Hotel News in Brief
Mar 22, 11 | 12:01 am 
Hotel Announcements
The capital's newest luxury hotel, the much anticipated London Syon Park, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel has begun welcoming its first guests. London Syon Park, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel is a smart, stylish, new-build property with 137 guest rooms - offering the world renowned singular luxury experience of the Waldorf Astoria brand. Set in 200 acres of beautiful parkland, owned for the past 400 years by the Duchy of Northumberland, just seven miles from both Knightsbridge and Heathrow Terminal 5, London Syon Park provides a tranquil country retreat on the outskirts of London town.
Marriott International, Inc. announced that the Renaissance Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott & Marriott Executive Apartments Doha City Center, part of the Doha City Center Mall development, will witness a simultaneous opening in the second quarter of 2011. Ideally located in West Bay across Qatar Financial Centre in two modern 48-storey towers, on the doorstep of the new business district of Doha and 15 minutes from the Doha International Airport, the hotel complex reinforces Doha's futuristic vision and growing potential of tourism in Qatar. The three hotels offer the best in entertainment options, including a world-class vitality health zone, a signature spa concept, as well as nine food and beverage outlets in the West End entertainment zone - all coming with individual designs & accentuating concepts, and serving the best in culinary delights.
Lengthening its lead as the largest five-star hotel operator in China, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has announced its landmark debut in Nanjing, China with the opening of The Westin Nanjing. The first Westin to open in the bustling capital city of Jiangsu Province, The Westin Nanjing boasts an ideal location at the top of the Nanjing International Center. With the addition of The Westin Nanjing, Westin now operates 11 hotels in China and is set to double its footprint in this key global market in the next two years. The rapid expansion of the Westin brand is helping to drive Starwood's growth in China, where Starwood plans to increase its portfolio from 70 to more than 114 hotels by the end of 2012.
Global Staff Movement
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has announced that it has named Brian Povinelli Global Brand Leader for Westin Hotels & Resorts. With more than 20 years of brand and marketing experience, Povinelli has spent the last five years at Starwood in senior marketing roles. Most recently, Povinelli served as Vice President of Brand Management for the company's North America division, overseeing marketing, advertising, brand management and strategic positioning for Starwood's two largest and most global brands, Westin and Sheraton. Povinelli, 41, will report to Phil McAveety, Starwood's Chief Brand Officer. He replaces Nancy London, who has chosen to leave Starwood after ten successful years to join a new fashion venture, "Style for Hire," co-founded by her sister, renowned stylist and television personality, Stacy London, where she will oversee marketing and public relations.
Karina Davies has been appointed as Director, Sales & Marketing, Fairmont Yangcheng Lake. Karina brings a wealth of knowledge, with over 27 years of hospitality experience, to this position, beginning her career in 1984 at The Fairmont Banff Springs. Between 1984 and 2000, she held a series of positions within the company, including Director of Sales & Marketing, The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald. In 2000 Karina was appointed Director, Sales & Marketing, The Fairmont Vancouver Airport and held that position until 2003 when she transferred to The Fairmont Waterfront as Director, Sales & Marketing. In 2008 Karina transferred to Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford in her most recent position as Director, Sales & Marketing.
Other Related News
Conrad Miami earns four awards including "Hotel of the Year - Best Overall Performance." Martin Wormull, general manager of Conrad Miami, the luxury Hilton hotel in Miami's Brickell business and financial district, announced the hotel received top honors in four categories at the 2010 Hilton Americas Annual Awards. The hotel received the Hotel of the Year - Best Overall Performance award as well as the Most Improved Market Share, Most Improved Profitability and Most Improved Guest Satisfaction awards in the full service and luxury hotels (under 500 rooms) categories. "It was quite exciting being called to the podium repeatedly at the awards ceremony," beamed Wormull. The ceremony was recently held in Washington, D.C. as a part of the Hilton Americas Leading to Win Conference - an annual brand conference which brings together top executive staff members and general managers from Hilton Hotels & Resorts worldwide to honor their fellow properties. "All of us at Conrad Miami work hard to provide our guests with memorable luxury experiences, and we are immensely grateful to see our efforts recognized and rewarded. I am humbled to work with such a professional and dedicated team that made this honor possible," said Wormull, who has managed the facility since November 2008. "We will not rest on our laurels, however. At Conrad Miami, we're committed to continuing to perfect our guests' experiences in every possible way, and we look forward to exceeding our own standards in 2011."
Novotel's traditional certification organisation is changing its name, and the brand is reaffirming its goal of obtaining environmental certification for all of the 400 plus hotels in its network by the end of 2012. EarthCheck, which was previously known as Green Globe until 2009, is the first worldwide certification program developed especially for the tourist industry.At present, 78 hotels in 18 countries have already been certified, and an additional 104 hotels have embarked on the project. "Since 2008, Novotel teams have been actively involved in the EarthCheck certification program so that we can meet our goal of certifying the entire network by 2012," says Pierre Lagrange, Novotel global marketing director. "Novotel's commitment to the principles of sustainable development is an integral part of the brand's promise of customer well-being." Certification is awarded only after a preliminary assessment of the hotel's performance and the deployment of an appropriate management system covering eight areas: implementation of a sustainable development policy, water use, energy use, waste management, paper consumption, use of pesticides, use of cleaning and sanitation products, and commitments to the local community.
The latest daily hotel performance figures for Cairo, Egypt, show the dramatic impact of the demonstrations and political changes on the capital's hotel industry, according to data from STR Global, the leading provider of market data to the world's hotel industry. Cairo's occupancy levels have been falling continuously since 29 January 2011, four days after the first demonstrations started. The uncertainty and unstable security situation resulted in the majority of hotel guests leaving the city and only a very limited amount of visitors replacing them. The high demand from press and media organisations arriving to cover the unfolding story pushed up average daily rates (ADR). By the end of February, hotel performance had stabilised at very low levels, reporting occupancy below the 20-percent mark and average room rates of around EGP750, which is on par with the same time last year."A stable and secure environment is needed to bring visitors back to Egypt, and whilst it is not yet certain when demand will return to normal levels, it is recommendable for the hotels to continue with their current strategy of not dropping average room rates, as it will not stimulate additional demand to counterbalance a potential drop in revenue per available room", commented Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.
