Hotel News in Brief

Aug 25, 08 | 1:46 am

The Spanish statistical office said that the country's hotel prices increased 2.4% year-over-year in July, faster than 1.6% recorded in June. In July, overnight stays climbed 0.9% over a year ago, compared with a 2.3% decrease recorded in June. According to the statistical office, 34.6 million overnight stays were recorded in hotel establishments. During the first seven months of the year, 153.3 million overnight stays were registered, that was an increase of 1.3% over the previous year. Source: RTTNews

 
Jerusalem's Convention Center to undergo massive renovations. In a move to put it on par with the world's best convention centers, the Jerusalem International Convention Center (JICC) will undergo an estimated $80 million in renovations in 2009, doubling the size of the combined 190,000-square-foot space. The convention center, located in Jerusalem, has hosted thousands of performances and conferences since its incarnation in 1950. In addition, $100 million will be invested by a private developer to construct a new five-star hotel and commercial complex.  www.jerusalem.muni.il Source: Shalom

 
Drury Hotels has renewed its distribution contract with Pegasus Solutions through 2010. The St. Louis-based chain, which J.D. Power & Associates has recognized for the third year in a row as the "Highest in Guest Satisfaction among Mid-scale Hotel Chains with Limited Service", will continue using Pegasus' central reservation system (CRS) for distribution to the four major global distribution systems (GDS) and via alternative distribution systems (ADS). Drury, a Pegasus customer since 1999 with more than 120 hotels in 19 states, chose Pegasus to maintain consistency of service, rates and availability for travelers worldwide. An additional consideration was the reliability of the RezView CRS, according to Tim Unwin, Vice President of Business Development, Reservation Services for Pegasus. "Pegasus is the only CRS provider that maintained 99.997 percent availability in 2007, a real breakthrough relative to the rest of the industry, and a number we aim to better in 2008," said Unwin. "If a growing hotel chain like Drury ignores the risk of CRS downtime, whether it be as little as .003 percent over a year or as much as what others are offering in the industry, then they risk losing valuable reservations."

 
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is pleased to announce the sale of the fee simple interest in the Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport on behalf of its owners, Kor Hotel Group and its partners. The hotel was purchased by Chicago-based Harp Group and its equity partners Fidelity Investments Real Estate Group and Blue Vista Capital Partners. The hotel is strategically located on West Century Boulevard next to Los Angeles International Airport. The Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport is a unique airport hotel with a strong brand affiliation and provides 802 spacious guestrooms including 103 suites. The recently renovated hotel is a first choice in lodging for many travelers because of its contemporary style and immediate proximity to Terminal 1. The hotel has a total of approximately 48,000 square feet of meeting space with 38 flexible meeting rooms and event spaces.  The property also contains four food and beverage outlets, including Shula's Steakhouse and a full service Starbucks Café, as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center and an outdoor pool. "The Harp Group recognizes the upside potential of this market," said John Strauss, executive vice president for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. "The LAX hotel market has performed extremely well in recent years with occupancies for the major hotels topping 80% and RevPAR increases at almost 8% year-to-date.  These strong underlying fundamentals coupled by the high cost of new construction and lack of available sites around LAX, one of the world's busiest airports, made this a strategic offering to a collection of domestic and international investors that pursued the transaction.  This sale following the trade of Hyatt Century City in the second quarter further demonstrates strong investor appetite for high quality hotel properties in the greater Los Angeles area despite a more challenging debt environment and concerns about the overall economy." Jones Lang LaSalle's Real Estate Investment Banking team, led by David Christensen and Jeffrey Davis, also secured $65 million in aggressively priced acquisition financing for the Harp Group and its equity partners.  

 
Caneel Bay, A Rosewood Resort, has just been awarded the 2008 Wine Spectator Magazine "Award of Excellence" for the Turtle Bay Estate House Wine List. This honor represents the property's fourth consecutive year in the top spot.  In recognition of this award, Caneel Bay will be acknowledged in the August 31st "Restaurant Edition", of Wine Spectator Magazine; as well as being noted on the highly viewed magazine website. "Compiling a great wine collection is an essential ingredient of sophisticated dining these days, and we're delighted to learn that Wine Spectator has once again chosen to distinguish the wine list at Turtle Bay Estate House with its highest recognition," said Nikolay Hotze, Managing Director of Caneel Bay.

 
smartFOOD, a forum for discussion, development and dissemination of knowledge specific to the Queensland hospitality industry, has announced a stellar speaker line up for the 2008 event set for Monday September 29 at QUT Gardens Point.  Now in its seventh year, smartFOOD, a Merlo Coffee initiative, has gained the praise and support of industry leaders and is recognised as a key forum on the hospitality calendar with more than 200 people attending annually. Major sponsor Dean Merlo of Merlo Coffee sees the event as a key networking opportunity for anyone who is, or wants to be, involved in the industry at any level, as well as a rare opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade from the very best in the business.  "It is a one day education and networking event for the hospitality industry, by the hospitality industry, allowing attendees to come together to learn about the latest trends in the industry and access collective knowledge and experience from their peers," he said. 2008 headline speakers include Kym Machin, Executive Chef at Urbane Restaurant and whose boundary-pushing contemporary dishes look as exquisite as they taste; Caroline Jones, Pastry Chef at Restaurant Manx; David Lee and Gary Lions, CoOwners of Fig Tree Deli; and Hugo Martin, Mentor with Small Business Solutions who will discuss how small business owners can utilize human resource techniques to become an employer of choice, a hot topic in the booming hospitality sector. Other headline speakers include Ken Bergin, Director of Profitable Hospitality and who is well known in the hospitality industry for his innovative systems and seminars, all designed to increase efficiency and profitability; and Alison Taafe, Leading Vocational Teacher of Professional Cookery at Southbank Institute of Technology. smartFOOD 2008 will see the involvement of key sponsors Merlo Coffee, Norco, Profitable Hospitality, Small Business Solutions, Alchemy Cordial Company, Cakes by Judy C, Elmstock Tea, Emma and Tom's, Fine Wine Partners, Kudos Security Solutions, Leda POS, Lick Ice-Cream, The Loaded Larder, Porter Distributors and Unity Purchasing, who will all have the opportunity to showcase their product on the day.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts announced the launch of the first Link @ Sheraton for its Sheraton resorts in China, in conjunction with the recent opening of Sheraton Huizhou Beach Resort. With its exciting design mixed with interactive opportunities, the Link @ Sheraton invites guests to step out of their rooms and connect with the community.

 
Benchmark Hospitality International has announced that Cheyenne Mountain Resort, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an official Partner Member of the Green Hotels Association®.  The partnership further solidifies the resort's commitment to protecting the environment through a multi-faceted, resort-wide program of water- and energy-saving and waste-reducing practices, as well as other eco-friendly actions. "At Cheyenne Mountain Resort, we have been steadily reducing our carbon footprint by adopting such practices as buying local and organic produce, switching to energy-efficient lighting, using environmentally friendly paints, and implementing cost-effective towel and linen reuse options for multiple-night guests," said Vice President and General Manager Laura Neumann. "Now we are cementing our commitment to the environment by becoming a Partner Member of the Green Hotels Association and further expanding the measures we are taking." Since its founding in 1993, the Green Hotels Association www.greenhotels.com has been a leading force within the lodging industry to help preserve the environment. The association has successfully moved the hospitality industry toward environmentalism through a variety of programs and messages, from showing hoteliers that conservation both saves money and is socially responsible to demonstrating that conservation is wanted and expected by today's hotel guests.
   

At the Democratic National Convention in Denver this year, "green" key cards (pictured) will be used in Denver hotel rooms--their debut in this country, according to Sustainable Cards and their manufacturer CPI Card Group. More than 70,000 biodegradable cards will be issued and used in area hotels. "Sustainable Cards in hotels are really the tip of the iceberg," Greg Hartmann, president & CEO of Sustainable Cards told CPN. "Our goal is to be the leading provider of eco-friendly cards for all purposes--commercial property entry cards, gift cards, membership cards and the like. The bottom line is doing whatever we can to reduce the vast amount of waste generated by non-recyclable plastic in order to protect the environment. Source: CPN