opple Appointed as Director of Group Sales for Swissôtel Chicago in Illinois Delaware North Companies Appoints Jeff Graham as Executive Chef for the 102-room Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park, California Top 25 Read Articles - July 2012 Unite Here Stages Global Boycott of Hyatt Hotels; Demonstrations Planned at Hyatts in 20 Cities Across U.S. and London, UK Criminal Scam Targeting Hotel Guests Known as 'Barry at the Front Desk' Plagues Ft. Walton Beach, Florida Region How to Terminate a Hotel Management Agreement: A Tale of Two Hotels - Marriott's Edition Waikiki and Fairmont's Turnberry Isle Resort; Two owners terminate long-term hotel management agreements, seize control of their hotels from branded operators, and then settle their litigation / Jim Butler TRT Holdings, the Largest Stockholder of Gaylord, Sends Open Letter to Stockholders of Gaylord Entertainment Suggesting Rejection of Purchase by Marriott Running from Empty: What to Do When the Really Nice Hotel You Own Isn't Full / Joe Strain Security Tips for Travelers Offered by Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), Producers of HITEC Hyatt Releases National Labor Relations Board Citation of San Francisco Union Leaders for Negotiating in Bad Faith While Hotel Associates Wait for Raises; Hyatt Calls on UniteHere Local 2 Leaders to Allow Members to Vote on New Contract So Associates Can Get Their Wage and Benefit Increases Service Excellence: Lessons from a 5 Star/5 Diamond Restaurant / Bryan K. Williams Innflux Achieves Marriott Property Internet Certification through Advanced Network Design and Proactive Support DiamondRock Hospitality Enters Agreement to Acquire a $495 million Hotel Portfolio From Blackstone; Blackstone in Turn Will Take a $75 million Ownership Stake in DiamondRock A Slideshow from a Week at HITEC with Hospitality Upgrade and Hotel-Online / Geneva Rinehart Guest Satisfaction with Hotel Experience Continues to Deteriorate as Hoteliers Fall Further Behind in Meeting Guest Expectations According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study Gaylord Entertainment Company Addresses TRT Letter Claiming Letter Contains a Number of Significant Inaccuracies and Omissions New Study Projects Top 9 Hotel Groups to Lose a Combined $10 Billion in Customer Spending Over the Next 12 Months; Study Ranks Brand Vulnerability of Major Hotel Groups and Loyalty Programs for First Time Owners of the Modern Honolulu, the Former Edition Hotel, to Pay Marriott International an Undisclosed Sum to Settle Lawsuit Clearing the Way for Property to Exit Bankruptcy The Travel + Leisure 2012 World's Best Awards of Top Hotels, Cities, Islands, Cruise Lines, Airlines, and More; Waldorf Astoria Chicago is Top Large City Hotel in U.S., Bangkok Named World's Best City; New York City is Best in America Article on Knowland's Massive Database Becomes Top Read on Hotel-Online; News that Knowland's database now includes over 170,000 contacts is a top story for May and June Women in the Hospitality Industry: Does the Glass Ceiling Really Exist? Hyatt Wins Round with Union, but Battle to Escalate with Planned Boycott Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Makes Management Appointments Around the Globe The Power of Advice - A Film: Richard Leonard, MD at Angelo Gordon & Company, discusses the impact that advice has played throughout his career Four Seasons Hotel Toronto To Offer Intelity's ICE; The all-new Toronto hotel will engage the growing trend of hotel guest self-service technology among travelers and partner with software solution company Intelity to amplify guest services Battle Brewing Over Price Federal Employees Pay to Stay at U.S. Hotels; More Hoteliers May Not Bid on Government Business Amid Fears Per Diem Rates will be Slashed in Wake of Spending Scandal Multi-Company Effort Creates New Solution to Guest Room Remote Control Challenges; Group of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) Members Publish New Standard for a Single Remote Supporting Multiple Devices The Evolution of Distribution: How we sell rooms - More changes are coming / John Burns July 31, 2012 Evolving Travel and Hotel Trends Prompt Revisions to Approval Requirements & Diamond Rating Guidelines Used by AAA Hotel Inspectors; New AAA Hotel Rating Guidelines Accommodate Member Expectations for Resort and Wi-Fi Fees Helena, Montana CVB/TBID Signs with Regatta Travel Solutions VFM Leonardo Delivers Technology to Bring Room Key Visitors a Richer Experience; VFM Leonardo Powers Hotel Visual Content on Room Key to Make a Greater Visual Impact with Travel Shoppers Morgans Hotel Group Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Loss of $13.4 million Compared to a Loss of $11.4 million Same Year Ago Qtr; System Wide RevPAR up 2.9% / Hotel Operating Statistics MGM Grand President, Scott Sibella, Applying Lessons Learned on 'Undercover Boss' to the $160 million Hotel Renovation Global Business Travel Association Reports Global Business Travel Up 4.6% Over 2011 but Economic Recovery Moving at Two Different Speeds Accor Sells its Stake in Mirvac Wholesale Fund and the Novotel/ibis Sanyuan in Beijing to A-HTRUST for $134.8 Million; Accor Partners with Ascendas to Create A-HTRUST, a Publicly Listed Hotel Investment Trust in the Asia-Pacific Region, with a 6.9% Stake Plans in the Works for a Two-Tower Resort Consisting of the Tallest Buildings in Niagara Falls, Ontario; Developers Ralph Terrio and Hunter Milborne Moving Forward with Project Calling for 966 Hotel Rooms, which will Rank Among the Tallest Hotels in North America The Dan Accadia Herzliya Hotel to Become Israel's Biggest Hotel with 1,325 Rooms; Despite Recent Objections, Expansion Plan Approved for the Current 200-room Property Marriott Presents Awards to 26 of its Select Service and Extended Stay Brands General Managers; Honors Awarded Include The Chairman's Award, General Manager of the Year, Opening Hotel of the Year, Hotel of the Year and Opening General Manager of the Year for Each Brand Best Western's Global Expansion Continues With Opening of First Premiers in Australia and Russia; 146 Best Western Premiers Now in 34 Countries Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts to Debut in Latin America with the 248-room Waldorf Astoria Panama Opening in Panama City Later in 2012 A Tough Job: Targeting the Fickle and Attention-Deprived Travel Consumer / Ritesh Gupta Hoteliers Take Control of Guest Reviews for Less than $65 Per Month; By posting guest reviews directly on a hotel's website, factors that negatively affect third-party rankings are removed Shift4 and FoundryLogic Partner to Provide Mobile POS Solutions to Retail Pro Users Aqua Hotels & Resorts to Begin $10.7 Million Renovation of the 221-room Park Shore Waikiki on Oahu, Hawaii The Churchill Hotel Partners with Renowned Phillips Collection to Showcase Art for Visitors to the Nation's Capital; Leading Historic Hotel Elevates Guest Experience with a Program Featuring World Famous Art and Local Community Connection Best Holdings Limited and Starwood Enter Agreement for Le Meridien Dhaka in Bangladesh; 304-room Property to Open July 2013 TRYP by Wyndham Hotel Opens First Hotel in Panama with the 92-room TRYP by Wyndham Panama Centro in Panama City; Owned by Inversiones Casaldeporto S.A., and Managed by Wyndham Hotel Management Homewood Suites by Hilton Opens First Hotel Featuring Generation 9 Design Prototype in Joplin, Missouri; The 97-suite Hotel is Owned by Joplin Hospitality Partners and Managed by McHugh Hospitality Group The 164-room BEST WESTERN PLUS Madison-Huntsville Hotel Opens in Madison, Alabama; The Hotel is Operated by Cathy Anderson and Owned by AFT Six, LLC TMI Hospitality Opens the 92-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Bismarck, North Dakota The 70-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Opens in Fort Worth, Texas; Owned by Summit Hotel Group and Managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts RLJ Lodging Trust Completes $25 million Revitalization of the Historic DoubleTree by Hilton Metropolitan New York City Dennis Blyshak to Retire from Benchmark Hospitality International; Currently the Chief Corporate Officer, Blyshak has Been with Benchmark for 25 Years and is Completing a 40 Year Career in Hospitality Palace Resorts Promotes Susan Hanlon to Vice President of Meeting and Incentive Group Sales Midas Hospitality Names Ryan Harloff as Area Director of Sales for the 83-room Candlewood Suites - Aurora / Naperville in Aurora, Illinois Benchmark Hospitality International Appoints Peter Birk as Executive Chef for the 120-room Hotel 1000 in Seattle, Washington July 30, 2012 Cendyn's Best Practices and Recommendations for Hotels to Effectively Engage With Their Guests Via Social Media; Hotel Marketing Leader Explains How to Maximize Brand Presence on Social Networks Regatta Travel Solutions to Bring CVB's to Google Hotel Finder TripAdvisor and TrustYou Partner to Provide Hotels a More Comprehensive Tool for Monitoring Reviews; New Global Partnership Gives TrustYou Clients Authorized Access to TripAdvisor Review Content Agilysys Software Solutions Popular Throughout United Kingdom; Sporting Venues and Hotels Rely on Agilysys for Efficiency, Streamlined Operations Is Conventional Thinking in a Changing Marketplace Robbing Hotels of Revenue? Evision Worldwide CEO Vikram Singh explores the implications and solutions at the upcoming California Hotel & Lodging Association Conferences U.S. Hoteliers Optimistic for Upcoming Fall Travel Season; 47% of Hotels Expect Higher Rates Compared to Last Year According to New TripAdvisor Survey New General Manager at 171-Room Union Square Hotel in August; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Have Updated 310 Hotels in the Last Two Weeks with Changes in Personnel, Property Management or Ownership Private Investors Save the $98 million Edgewater Hotel Project in Madison Wisconsin by Offering Developer, The Hammes Co., Millions the City Refused to Give; Hopes to Break Ground this Fall Hotel Investment Popular Among Younger Investors in the Asian Market as Hotels are Seen as Stable Long-Term Business Investments Las Vegas' CityCenter Considering More Testing to Prove Harmon Tower Defects and Need for Demolition Following a New Court Ruling Merchant Link Names Patricia Sappington Director of Channel Development; Seasoned Payments Professional to Enhance Relationships with Growing Base of VAR Partners Phuket Hotel Investments Anticipated to Reach Record Sales of U.S. $315 million in 2012 New Owners, Raleigh Krishna LLC, of the 122-room Hampton Inn in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Plan $2 Million Renovation for the Hotel Owner, Freeman & Hasselwander Resort Properties, and Starwood to Open the 262-room Westin Resort at Tarpon Point Marina in Southwest Florida Noble House Hotels & Resorts to Open The Commons Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota in October 2012 Starwood Opens First Dual-Branded Ski Resort Complex in China; Owned by Dalian Wanda Group, the Sheraton Changbaishan Resort and The Westin Changbaishan Resort Open Adjacent to the Slopes of Changbai Mountains Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Opens The 250-room Ritz-Carlton, Saigon in Vietnam, Owned by the Bitexco Group The 87-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Opens in Montgomery, Alabama Owned and Managed by Ascent Hospitality Management Company The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts Completes $25 Million Renovation and Reopens the Circa 1912 136-key Hotel Maria Cristina in San Sebastian, Spain; One of Several Luxury Collection Hotels in Europe to be Restored and Reopened within the Next 12 Months LeGrand Center, the $19 Million Conference Center on the Campus of Cleveland Community College in Shelby, North Carolina Opens, Managed by The Wilderman Group Kana Hotel Group Chosen to Manage the Hilton Garden Inn in Odessa, Texas Recently Purchased by Wedge Real Estate Holdings Halekulani Corporation Completes Renovation of the 453-room Halekulani in Waikiki, Hawaii Hilton Aberdeen Treetops in Scotland to Undergo a More than $660,000 Refurbishment Project Expected to be Completed by Autumn 2012 Benchmark Hospitality Names Frank Lonardo as Director of Sales for Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu, Hawaii The Trinidad Hotels Restaurants and Tourism Association (THRTA) Appoints Hassel Thom as President July 27, 2012 The Evolution of Distribution; How we sell rooms - More changes are coming / John Burns Choice Hotels Posts 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Income of $31.9 million Compared to $27.6 million Same Year Ago Period; Domestic RevPAR Increases 7.7%; Executed 106 New Domestic Hotel Franchises for Q2 2012, a 54% Increase Over 2011 / Hotel Operating Statistics Why Dealing with 'Difficult' Colleagues Will Lead to Happier Customers MGM Resorts International Dropping Demand for Tax Break to Build a Casino in Baltimore's National Harbor Missouri Gaming Regulators Orders Largest Investors of Caesars Entertainment to Sever Ties with Station Casinos LLC of Las Vegas Prompting a Rush Sell-Off The Luxury Evolution: Develop Tourism Offerings Focusing on the Luxury Experience not Ownership; Experiential Luxury Now Makes up Almost 55% of Total Luxury Spending Worldwide All Systems Go for the Expansion Project of the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Washington; A-1 Hospitality Secures Financing for the Convention Center Hotel while 3 Finalists are Chosen to Design the Center Expansion Republican National Convention Could be Lucrative for Tampa Bay Hotels Now -- and in the Future; Event Provides Possible Catalyst to Rebuild Area's Lucrative Convention Business Hurt by the Great Recession Michael Dubé, Veteran Hotelier, Joins HREC EasyRMS, an Infor company, Partners with Far East Hospitality to Improve Revenue and Business Intelligence Roomlinx Names Anthony DiPaolo Chief Financial Officer Hawaii Tourists Spend Record $1.2 Billion in June; Local Tourism Economy On Pace to Set a Record-Breaking Year in 2012 Abu Dhabi Hotel Guests up 14% in First Half of 2012 While Occupancy is Down by 7%, Largely Due to an Increase in Inventory Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Opens the 344-room Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou in China Hotel Equities Opens the 129-room Wyndham Garden Duluth Hotel in Gwinnett County, Georgia; Completing the Renovation and Conversion of the Former Holiday Inn The 265-room Sheraton Tampa East Hotel Opens in Florida Through the Renovation and Conversion of the Former Crowne Plaza; Owned by a Joint Venture Between Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Waramaug Hospitality, LLC and a Private Investment Group Reservation Startup Treovi Opens No-commissions Registration for Hotels Hotel Managers to Tackle Bed Bug Concerns at North American Bed Bug Summit Owner, Lakestate Lodging, Chooses LHR Hospitality Management to Manage the Super 8 in Monticello, Minnesota Renovation Complete for San Francisco Bay Area Walnut Creek Marriott Hotel Managed by Windsor Management Services 13th Annual World Gourmet Festival to Take Place at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok September 3-9, 2012 Hersha Hospitality Trust Names Two Senior Vice Presidents and a Senior Director Promoting Robert C. Hazard III, William J. Walsh and Charles Paloux Konover Hotel Corporation Names Keith Kozierowski as General Manager of the Roseville Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Roseville, Michigan LHR Hospitality Management Appoints Mark Zovic as General Manager of the 112-room Hotel Utica in Utica, New York July 26, 2012 New Whitepaper - Top 12 Hotel Internet Marketing Questions Answered; Hoteliers Like You Asked; Vizergy and Industry Veterans Answered Rainmaker Revenue Management Solution Secures Key Endorsement; Treasure Island: GuestREV a 'great tool for yield management' Innflux Achieves Marriott Property Internet Certification through Advanced Network Design and Proactive Support The Power of Advice - A Film; Richard Leonard, MD at Angelo Gordon & Company, discusses the impact that advice has played throughout his career Hyatt Releases National Labor Relations Board Citation of San Francisco Union Leaders for Negotiating in Bad Faith While Hotel Associates Wait for Raises; Hyatt Calls on UniteHere Local 2 Leaders to Allow Members to Vote on New Contract So Associates Can Get Their Wage and Benefit Increases Starwood Reports Net Income 2nd Qtr 2012 of $122 million Compared to $131 million Same Period 2011; Worldwide System-wide RevPAR Up 6.0% / Systemwide Hotel Statistics Las Vegas Sands Corporation Reports 2nd Qtr. 2012 Net Income of $240.6 million Compared to $367.6 million Same Period 2011, a Decrease of 34.6% Hanging 550 Feet in the Air, High-risk Rescue at Las Vegas' CityCenter Vdara Hotel Makes for an 'Excellent Day on the Job' Article on Knowland's Massive Database Becomes Top Read on Hotel-Online; News that Knowland's database now includes over 170,000 contacts is a top story for May and June Educational Institute Offers New Edition of Club Management Textbook Multi-Company Effort Creates New Solution to Guest Room Remote Control Challenges; Group of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) Members Publish New Standard for a Single Remote Supporting Multiple Devices Hotel Investors Attracted to Hawaii's Hotel Market as it Outperforms the Nation and Other Exotic Island Destinations Are Prices for Olympics Lodgings and Airfares Coming Down? Travel App, HotelTonight, Shares Data and Comparative Analysis into Android and iOS Users' Hotel Booking Habits New Hotel Portal for Luxury Hotels and Villas, The Luxe Nomad, Sets Sights on High-End Travelers; Other Online Entrepreneurs Working to Tap Luxury Market as Well Malmaison to Refurbish the Vacant Tay Hotel, a Circa 1889 Listed Landmark in the Scottish Coastal Town of Dundee; The Redeveloped 91-room Boutique Dundee Malmaison Hotel will Open in May 2013 Developers Unveil Plan for $42 Million 84-room Waters Edge Resort on Bear Lake in Utah Will Caesars Entertainment Corp.'s High Roller Observation Wheel Become the Defining Icon of Las Vegas? Red Lion Hotels Sells the 149-room Red Lion Colonial Hotel in Helena, Montana to Helena Colonial L.L.C. for $5.6 Million; The Hotel will Maintain the Red Lion Brand Wyndham Hotel Group Expands in Panama with the 220-room Wyndham Grand Playa Blanca, Owned by Casa de Campo Farallon, S.A., and Operated by RG Hotels Gemstone Hotels & Resorts Assumes Management of Maison 140 in Beverly Hills, California; The 43-room Boutique Hotel was Recently Acquired by the Chadha Family Trust The Heathman Hotel in Kirkland, Washington Completes Major Renovation and Redesign During Unexpected Two-Month Closure Due to Castastrophic Water Main Break; The Hotel and Trellis Restaurant will Reopen in Early August 2012 The 88-suite SpringHill Suites by Marriott Opens in Enid, Oklahoma, Owned and Managed by Enid Hospitality, LLC Ben Tutt, General Manager of La Posada de Santa Fe, Elected President of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Lodger's Association Cindy Hill Appointed as Director of Sales and Marketing for the 400-room W San Francisco in California Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Charleston, South Carolina Hires Jessica Morse as a Member of its Group Sales Team to Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Market July 25, 2012 IDeaS Revenue Solutions Announces Winners of 2012 IDeaS Cornell Revenue Management Scholarship; Global scholarship held biannually to advance the field of revenue management within hospitality Iconic Miami Beach Hotels Choose Travel Tripper as Their Distribution Partner Guest Satisfaction with Hotel Experience Continues to Deteriorate as Hoteliers Fall Further Behind in Meeting Guest Expectations According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study Wyndham Worldwide Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Income of $128 million Compared to $114 million for Same Period 2011; System Wide RevPAR Increased 5% / Brand Operating Statistics FelCor Lodging Trust Posts 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Income of $12 million Compared to Net Loss of $42 million in the Year-ago Quarter; RevPAR for its 69 Hotels Increased 5.9% for the Quarter / Hotel Operating Statistics DiamondRock Hospitality Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Income of $8.9 million Compared to Net Loss of $.6 million for Comparable 2011 Period; Revpar Increased 6.5%; Completed Acquisition of Four Hotel Portfolio; Blackstone Purchases 7.2 million Shares of DiamondRock Stock / Hotel Operating Statistics Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa Reports Disappointing Second Quarter; Revenues Decline 4% and Gross Operating Profits Slumped 21% Developer Pacrep LLC Plans Construction of 459-key High-rise Condo-Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii; The First New High Rise in More than Three Years Hotel Energy Reduction Strategies; Energy and Water Conservation Can be one of the Most Impactful Practices a Hotel can Embrace to Improve Their Bottom Line / Scott Parisi Concept Amenities CEO Unveils Life-Saving Soap Aid Initiative at ANZPHIC 2012 Scaling Back a Popular Perk, Disney to Reduce Evening Park Hours for Their Hotel Guests Orient-Express Hotels Enters Agreement to Sell The Westcliff, Johannesburg to an Undisclosed Buyer; Will Remian as Hotel Manger for 12 Months Following Completion of Sale Key European Hotel Markets Witness Positive Growth in Trading Performance Flip.to Brand Advocate Platform Integrates With Pelican Hotel Booking Engine Hotel Room Rates Undergo Closer Inspection by Corporate Buyers; RateTiger introduces enhanced rate transparency with Rate Parameter Shopping New Chapter Establishes a Presence in India for Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) Security Tips for Travelers Offered by Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), Producers of HITEC Palm Beach County, Florida Endorses $27 million for Long-Stalled Hilton Convention Center Hotel Pearl Hospitality Planning Conversion of Historic Downtown Houston Building into a $73 million JW Marriott Hotel; Seeking Public Funding for Development Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to Debut in India with the 255-room Fairmont Jaipur to Open in August 2012 Morgans Hotel Group to Open Second Hudson Branded Property with the 234-Room Hudson Outpost at Great Scotland Yard in London Accor and Hines Property to Develop the $65 Million 307-room Ibis Adelaide in Australia Pinnacle Entertainment to Open the $368 Million 205-room L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge in Louisiana RockBridge Capital Subsidiaries, RB Hotel Development and RB Hospitality Advisors, to Develop and Manage a 122-room Airport Hotel at Columbus Regional Airport in Ohio Apple REIT, to Build a 135-room Courtyard by Marriott and a 75-room Residence Inn by Marriott as Part of First Freedom Center in Richmond, Virginia Margaritaville and Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey to Open the First East Coast Margaritaville Casino and Entertainment Complex in May 2013 Twin Cities Hotel and Conference Center in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Converts to Minneapolis Marriott Northwest; Completing an Extensive $24 Million Renovation for the 230-room Property, Managed by Stepstone Hospitality RIU Hotels & Resorts Reopens the 251-room Riu Don Miguel Hotel in Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) Following Complete Renovation Florida's W South Beach Hotel & Residences Launches VIP Suites with 26 Upgraded Suites Offering Unique Amenities and Services Newport, Rhode Island Ranks as Most Expensive Destination for Lodging Costs Says Study by CheapHotels.org New York-based Chef John DeLucie to Participate in 2nd Annual Caribbean Food & Wine Festival in Turks & Caicos; To Occur November 1-3, 2012, Hosted by Grace Bay Resorts, in Partnership with the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board and The Wine Cellar Larry Feeback Named as General Manager of the 318-key Embassy Suites Washington, DC Downtown Anne Renken, CMM Appointed as Sales Manager for the Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, New Mexico Appoints Beth Allen as Director Of Sales & Marketing July 24, 2012 Unite Here Stages Global Boycott of Hyatt Hotels; Demonstrations Planned at Hyatts in 20 Cities Across U.S. and London, UK Affinity Gaming Selects Agilysys Inventory and Procurement Solution; Agilysys Stratton Warren System Implemented at Terrible's Hotel Casino in Las Vegas The Most Interesting Job in the Universe / Doug Rosen Revenue Management Must Overcome Several Challenges to Create a Bigger Impact / Ritesh Gupta West Palm Beach, Florida's Insistence on Upholding Tax 2005 Pact Could Threaten $100 million 400-room Convention Center Hotel After More than a Decade of Delays, Palm Beach County, Florida's Approval of $27 million for Planned 400-room Hilton Convention Center Hotel is Critical to the Adjacent Underperforming Convention Center in West Palm Beach Virginia's Fort Lee to Expand Hotel Lodging Choices for Soldiers by Dropping Requirement for Interior Hallways; Will Soon Look for Bids from Local Hotels and Motels Outrigger Hotels and Resorts to Acquire the 254-key Laguna Beach Resort Located in the Laguna Phuket Integrated Resort in Thailand; Transaction to Close in Q1 2013 Hilton Hotels & Resorts Named 'Best Hotel Chain' by Readers of Frequent Business Traveler Magazine; Lufthansa, Emirates, Singapore and United Voted Best Airlines Forecasts for 2013 Global Travel Prices Released by Carlson Wagonlit Travel; Moderate Inflation Expected Worldwide, Led by Asia Pacific and Latin America Regions 18 Benchmark Hospitality Int'l Hotels and Resorts Awarded TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence for 2012; 'Highly Rated Hotels & Resorts' by Travelers on the World's Largest Travel Site Accurately and Automatically Update Your Food Product Costs with Clear Sky Software's New FreshPoint Interface La Quinta Inns & Suites Announces Results for the First Half of 2012; La Quinta's Mid-Year Numbers Demonstrate Outstanding Year over Year Growth and Business Performance Oman School Becomes Educational Institute's Newest Partner Warmbrodt Hotel Investments Selected to Advise in the Sale of The Red Roof Inn - Westport - St. Louis, Missouri New 175-room Hotel in Southlake, Texas Could Take Corporate Team Building to a New Level with Proposed Facilities; Developer, C.H.O.C., Includes Indoor Racetrack in their Hotel Development Plan Two Hotel Projects Moving Forward in North Bellingham, Washington; Permit Issued for 122-room Springhill Suites by Marriott and the Stalled La Quinta Inn Project to Re-start Soon Hilton Worldwide Enters Agreement with Mihtab Group for the 300-room Hilton Erbil Hotel & Spa to Open in Erbil, Iraq in 2016 Sofitel Acquires the 209-room Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Africa Pinnacle Entertainment Plans $20 Million Expansion at its Boomtown Casino New Orleans Property to Include 150-room Hotel Interstate Hotels & Resorts Enters Agreement to Manage the 396-room Jiaxing Jin Jiang Xiang Jiadang Lake Hotel in China The 241-room DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Salt Lake City Opens in Utah; Formerly an Embassy Suites the Hotel is Owned by Zions Suites and Operated by Suite Thinking, Inc. The 201-suite Residence Inn by Marriott Vancouver Downtown Hotel to Open in British Columbia, Canada; The Re-branding of the Former Cascadia Hotel & Suites, Owned and Managed by SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts Harrah's Cherokee in North Carolina Completes $633 Million Property Expansion Begun in 2008; New Hotel Tower Brings the Room Count to 1,108 Jumeirah Group Appoints Imran Changezi as Hotel Manager of Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai July 23, 2012 Demolition One Step Closer for Harmon Tower at MGM CityCenter in Las Vegas as Interim Court Ruling Approves the Demolition as a Business Decision After Harmon Tower in Las Vegas is Imploded, What Will Take its Place at CityCenter? Hyatt Wins Round with Union, but Battle to Escalate with Planned Boycott Hyatt Perspective on UniteHere Campaign; Union Leaders Are Trying to Enrich Union at the Expense of Hyatt Associates, Its Own Members Hotel Lawyer: Experts Share Top 5 Tips on Picking the Right Hotel Operator and Brand for Your Hotel / Jim Butler & Robert Braun Hard Rock Casino Biloxi in Mississippi Proposes $32.5 Million 154-room Hotel Tower, Seeking Tourism Incentive from City to Help Make it a Reality Renovations Planned for 436-room Westin San Diego; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 190 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Adare Manor Awarded TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence for 2012 Hotel Assets Group Announces Recent Hotel Real Estate Closings Lodging Interactive and Masterminds Form Strategic Partnership Mexico's Grand Velas Resorts Distinguished with 'World’s Best' Awards from Readers of Travel & Leisure Magazine; The Magazine's Reader Survey Ranks Grand Velas Riviera Maya 2nd Best Hotel in Mexico, 38th in World and Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit as 13th in Mexico Can San Diego Become a Hub for Gay Tourism? / Lori Weisberg Traveling to Miami, Florida? Launching July 28th, New Airport Connector Provides Direct Route from Terminal to Downtown Miami Matrix Hospitality Group Partners with Jax Airport Hotel, LLC for the Purchase and Management of the Clarion Jacksonville Airport Hotel in Florida Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts and Hainan Zhongdu Real Estate Development Company to Develop the 300-room Swissôtel Sanya as Part of the Sanya Dragon Valley Hot Spring & Golf Resort in Sanya, China W Hotels Worldwide Set to Debut in Colombia with the Opening of the 168-room W Bogota Slated for 2014 Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel & Conference Center Completes Extensive Renovation of Public Spaces, Upgrading its Function Facilities; Renovation of the 183 Guestrooms and Suites Scheduled for 2013 The 343-key Crystal City Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, Owned by Vernado Realty, Completes Renovation of Meeting and Public Spaces Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos Appoints Josh Littman as Director of Development in Europe, the Middle East and Africa Carlson Appoints Tammy Lee Stanoch as Vice President, Corporate Communications Buffalo Lodging Associates Appoints Jag Garces as General Manager for the 98-suite Homewood Suites Boston/Canton Hotel in Massachusetts St Giles Hotels Names Kenneth Hung as Assistant General Manager for it's Two Side-by-Side New York City Hotels - The 120-key Tuscany and The 199-key Court Destination Hotels & Resorts Hires Heidi Edinger, CMP, CASE as Director of Sales and Marketing for the 213-room MileNorth, A Chicago Hotel Buffalo Lodging Associates Names Kristen Biello as Director of Sales for the 124-room Hampton Inn Coventry/Warwick Area Hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island July 20, 2012 See What You Missed at HITEC! Hospitality Upgrade Publisher Richard Siegel Interviews Technology Expert Jon Inge from the HITEC 2012 Show Floor in Baltimore, Md. The Travel + Leisure 2012 World's Best Awards; Top Hotels, Cities, Islands, Cruise Lines, Airlines, and More; Waldorf Astoria Chicago is Top Large City Hotel in U.S. New Study Projects Top 9 Hotel Groups to Lose a Combined $10 Billion in Customer Spending Over the Next 12 Months; Study Ranks Brand Vulnerability of Major Hotel Groups and Loyalty Programs for First Time Hyatt Proposes 500-plus-room Convention Center Hotel in Portland, Oregon; One of Two Responders to the City's Request for Proposal City of Memphis, Tennessee Submits Proposal for Floating Hotel with Hopes to Convert the 360-foot Empress of the North; Competing with other Cities to Acquire the Ship Currently in the Custody of the US Maritime Administration Impressed by Proposal, the Durham, North Carolina City Council Sets Date to Decide on Hotel Project Incentives for 21c Museum Hotels' Proposed $48 Million Redevelopment of SunTrust Tower into a 125-room Hotel and Public Art Museum After Years of Neglect, Renovations are now Complete for the Historic 196-room Floridan Hotel in Tampa, Florida Set to Re-Open this Month Newly Named the Floridan Palace The Generation Companies Breaks Ground on the 123-suite Augusta, Georgia Home2 Suites by Hilton; Owned by Generation Suites of Augusta, LLC and to be Managed by The Generation Companies Pet Expert Offers Advice on Hotel Pet Etiquette Orlando, Florida Hotel's Having a Robust Summer with Occupancy at 72.6%, Although it May Not Last Work Progresses on the $28 Million 120-room Wyndham Garden Hotel & Suites and Apartments, an Ellicott Development Project, in Amherst, New York Real Builders and Dora Hospitality Top Out the 89-room MainStay Suites - Williston in North Dakota; Joe Dora Appointed as General Manager for the Hotel Expected to Open in Fall 2012 The 41-key BEST WESTERN PLUS Park Avenue Hotel Opens in Leonardtown, Maryland, Owned by Savita Odhav Hospitality Management Corporation Adds the 134-room Holiday Inn Garland Near Dallas, Texas to its Management Portfolio Sonesta International Hotels to Manage the 106-room Sonesta ES Suites Dublin in Ohio; Currently the Residence Inn Dublin/Columbus, the Property will Rebrand in August 2012 Hospitality Management Corporation Chosen to Manage 126-room Holiday Inn Fort Worth North-Fossil Creek in Texas Andrey Kuzin Named as Chief Financial Officer of AZIMUT Hotels Benchmark Hospitality International Names Antonio Estremera as Executive Chef at Costa d'Este Beach Resort, Vero Beach, Florida Florida's Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau Hires Neal Carter as Corporate Sales Manager July 19, 2012 Gaylord Entertainment Company Addresses TRT Letter Claiming Content Contains a Number of Significant Inaccuracies and Omissions Coalition of Disability Rights Organizations Launch National Boycott and Awareness Campaign Targeting Top Hotels Over Pool Access LaSalle Hotel Properties Posts 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Income of $24.8 million Compared to $16.7 million in the Prior Year Quarter: RevPAR Grew to $180.14, an Increase of 3.8% / Hotel Operating Statistics Losing the Expectation of Privacy bit by bit, byte by byte / Jim Butler and Mark Adams Las Vegas Palms Files Suit Against Former Host Who Allegedly Stole Confidential Information via Email Have You Listened To What Your Hotel Team Is Saying To Real Callers? / Doug Kennedy Hyatt Reports that the NLRB in Chicago Found Merit in Charges That Unite Here Negotiated in Bad Faith and Has Made an Illegal Proposal While Hyatt Associates Wait for Raises; Hyatt Calls on Union Leaders to Allow Members to Vote on New Contract So Associates Can Get their Wage and Benefit Increases National Labor Relations Board Rules that Past and Current Owners of the Quality Inn and Suites, the Former War Bonnet Hotel, in Butte, Montana Engaged in Unfair Labor Practices Against Union Employees Morgans Hotel Group Lists the Spruced-Up Delano South Beach as Up for Sale Interstate Hotels & Resorts Forms Joint Venture with Waramaug Hospitality to Acquire the 295-room Williamsburg Hotel & Conference Center in Virginia; To Undergo $7.5 Million Renovation and Conversion to DoubleTree by Hilton Brand FelCor Agrees to Sell the 222-room Embassy Suites - Anaheim-North Hotel in California for $25.5 million to Urban Common Stalled $138 Million Margaritaville Project Gets More Time to Work Through Glitches as Hollywood, Florida Votes to Give Reprieve on Deadlines Women Eco-preneurs - Nine International Women Put their Power behind Eco-friendly, Sustainable Tourism Experiences The State of Georgia Turns to Miles for Digital Marketing Solutions Resort Data Processing Opens Regional Sales Office in Wisconsin; Resort Data Processing (RDP) is pleased to announce their 2nd Regional Sales Office to help accommodate high demand of their Property Management Software application Real Hospitality Group Establishes Corporate Responsibility Platform to Influence Change in our Communities; First National Management Company to sign the Code and Commits to Clean the World Resistance from Residents Causes Developer Michael Kronimus to Scrap Plans for Hilton Head, South Carolina 140-room Boutique Hotel; Plan B - Will Propose Two Restaurants and a Water Park Instead Makeover Launched for the 179-room Mayfair Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove, Florida; Completion Planned for Fall 2012 Howard Hughes Corporation Planning New 66 Acre Mixed-Use Development in the Woodlands, Texas; Named Hughes Landing, Phase One to Include Office Building, Hotel, Apartments and Retail Space Hotel Industry Stocks Appear to React More Sensitively to Interest Rate Changes by the Federal Reserve According to New Study, 'Saving the Bed from the Fed' by Cornell Center for Hospitality Research; Also Available, a Brief on Chain Growth, 'Age, Size, and Survival and Growth of Franchise Chains' AH&LA's Lodging Industry Profile Indicates Rise in Profitability for 2012 Five Hotel Digital Marketing Tips to Implement in 2013 Laurus Corporation Completes Acquisition of the 288-room Hilton Salt Lake City at Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah Palm Beach County, Florida Set to Vote on $27 million to Help Build Convention Center 400-room Hilton Hotel Wyndham Brand to Debut in Scotland as Wyndham Hotel Group Signs Agreement with MAP Property & Leisure Developments Angus Limited to Open the 197-key Wyndham Grand The Angus White Lodging Retained to Manage the Hilton Garden Inn Boca Raton in Florida Sonesta International Hotels to Manage the 102-room Sonesta ES Suites Flagstaff in Arizona; Currently the Residence Inn Flagstaff, the Property will Rebrand in August 2012 HHM, Formerly Known as Hersha Hospitality Management, Completes Renovations of Four Hotels in the Northeast - in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Amy Commans Joins Luxe Hotels as General Manager of the 160-room Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles California Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Appoints Chris Adams as General Manager of the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas in Thailand Noble House Hotels & Resorts Promotes Rudy Sharp to Vice President and Managing Director of Gateway Canyons Resort in Gateway, Colorado Monte Hansen Joins Sonesta as General Manager of the 485-room Royal Sonesta Hotel Houston in Texas The Kessler Collection Welcomes Chef Weston Shroeder to Beaver Creek Lodge in Colorado July 18, 2012 TRT Holdings, the Largest Stockholder of Gaylord, Sends Open Letter to Stockholders of Gaylord Entertainment Suggesting Rejection of Purchase by Marriott From System Installation through All Operating Areas - NORTHWIND Maestro Makes Transition to New PMS Painless with Industry Leading Diamond Plus Service; Independents Rely on Maestro PMS for Seamless Integration Across All System Modules and Industry's Most Responsive Service Support for Increased Productivity and Revenue Wynn Resorts Reports 2nd Quarter 2012 Net Income of $138.1 million Compared to $122 million Same Quarter 2011; Revenues for 2nd Quarter Declined by 7.1% in Macau Operations and 11.6% in Las Vegas Operations Host Hotels & Resorts Acquires the 888-room Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C. Hollywood, Florida Expected to Give Reprieve on Deadlines for the $138 Million 349-room Margaritaville Beach Resort Project as Developer Works through Financing and Property Boundary Evaluations sbe to Open 190-room SLS Hotel in New York City, Slated for Q3 2013 93 Years and Four Generations Later the Cottar Family Legacy that Created Africa's First Safari Outfitters Continues with Cottar's 1920s Safari Camp in the Masai Mara, Kenya London Hotel Room Rates During the Olympics are Now More than Double 2011 Rates Hotel Okura Co., Ltd. Plans Global Expansion with New Brand, Okura Prestige Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Removes Shark Fin from all Menus; Supports Sustainable Seafood Policy in an Effort to Conserve Precious Marine Species TTI Technologies Expands into Mexico with the Addition of Peter Watts; Peter Watts joins the TTI Team and opens the regional sales office in Mexico Save 50% on Mystery Shopping and Classroom Training at HotelTraining.com's New Website Success Prompts Alliance Hospitality Move to New Headquarters in Downtown Raleigh; Top hospitality management company, Alliance Hospitality, positions for growth with expanded offices in downtown Raleigh. Digital Alchemy CRM Helps Grand Heritage Hotel Group Effectively Manage Multi-Property Messaging; Comprehensive cloud-based CRM module makes it easy for hotel groups to coordinate consistent communication, even with varied property management systems Warmbrodt Hotel Investments Announces Opening of Chicago Office Visit Orlando Visitor Center Recognized as Certified Guest Service Partner MICROS eCommerce Announces the Launch of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc.'s Tablet Specific Websites Starwood Hotels & Resorts Launches "Starwood Experience" to Showcase its Brands; Overhaul of Stamford, Connecticut Headquarters Includes Floor of Showrooms Displaying Look and Feel of each Brand Broward County, Florida Loses Round in Legal Dispute Over Hotel-tax and Online Travel Sites U.S. Commerce Department Data Confirms Record-Setting Pace for International Visitor Spending in May 2012 OPINION: National pride and tourism go hand in hand! Swire Hotels to Open the 369-room EAST, Beijing in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China in September 2012 The 50-key BEST WESTERN PLUS Walkerton East Ridge Hotel Opens in Ontario, Canada Owned by WERH Group Red Lion Hotels Signs Franchise Agreement for Cathedral City, California Hotel; The 97-room Quality Inn & Suites Date Palm will Convert to Red Lion Hotel Cathedral City in Fall 2012 Sage Hospitality Chosen to Manage the 403-room Embassy Suites Denver - Downtown/Convention Center in Colorado Anticipated Growth for Kimptons of Florida Prompts Sales Team Promotions and Additions; EPIC Hotel, Miami Sales Team Recognized by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants as the Company's Best for 2011 Floria Wun Appointed Director of Public Relations (International) for Langham Hospitality Group Robert Brandenberg Named as Food & Beverage Director for the 151-room St. Regis Atlanta in Georgia Ashfer Biju Appointed as Executive Chef at The Pierre, A Taj Hotel on New York's Central Park The Hotel at Auburn University in Alabama Welcomes New Chef, Garry Anderson July 17, 2012 Women in the Hospitality Industry: Does the Glass Ceiling Really Exist? Pegasus Solutions Names Michael O'Connell Senior Vice President; Industry Veteran Returns to Head Distribution and Demand Sales Travel Tripper's RezTrip Driving Results with Email Retargeting of Abandoned Bookings Here Come the Profits! / Robert Mandelbaum Host Hotels Reports Net Income of $83 million for 2nd Quarter 2012 Compared to $64 million for Same Period 2011; RevPAR Up 6.1%; Hotel Operating Statistics Criminal Scam Targeting Hotel Guests Known as 'Barry at the Front Desk' Plagues Ft. Walton Beach, Florida Region U.S. Bathers Remain Oblivious to Beach and Pool Etiquette; Number 1 Annoyance Continues to be - Blasting Loud Music Hyatt Selects Davidson Hotels & Resorts as Recipient of its Inaugural North American Full Service Strategic Partnership Award Hilton Hotels & Resorts Report on Global Spa Trends Indicates Existence of a Spa an Increasingly Important Factor for Travelers in Making Hotel Selection Pennsylvania's Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs to Break Ground on Convention Center and Attached $45 Million 238-room Hotel Intelity Announces Partnership With SpaSoft; The leading companies in guest management and spa management solution technology expect the first integration of their respective software in September. 21c Museum Hotels Proposes $48 Million Redevelopment of SunTrust Tower in Durham, North Carolina into a 125-room Hotel and Public Art Museum; Cites Strong Demand for Rooms in Downtown Durham Following a Four-month Recess, CityCenter & Perini Back in Court Over Timing of Demolition for the 26-story Harmon Tower HSMAI's 2012 Adrian Awards Looking for the Best in Travel Marketing; Call for Entries Open for Annual Competition Honoring Excellence in Travel Advertising, Digital Marketing and PR Salvatore's Grand Hotel in Buffalo, New York Plans Expansion Adding a Fifth Floor and 19 Rooms for a Total of 101 The Long-Delayed Tacoma, Washington Foss Hotel Project Moves Closer to Groundbreaking; The 104-room Marriott Residence Inn Hotel Could Open in 2013 New Chicago Hotel, Convention Complex Promises to Boost Economic Development in the O'Hare Airport Region On 31st Anniversary of Kansas City Hyatt Disaster, Skywalk Memorial Still Lacks Funds for Construction Tweet Your Way to High Roller Status: MGM Resorts Lets Loyalty Card Holders Earn Points via Social Media Channels Rezidor to Open the 158-room Park Inn by Radisson Novokuznetsk in Southern Russia in Q4 2014 Owned and Managed by Capital Management, the 123-room Courtyard by Marriott Kansas City at Briarcliff to Open in Missouri in September 2012 The Newly Renovated and Re-Branded 160-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cape Cod - Hyannis Opens in Massachusetts; Owned and Operated by Ridgewood Hotel Associates Pyramid Resort Group Selected to Operate the 315-room Westin Imagine in Orlando, Florida and the 194-room Holiday Inn San Antonio NW SeaWorld in San Antonio, Texas Bill Walshe Named as Chief Executive Officer for Viceroy Hotel Group Centara Hotels & Resorts Promotes John Dimon Bendtsen to Cluster General Manager for Two Mauritius Properties; To Oversee the Centara Poste Lafayette Resort & Spa Mauritius and the Centara Grand Azuri Residence & Suites Mauritius Donald Weintraub Hired as Director of Sales & Marketing for the 171-key Villa del Palmar at the Islands of Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico William "Bill" Glover, Executive Chef, and Michael Mejia, Director of Food and Beverage, Join the 532-room Hilton Columbus Downtown in Ohio Christian Madsen Appointed as Executive Chef for the JW Marriott Grand Rapids in Michigan July 16, 2012 Investing in Your I.T. Employees' Futures Benefits You / Lyle Worthington Terranea Resort Experiences Increased Guest Satisfaction with the Help of GoConcierge; Web-based Application Adds Efficiencies to Multiple Departments Battle Brewing Over Price Federal Employees Pay to Stay at U.S. Hotels - More Hoteliers May Not Bid on Government Business Amid Fears Per Diem Rates will be Slashed Over 30% in Wake of Spending Scandal IHG's Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites Introduce New Master's Curriculum for Owner Certification Program; Will Focus on Hotel Performance Management from the Owner's Point of View Chicago Hotel Proposal Illustrates Promise and Peril of EB-5 Investment Program New Property Manager for 144-Room Mall Of America Hotel; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Have Updated 202 Hotels in the Last Two Weeks with Changes in Personnel, Property Management or Ownership Accor Acquires the South American Hotel Portfolio of Grupo Posadas for $275 Million; Transaction Includes 15 Hotels (2,600 rooms) and a Secured Pipeline of 14 Hotels (2,000 rooms) Lodging Interactive Becomes Best Western Preferred Vendor Call to Action: How to Make the Most of 'Big Data'; Tips from IBM and IHG Social Never Sleeps: How to Use Social Networks to Drive Higher Guest Satisfaction / Daniel Edward Craig Q & A with David Kohlasch, General Manager of Baltimore's Royal Sonesta Harbor Court, Formerly the InterContinental Harbor Court Occupancy Rates are Through the Roof in Enid, Oklahoma - The City's Growth Leads to Surge in Hotel Development in Enid and Surrounding Areas Major Revamp to Begin for the Al Safir Hotel and Towers, Juffair in Bahrain; Indicates Confidence in the Return of Strong Tourism to the Country Marathon, Florida Planners Work Toward Decision on Zoning to Dole Out Hotel-Unit Allocations Resulting from the Lifting of a Longstanding Moratorium on New Transient Units Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts Deploys True Waldorf Service, Featuring Personal Concierges; Each Qualified Guest to be Assigned a Personal Concierge as Primary Contact Before, During AND After Their Stay Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and Owner, Ellicott Development Company, Open the 108-room Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Buffalo South in New York Hotel Equities Chosen by Liberty University to Manage the 131-room Wingate by Wyndham Hotel Adjacent to the Campus in Lynchburg, Virginia Kate Thompson Named as Director of Sales & Marketing for the 336-room Curtis - a Doubletree by Hilton in Denver, Colorado, Managed by Sage Hospitality Midas Hospitality Appoints Kelm Davidson - Buchard as Area Director of Sales - Paducah, Kentucky July 13, 2012 Creative Strategies for Maintaining Training Quality without Busting the Budget / Steven Ferry VFM Leonardo Launches New Tablet Optimized Website Solution for Hotels; VFM Leonardo Announces VPowered Tablet Website - A Multi-Media Driven Tablet Optimized Hotel Website included with the VBrochure Ultra Premium Online Merchandising System. Marriott Reports 2nd Qtr 2012 Net Income of $143 million Compared to $135 million in the Year-Ago Quarter; REVPAR Climbs 6.7%, New Rooms in Pipeline Around 115,000, Excluding 8,000 rooms from Pending Gaylord Acquisition Kazuo Okada Reportedly in Talks with Taipan John Gokongwei Jr. for Development of Best in the World Vegas-style Casino in the Philippines with Added Goal of Beating Wynn Resorts The Rise of the Chinese International Traveler - It's Now or Never for Global Hotel Industry; Number of Chinese International Travellers Increased by 22% in 2011 Over 2010 LVH Hotel-Casino, the Former Las Vegas Hilton, Cuts Staff Amid Revenue Loss of $5.3 million, More than Four Times the Budgeted Loss PCI Gaming Authority Unveils Plans for Deluxe Wetumpka, Alabama Resort at Creek Casino; The 285-room Wind Creek Wetumpka is Scheduled to Open in May of 2013 Westin Breaks Ground on $37 Million Hotel at the Wilmington, Delaware Riverfront; An Early 2014 Opening is Planned for the 180-room Westin Wilmington Carey Watermark Investors (CWI) Acquires a 97% Interest in the 172-room Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa in California for Approximately $26.5 Million Wheelock Street Capital Acquires the 242-room Marriott Pleasanton in California; The Pyramid Hotel Group will Continue to Manage the Property Dashboard Analytics Key in Lake Lawn Resort's Selection of UniFocus' Guest Satisfaction Survey Solution Roomlinx Completes Key Property Installations as Hyatt Roll Out Accelerates Super 8, El Dorado, Kansas - SOLD by Warmbrodt Hotels What's in Store? Tampa Bay Area Hotels Doing Their Best to Prepare While Awaiting Final Details About Republican National Convention Pacifica Hotel Company Acquires the 27-room Cambria Landing Inn in Cambria, California Construction is Underway for the $45 Million 219-room Marriott Resort in Pompano Beach, Florida; Developer, Urgo Hotels, Plans for an Opening by the End of 2013 Construction Begins on New $5.2 million, 74-room Fairfield Inn and Suites in Moscow, Idaho Key Votes Set on $19.5 Million Redevelopment Plan for Memphis, Tennessee's Historic Chisca Hotel, the Site of Elvis Presley's First Radio Interview Hyatt Hotels Signs Management Agreements for a New Andaz Hotel in Gurgaon and a Grand Hyatt in Kochi for a Total of 56 Hotels Under Development in India Hyatt Affiliate Signs Management Agreement with Range Developments for a Park Hyatt Hotel in St. Kitts; Slated to Open in 2015, Property will Feature 200 Guestrooms and 50 Park Hyatt-branded Residential Condominiums Hampton Hotels Showcases Growth with 31 Property Openings in First Half of 2012 Adding 3,469 Rooms IHG Opens the 142-room Hotel Indigo Atlanta Airport College Park in Georgia Owned and Managed by College Park Hotels Davidson Hotels & Resorts Assumes Management of the 246-room Hilton Alexandria Old Town in Virginia New Owners of the Pacific View Inn in San Diego, California, Douglas and Huiyi Paterson, Partner with R. A. Rauch and Associates to Promote Their Property July 11, 2012 Orbitz's Storm in a Teacup and Lessons Learned / Ritesh Gupta & Pamela Whitby Running from Empty: What to Do When the Really Nice Hotel You Own Isn't Full / Joe Strain Hotel Lenders and Investors at Ease with Direction of Investment Market According to PKF's 2012 Hospitality Investment Survey How to Perform a Feasibility Study for Indoor and Outdoor Waterpark Resorts / David J. Sangree, MAI, CPA, ISHC 3 Ways Hotels Drive Measurable Revenue Growth with Social Analytics / Josiah Mackenzie Hopes for Mega-Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Far from Dead as Tourism Officials Revive Campaign for a 700-room Hotel Attached to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center Hyatt Hotels Proposing a 225-room Luxury Hyatt Hotel Anchoring an $80 million High-Rise Development Near the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri How Important are Alcohol Sales to the Bottom Line? Austin, Texas Hotels, Bars and Restaurants Generated $50 million in Gross Sales in May 2012, or $1.6 million Per Day of Alcohol Sold Citizenship a Possible Perk for Investors in St Kitts Hotel Project; Range Developments, Hyatt Hotels and Kiawah Partners to Develop the Park Hyatt St. Kitts where the Citizenship by Investment Programme Allows for Citizenship Eligibility for those Making Qualifying Investments PAR Springer-Miller Moves Hospitality to the Windows Azure Cloud Motivational Meeting Stories Shared at PSAV's 'Inspiration Cafe'; New website features video library of industry pros discussing ideas for success and how event technologies are making meetings more memorable; Live broadcast upcoming Real Hospitality Group Expands Portfolio, Growth with 4 New Contracts and 3 New Openings; Company expanding with 7 new contracts representing 1,021 rooms at start of Third Quarter International Tourists in Las Vegas Outspend Domestic Travelers; Analyst Shows Foreign Visitors Spend 94% More While in Las Vegas and 194% More on Nongaming Purchases June Revenues of $14.9 million for Atlantic City's Revel Casino Disappoints Compared to Borgata's $53.3 million HSMAI to Host Second Annual Show Dedicated to Helping Growth of Industry Professionals; Registration Open for HSMAI'S MEET National Event to Occur September 5-6, 2012 in Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of Commerce Sponsored Travel Trade Barometer Survey Indicates Travel to the U.S. from the U.K. to Remain Flat while Travel from Germany will Show Solid Growth Starwood Breaks Ground for the 118-room Aloft Orlando Downtown in Florida; To be Developed by GDC Properties and Operated by Yedla Management Company, the Hotel is Expected to Open in 2013 The 114-room Sands at Grace Bay Resort in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Undergoing Property-Wide Enhancements Scheduled for Q4 2012 Completion Hilton Worldwide and Rim Hospitality Open the 434-room DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown in California as the Multi-Million-Dollar Renovation of the Former Kyoto Grand Hotel Nears Completion Hyatt Hotels and Rim Hospitality Open the 150-room Hyatt Place San Diego/Vista-Carlsbad in California FairBridge Hotels International Expands Brand to Belle Plaine, Minnesota and McDonough, Georgia The 68-room Legian Bali on Seminyak Beach, Indonesia Reopens After Completing Refurbishments; Guest Feedback Used in Planning Improvements Sage Hospitality Promotes Rick Johnson to Director of National Corporate Sales Canyon Equity LLC Names Mark Slimmer as General Manager of the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort, Fiji Joseph Sampermans to Take Over as General Manager of The Peninsula Beijing in China Upon the Retirement of Donald Harrington July 10, 2012 The BROADMOOR Partners with Cendyn and Vladimir Jones to Create a Sleek New Website; Cendyn's Experienced Staff of Web Designers, Digital Marketers and SEO Experts Will Drive Revenue and Bottom-line Results for The BROADMOOR Please Join Us at The 18th Annual Lodging Conference...Selling Out Fast DiamondRock Hospitality Enters Agreement to Acquire a $495 million Hotel Portfolio From Blackstone, Blackstone in Turn Will Take a $75 million Ownership Stake in DiamondRock Luxury Hotels Fine-tuning Fine Dining as Nearly Two-thirds of Hotel Visitors Want a Restaurant that's 'Comfortable and Relaxing' How to Buy a Hotel Handbook: Labor and Employment Tips; Buying a hotel - the Hotel Purchase Agreement documentation and process / Jim Butler, Catherine DeBono Holmes and Marta M. Fernandez Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Acquires the Hotel Vintage Park Seattle for $32.5 million and the Hotel Vintage Plaza Portland for $30.5 million; Both Properties Will Continue to be Managed by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Four Seasons Expands into Sub-Saharan Africa, Signing Agreement with Owners of Bilila Lodge in the Serengeti National Park; Property to be Upgraded and Renamed as Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzania in Fall 2012 The Carlyle Group and The Dow Hotel Company Acquire the 174-room Lakeway Resort and Spa on Lake Travis Near Austin, Texas Newmarket International Delivers Delphi on Salesforce.com's Force.com Platform to Bring the Hospitality Industry into the Cloud; Newmarket International selects Force.com to tap into the power of social, mobile, and open cloud technologies to transform customers into social enterprise GCommerce Solutions Announces Clever New Website Geo-targeting Functionality HeBS Digital to Present at EyeforTravel's Travel Distribution Summit North America 2012 Valencia Group Chosen as Operator for Unfinished Luxury Hotel in Area Formerly Known as the West Edge, in Kansas City; 132-room Property to Be Named Hotel Sorella Island Hospitality Management Adds Seven Hotels to Management Portfolio; Includes a Six-Hotel Portfolio of Homewood Suites by Hilton Hotels Owned by Chatham Lodging Trust, and an Embassy Suites Owned by Clearview Hotel Capital Marriott to Debut in Sri Lanka with the 200-room Weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa; To Open in 2014 Through an Agreement with Weligama Hotel Properties, a Subsidiary of East West Properties Summit Hotel Properties Closes on Eleventh Hotel Acquisition, the 83-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Nashville, Tennessee, Since its Initial Public Offering in February 2011 McKibbon Hotel Group Begins Construction of the 106-suite SpringHill Suites by Marriott® Pensacola, Florida Slated to Open in Summer 2013 Ron Burgett Joins Red Lion Hotels Corporation as Executive Vice President, Brand Development Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Makes Management Appointments Around the Globe The Kessler Collection Names Bob Edwards as General Manager of Kessler Canyon, a 23,000-acre Luxury Guest Ranch in Colorado Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Appoints Marc Landgraf to Oversee the Management and Operations of Thailand's Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort and Spa Lorna Kirwan Appointed as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Historic 356-room Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C.; The Hotel, Owned by Jamestown and Managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts, Recently Completed a $22 Million Restoration The 917-room National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia Hires Jordan Waddell as Sales Account Executive Ivan Negro Named as Head Chef at the 364-room Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in Vietnam July 9, 2012 Owners of the Modern Honolulu, the Former Edition Waikiki Hotel, to Pay Marriott International an Undisclosed Sum to Settle Lawsuit Clearing the Way for Property to Exit Bankruptcy How to Terminate a Hotel Management Agreement: A Tale of Two Hotels - Marriott's Edition Waikiki and Fairmont's Turnberry Isle Resort; Two owners terminate long-term hotel management agreements, seize control of their hotels from branded operators, and then settle their litigation Universal Parks & Resorts and Loews Hotels & Resorts to Build On-Site Hotel Development at Universal Orlando; Scheduled for a 2014 Opening, The Cabana Bay Beach Resort will Include 900 Family Suites and 900 Standard Guest Rooms Hilton Worldwide, in Partnership with SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts, Breaks Ground in Halifax for First Dual-Branded Hotel Property in Nova Scotia; The Homewood Suites/Hampton Inn & Suites Downtown Halifax will Open Early in 2014 with a Combined Total of 316 Units Nobody Asked me, But...No. 91; Drop In European Travel to the U.S.; AAHOA Needs to Level the Playing Field; Expand the Javits Center; At Long Last, Cleaner Hotel Rooms; Litigation Support Services; Quote of the Month / Stanley Turkel Service Excellence: Lessons from a 5 Star/5 Diamond Restaurant / Bryan K. Williams Architect Confirmed for 108-room Park South Drive Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina; Hotel-Online and BuildCentral Add/Update 114 Hotel Projects to the New Hotel Construction Projects Database Where's the Secret Sauce in Hotel Technologies? / Terence Ronson Hotel Assets Group and Tranzon Announce Alliance Four Seasons Hotel Toronto To Offer Intelity's ICE La Quinta Inns & Suites Expands Franchise Team, Promotes Key Executives; La Quinta Further Enhances its Commitment to its Franchise Partners, and their Access to the Support Team David Hart, President of Hart Hotels, Keeps Beat of Competition; It's a Family Affair - David, Alongside his Sisters, Runs the Business Founded by his Father, Formerly the President of the Peabody Hotel Group The Lexvest Group Completes Acquisition of the 57-room Cape Colony Inn in Provincetown, Massachusetts; Hotel to Remain Open Under New Management of Finard Coventry Hotel Management with Renovation Planned RockBridge and New Castle Hotels and Resorts Unveil Plans for $40 Million Renovation and Rebranding of the Current Eastland Park Hotel in Portland, Maine; Opening The Westin Portland Harborview in Spring 2013 RIU Hotels & Resorts Reopens the 506-room Hotel Riu Caribe in Cancun, Mexico Following Complete Renovation The 412-key Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in South Carolina Completes First Phase of $30 Million Renovation Samuel E. (Ted) Knighton Named President and Chief Operating Officer for Interstate Hotels & Resorts Michael Sengol Ends Term as Chief Executive Officer of Meritus Hotels & Resorts Buffalo Lodging Associates Appoints Nickolas Hazel as General Manager for the 125-room Courtyard by Marriott Danbury in Connecticut McKibbon Hotel Management Names Local Residents, Christine Kavanagh, Emma Kaye Ledbetter and Gary Steuber, to Management Team for the 115-room Aloft Hotel Asheville Downtown in North Carolina Waterford Hotel Group Appoints Scott Robinson as Executive Chef for the Circa 1797 119-room Gettysburg Hotel in Pennsylvania Chef Khairudin 'Dean' Nor Joins Team at The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah Ubud on Bali, Indonesia July 6, 2012 HITEC Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary in a Big Way with Over 5,200 Attendees from 45 Countries - the Largest Gathering Since 2008 Travel Industry Creating Jobs 26% Faster Than Rest of Economy San Francisco Welcomed Nearly 2.9 Million Overseas Visitors in 2011- an Increase of Nearly 10% Over 2010 The Q4 2012 Opening of the 181-room Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace Could help Define Las Vegas as a City for Boutique Hotels Starwood Hotels & Resorts Opens the 270-room Sheraton Jiaozhou Hotel in Shandong Province, China; Owned by Qingdao Greentown Jiaozhou Bay Real Estate Development Company Leonardo Hotels Debuts in Austria with the 213-room Leonardo Hotel Vienna, Owned by the IMMOFINANZ Group The 84-room Hampton Inn & Suites and the Boutique 17-room Hotel Granada Offer New Options for Increasing Visitors to San Luis Obispo, California Eco-Friendly, Boutique Kurà Design Villas to Open in Costa Rica in November 2012, Managed by Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality Emaar Properties Subsidiary Emaar Hospitality Group to Manage Qamardeen and Al Manzil Hotels in Dubai, Formerly Managed by Southern Sun Hotel Group LHR Hospitality Management Adds Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in South Saint Paul, Minnesota and the Econo Lodge in River Falls, Wisconsin to Management Portfolio The International Association of Conference Centers Customer Roundtables Show Continued Support for Complete Meeting Package Starwood Vacation Ownership, Promotes Steve Williams to Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Follows Recent Promotion of Former SVO Chief Operating Officer Serge Rivera to Co-President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts America's Region Vail Resorts Appoints Michael Barkin as Vice President of Strategy and Development Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts Names Eric Piatti as General Manager of the 338-room Swissôtel Nai Lert Park, Bangkok in Thailand Manya duHoffmann Appointed as Director of Sales and Marketing for the 197-room Refinery Hotel in New York's Fashion District Noble House Hotels & Resorts Appoints Terri Gum as National Sales Manager for Gateway Canyons Resort in Gateway, Colorado Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Names Natalie Caceres as Sales Manager of the Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort in Hawaii Matt Traub Hired as the Director of Sales and Marketing for W Dallas - Victory Hotel in Texas July 5, 2012 M is for mobile: mobile, mobile and more mobile / Ritesh Gupta Data Overload: Productive or Pointless? / Jean Francois Mourier AAA Parking Serving Memphis Cook Convention Center Major Customer Returns to Chicago's McCormick Place Due to Recent Reforms and Upgrades; The American Library Association Books Three Annual Conventions, Returning with Greater Frequency Than in the Past Marriott International Launches "Li Yu" Welcome Program Featuring Amenities and Services Tailor-made for Chinese Guests Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, in Partnership with Urbanedge Hotels, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Auromatrix, Opens the 175-room Aloft Chandigarh Zirakpur in India The 124-room Courtyard Houston NASA/Nassau Bay to Open this Month in Texas Managed by LBA Hospitality Three New Properties to Come Under Sonesta International Hotels Management; Staybridge Suites Properties in South Carolina, Michigan and Georgia to Re-brand as Sonesta ES Suites in August 2012 BHG, Brazil Hospitality Group, to Manage the 140-room Tulip Inn Hotel Under Development in Campos de Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil HHM, Hersha Hospitality Management, Renovates Five of its Eight D.C. Area Managed Properties Ondrej Patrovic, Front Desk Clerk for the Navy Lodge Key West in Florida Named the Navy Lodge Program's Associate of the 1st Quarter 2012 Dr. Nicholas Hadgis Named Chairman of Pennsylvania Hospitality Foundation Board Accor Asia-Pacific Makes Key Executive Appointments to Lead Continued Expansion in the Region Pyramid Resort Group Appoints Greg Gooding as General Manager and Jeffrey Spaccio as Director of Sales for the 493-room Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa in Nevada John G. Oakley Joins Swissôtel Chicago in Illinois as Director of Sales and Marketing Hercy Hernandez Named as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Quin in New York City; The 200-room Boutique Hotel is Scheduled to Open in Winter 2012 Grand Traverse Resort and Spa Near Traverse City, Michigan Appoints Kelly Jo Bowman as a National Sales Manager Gianni Rivera Appointed Spa Director at Mokara Hotel & Spa in San Antonio, Texas July 3, 2012 Global Vacation Budgets on the Rise According to Wyndham Hotel Group Survey; Vacation Spending for Over 70% of Travelers Worldwide to Remain the Same or Increase this Year Over Last, with 35% Opting to Spend More You can't microwave marketing experience / David Brudney HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conference 2012: A Review / Dominic Beverage Hilton Worldwide Enters Agreement with Egyptian Touristic Resorts for Two New Properties in Egypt; The 390-room Hilton Giza Pyramids to Open in 2016 and the 195-room Hilton Alexandria King's Ranch Resort to Open Q4 2013 Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Opens the 142-room Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, India Spokane, Washington's FairBridge Hotels International Expands Brand to the East Coast with the FairBridge Inn and Suites in Wayne, New Jersey Educational Institute Joins With Other Orlando Organizations to Launch New Workforce Program Travelodge to Open Four New Hotels in London this Month; Becoming the Largest Operator in the Capital for the Olympics YC Silverdale Hotel Group LLC Acquires the 151-room Silverdale Beach Hotel in Silverdale, Washington for $6.8 Million; Will Re-brand Property as a Best Western The 44-room Cobblestone Hotel and Suites Opens in Killdeer, North Dakota The Inaugural Boutique & Lifestyle International Leadership Symposium to be Held October 22-24, 2012 in Los Angeles, California Delta Hotels and Resorts Names Kenneth M. Greene as President & CEO Crestline Hotels & Resorts Appoints Douglas E. Wolfe, C.H.A., as General Manager for the 144-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Virginia Beach Oceanfront in Virginia Waterford Hotel Group Appoints Susan Perrothers as General Manager for the Circa 1797 119-room Gettysburg Hotel in Pennsylvania July 2, 2012 A Slideshow from a Week with Hospitality Upgrade and Hotel-Online / Geneva Rinehart Orbitz Defends Practice of Showing Mac Users Pricier Hotels; Orbitz Data Shows Mac Users 40% More Likely than PC Users to Book Four- or Five-star Hotels China's Home Inns & Hotels Management Acquires Regional Hotel Chain, eJia Express, Adding 13 Hotels in Anhui Province to its Portfolio IHG to Debut in Algeria with the 243-room Holiday Inn Algiers-Cheraga Tower to Open in 2014; To be Developed by Ramdane Group and Managed by IHG Rezidor Opens the 583-room Radisson Blu Hotel, Doha in Qatar Hotel AG Closes 3 Hotel Transactions Last Week TravLynx Joins Shift4 as a 4Res Launch Partner; First Solution and CRS to Offer Tokenized Reservation Data to the Market to Simplify PCI Compliance for Hotels Timbers Resorts Opens the 41-suite Castello di Casole in Tuscany, Italy New 98-room $52 Million Tower Taking Shape at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa in Catoosa, Oklahoma Destination Hotels & Resorts to Manage the 314-room Hotel Derek in Houston, Texas, Recently Acquired by Lowe Enterprises Investors - Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts and Riviera Tower Limited Liability Company Enter Management Agreement for the 211-room Swissôtel Riviera Tower Kazan To Open in Russia in 2016 HPL Hotels & Resorts Assumes Management of the 45-villa Soneva Gili, Maldives to be Rebranded as Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives Benchmark Hospitality International Appoints Kevin Herbst as General Manager for the Chaminade Resort & Spa in Santa Cruz, California

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