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Hotel News in Brief

Aug 20, 10 | 1:45 am

HOTEL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Realstar Hospitality announced today the opening of its first G2 prototype Days Inn in Regina, Saskatchewan. Along with its stylish new design, the 99-room hotel offers a free Daybreak® Café breakfast, an indoor pool with waterslide and is conveniently located close to Regina International Airport in Regina's newest shopping district, The Grasslands Development. "Days Inn - Regina Airport West is a perfect addition to our existing portfolio of hotels," said Don Rosten, CEO of d3h Hotels Inc. and partial owner of this and five other Days Inn locations. "As the closest hotel to Regina International Airport, we are excited to welcome travellers from around the world and offer the same great service and quality lodgings that they have come to expect from all our hotels."

Vidago Palace is now open - A Portuguese legend is reborn. The newly-opened and restored 70-room and suite Vidago Palace is set to reclaim its place as one of Europe's great historical retreats. Located within a 250-acre estate an hour from Porto, Vidago Palace is celebrating its centenary this year and has been extensively renovated and restored under the direction of Grace Leo to embrace its Belle Epoque heritage. Grace Leo charged the renowned Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza Vieira with the restoration of the main building and Club House. Siza also conceived the stunning modern Spa extension. Drawing inspiration from the "Belle Epoque" of Aristocratic Europe, the rooms have been decorated by Bastidor, the same interior designers that Grace Leo commissioned for the Bairro Alto Hotel in Lisbon. There are four dominant colour themes inspired by the nature of the region; parquet floors, "fauna themed" fabrics, wallpaper and custom-made furniture create a sense of place and intimacy.

AMARI Residences Bangkok, adjacent to the Bangkok Hospital, will start welcoming guests in October. The 128-room development will feature 24 studios, 92 one-bedroom units and 12 two-bedroom units. Specialised services and facilities include medical services, a special wellness menu from the hotel restaurant, convalescence packages offering full board, and complimentary shuttle service to Bangkok's Airport Link and the city's shopping district.

Distinguished@ International Hotels, Residences & Resortsis pleased to present its newest member: the four-star all suite hotel in downtown Budapest, Regency Suites. Regency Suitessits in the historic centre of Budapest with its 42 spacious suites spread among 7 floors overlooking the city centre. With suite sizes up to 645ft², this contemporary modern hotel boasts the largest rooms of its four-star category in all of Budapest: each suite has one closed bedroom complimented with a generous living room area, a larger than average bathroom with both bathtub and shower, the finest of amenities in toiletries, linens, LCD televisions with a wide choice of channels in different languages plus a dressing area equipped with a make-up table to suit the most discerning guest.

GLOBAL STAFF MOVEMENT:

Pan Pacific Hotels Group has announced the appointment of Angie Ho as Director Online Marketing. In this role, Angie will be responsible for the development of online marketing strategy, with particular focus on enhancing our online revenue and marketing platforms across both the Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands managed by the Group.

Benchmark Hospitality International has appointed Phillip Starling director of operations for Marenas Resort, the ocean-side property situated on a barrier island in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, north of Miami. Most recently, Mr. Starling served as general manager of The Grove Isle Hotel & Spa, located in Coconut Grove, Florida.  He has previously held senior management positions, including managing director, general manager and hotel manager, for hotels and resorts throughout Florida and Kentucky.  Earlier in his career, Starling served in positions of leadership within the Housekeeping departments for hotels in Georgia and Florida.

OTHER RELATED NEWS:

Strong demand for Phuket has been driving Thailand's tourism revival. Passenger traffic through Phuket International Airport shot up by 28 per cent in the first half of 2010 as compared to 2009's figure. The swift recovery hinted to a return to the boom year of 2007. According to C9 Hotelworks' Phuket Market Update, higher hotel occupancies and a "game-changing" shift in tourist profile are driving growth. Statistics showed that 2009 arrivals registered a 1.74 million jump, reflecting a volume similar to that of 2007's figure when comparing year-on-year data for the past five years. C9 Hotelworks's managing director Bill Barnett said: "Market dynamics are evolving with a game-changing shift in tourist profile from a historical Eurocentric dependence on longhaul European visitors to shorthaul Asian travellers." He noted that the trend was driven by a weakening euro and pound sterling, which have affected market sentiments and changed travel preferences to the resort island. Bill Heinecke, chairman and CEO of Minor Group International, was bullish about prospects for Phuket's hospitality industry. "The latter part of this year's third quarter is seeing positive pick-up in the market, which is a good sign given that it is traditionally low season on the island."

This week, the colleagues of InterContinental and Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City once again raised support for the victims of the recent floods in Pakistan by wearing their favourite pair of jeans to work instead of their normal uniforms from Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th August, as part of the now famous ‘Jeans for a Cause' campaign. The cause was initially inspired by the terrible plights that affected Myanmar and China in 2008, and the eagerness of colleagues of the hotels to work together and make a difference. World events such as these are felt deeply by the hotels' staff, with over 1,300 employees across 54 nationalities. The support of colleagues this week was greatly appreciated by the 59 Pakistani colleagues at work at the hotels. Thanks to the enthusiasm of each team member, the drive managed to raise more than AED 30,000 over the three days it ran, by colleagues purchasing ribbons. Guests of the hotels who were informed of the actions taking place for charity not only admired the efforts of the staff, but also offered their support also this delighted Area General Manager, Tom Meyer, who is proud of the support that the initiative has generated.