eRevMax has appointed Keith Watson as VP Corporate Product to lead the growth of RTCorp, RateTiger's rate shopping system for hotel groups, corporate travel buyers and travel websites.
HVS Executive Search is pleased to announce the release of the 2010 London Hotel Salary Report©. Now in its seventh year, this report includes data from 63 First Class and Luxury London hotels. Here is a snapshot of the information presented in the report:
eRevMax, creator of RateTiger, has announced the launch of its latest product RTSuite Review, an online guest review consolidator for hotels, during WTM London next month. The new platform enables hotels to manage their brand reputation and interact directly with guests across multiple hotel review sites.
Hotel prices across London will more than double during the London 2012 Olympics, according to market intelligence company Rubicon. However, while hoteliers can expect bumper profits during the course of the Games with demand for the city's 120,000 hotel rooms reaching a high, they could risk losing out in the long term with corporate business expected to plunge by up to 80% over the whole summer period.
I recently visited Hotel 41 where I met the General Manager of this luxury boutique hotel in Victoria – Malcolm Hendry – as well as the MD of Red Carnation Hotels (and Hotelier of the Year 2009) Jonathan Raggett. I wanted to learn how Hotel 41 had achieved the position of being rated the best London hotel by TripAdvisor reviewers over recent months.
“There will be a huge interest in The Savoy from people keen to experience and see the result of this refurbishment, so bookings will be strong into Christmas. And guests won’t be disappointed. The hotel has been restored to its former glory - what was needed to be done has been done. What remains to be seen is how Fairmont can drive and maintain business at an average room rate the hotel was never able to operate at previously.
Leading Spanish hotel and resort operator Sol Melia is pleased to announce the arrival of ME London as the sixth "experience-based," personality hotel to the ME Hotels brand. Formerly the site of the City Bank building, ME London will be designed as a cutting-edge, contemporary hotel by renowned British architect Sir Norman Foster, making the hotel an icon of the London hotel industry for both business and leisure travelers. The property's announcement comes on the heels of ME Hotel's May 2010 groundbreaking of ME Vienna, in addition to its existing properties; ME Madrid, ME Barcelona, ME Cancun and ME Cabo.
The Savoy, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, will reopen its doors on Sunday, October 10, 2010. One of this year's most eagerly anticipated openings, The Savoy has been undergoing one of the most ambitious restorations in British history. The hotel closed in December 2007 for a restoration program that encompasses the entire building from the iconic entrance and the American Bar to Savoy Grill and the 268 guestrooms and suites.
While the rest of the world’s hotels have struggled to rebound from the global economic downturn, London hotels have defied expectations as rates and occupancies continue to grow. July 2010 marked the highest achieved revenue per available room (RevPAR) reported during the past 11 years in London.
London hotels have contrasting views on this particular topic. Flagship hotel restaurants are often seen as a selling point. This especially applies to luxury hotels, with Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester and Gordon Ramsay at Art Deco gem Claridge’s notable examples, along with Galvin at Windows (Hilton on Park Lane) and Apsley’s at the Lanesborough.
Some of the hotel industry’s most distinguished chief executives – including a starring participant in Channel 4’s recent TV series ‘Undercover Boss’ – will be putting the ‘Challenges and Trends for the Hotel Industry’s Future’ under the microscope at a Panel Forum on the opening morning of the 5th Annual BAHA Hospitality Finance, Revenue Management and IT Professionals Conference and Exhibition, to be held on Thursday, 25 November 2010 at the Sofitel Hotel, London Heathrow at Terminal 5.
As someone who blogs obsessively about London hotels, I’m sometimes asked by hoteliers if starting a blog makes business sense for them too. My answer is “yes, but only if you are fully committed”. The web is littered with abandoned blogs and the world certainly doesn’t need more of them. What then defines a good hotel blog?
Improving economic conditions, the return of the business traveller and international demand should lift the London rate seven per cent for 2010, with the average room rate (ARR) for the Capital reaching £124 (up from £116 in 2009). This should boost a 2010 RevPAR gain of almost nine per cent.
Marcus Verberne has worked alongside Mark Hix for the last 10 years, previously at Le Caprice, J Sheekey and The Ivy, before joining Rocco Forte's Brown's Hotel in February 2008 as Head Chef.
A slow, unreliable internet connection is a source of huge frustration for today's business traveller when staying in hotels, according to independent research of 1,000 UK business travellers conducted by Quadriga. 62 per cent of respondents found having a reliable internet connection was almost as important as a comfortable bed (70 per cent) and decent bathroom facilities (68 per cent).
John Hazard, previously general manager at Bristol Royal Marriott, joins the Mayfair hotel with further experience gleaned from Comfort Inn, Choice Hotels and Premier Lodge. He is also joined by Georgina Evagora, director of sales and marketing, and Moira Azzopardi, the new director of revenue strategy.
Heard about the hotel that charges extra if you want your room cleaned? It sounds like a (bad) joke, doesn't it? But such a hotel actually exists, and it's in London. Last week, Tune Hotels, an Asian chain of budget hotels with properties in Malaysia and Indonesia, opened its first UK hotel, near Waterloo station. The company has plans to open 15 more hotels in the capital over the next seven years.
‘Growing Profitability in an Uncertain Market – The Challenges to Come’ is the title of the 5th Annual BAHA Hospitality Finance Conference and IT Exhibition - to be held on Thursday, 25 November 2010 at the Sofitel Hotel, London Heathrow at Terminal 5
Guoman Hotels has announced the appointment of Tim Cordon as general manager of The Cumberland hotel with immediate effect. Dynamic, passionate and forward thinking, Cordon comes on board with Guoman to further establish the iconic, contemporary, highly design-led, Oxford Street Hotel property as a unique, leading destination in central London. With a successful ten-year track record in developing flagship properties within the Radisson SAS portfolio, including the leading Radisson Blu Portman Square. Cordon will employ his proven expertise to drive forward the hotel's wide-ranging appeal and continually enhance The Cumberland guest experience in its entirety; delivered from the many bedrooms and ample meetings & events space, to the hotel's late-night destination venue, Carbon.
In just a few months, Four Seasons returns to Mayfair with the opening of the new Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane. With its greenery-filled interiors opening up through windows and conservatories to terraces and sweeping views of Hyde Park and Westminster, the new Hotel will be a breath of fresh air that ushers in a new era as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts celebrates fifty years of hospitality in 2011.