John Botkin has been named Director of Food & Beverage, bringing his 35 years of industry experience to the opening team. John has previously held the positions of Executive Chef, Food & Beverage Director and Commercial Caterer, amongst others across the country. With these diverse experiences, Botkin offers a comprehensive skillet overseeing food and beverage operations.
The Fairlane Hotel in downtown Nashville has tapped Nashville-native Shane Batchelor as the new General Manager. Batchelor has worked for more than 25 years in the hospitality space and has led 15+ hotels and restaurants through openings and concept relaunches. His resume includes larger nationwide franchises, from Planet Hollywood, to more boutique, hyper-local establishments, like Nashville's Catbird Seat. At the Fairlane, Batchelor will work to ensure that guests are receiving an experience that exceeds expectations and that his team is positioned to deliver the distinctive guest experience Oliver Hospitality has become known for. Outside of the hotel, Batchelor's hobbies include coaching elementary basketball for his children.
Tiny Lou's, a swinging French-American brasserie located downstairs at 96-room Hotel Clermont, has appointed James Corwell as Executive Chef. A James Beard-recognized and certified Master Chef — an honor only delegated to only 68 chefs in the world — Corwell brings over 30 years of industry experience. Corwell's accolades include Best New Chef & Best New Restaurant 2010 by New Orleans Magazine as the owner of Le Foret in Louisiana. He was the lead instructor and Executive Chef at The Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, CA, and he also founded Ocean Hugger Foods, a plant-based seafood alternative company. Corwell considers cooking his art, bringing a Michelin perspective that uses French and Continental technique to Tiny Lou's. Corwell strives to land Tiny Lou's as one of the finest establishments in Atlanta. Outside of the kitchen, he is an avid cyclist and is getting to know Atlanta's best trails.
The Nittany Lion Inn, a joint partnership with Rockbridge and Scholar Hotels, celebrated its official reopening on Sept. 3 with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Penn State University president Neeli Bendapudi, Happy Valley Adventure Bureau president Fritz Smith and Gary Brandeis, CEO of Scholar Hotels. The iconic Georgian colonial-style building, which originally opened in 1931, was completely refreshed with new restaurants and decor that melds a modern aesthetic with the building's historic features.
Samuel Martino has been hired as Assistant General Manager at Pelican Inn. He has over four years of experience in hotel management and guest services and a broad range of technical IT skills. He received the U.S. Congress Recognition of Public Service Award in 2019. Most recently, he worked as Guest Services Supervisor/ General Manager at Nomada Hotel Group.
Nicole Childs has been hired as Assistant General Manager at Oceanpoint Ranch. Prior to her recent appointment, she served as Front Office Manager at Fogcatcher Inn. Childs' professional experience also includes positions at Flags RV Resort and Cava Robles RV Resort.
Chris Blunt has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing at King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort. He has 30 years of providing hospitality and customer service, and 22 years of sales experience with Hawaiian resorts. Most recently he worked as Sales Manager at King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort. Blunt's resume also includes positions at Kailani Tours, Fair Wind Cruises, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows, Marriott Resorts Hawaii, Grand Wailea Resort & Spa and Prince Resorts Hawaii.
The secret to a great branded hotel stay may be in an aspect that guests do not often realize: the third-party management company operating the hotel, which creates consistent, pleasurable and problem-free guest experiences. According to the J.D. Power 2024 North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark,SM released today, overall guest satisfaction with branded hotels run by the nation’s largest third-party management companies improves significantly this year, outperforming both chain-managed and independently operated hotels.
Historically, hotel owners have had the option to either affiliate with a known brand or operate independently. Affiliating with a brand provided access to a reservation system, loyal customers, communal marketing programs, a known identity among consumers, and a sense of stability within the finance and investment community. Brand affiliation, however, comes with costs. Owners pay a variety of fees for royalty, marketing, reservation, and guest loyalty programs, and need to conform to facility, service, and operating standards.
One year after passage, New York City’s unprecedented short-term rental regulations have failed to deliver on their promise to combat the housing crisis. In the wake of stringent measures, consumers are instead facing all-time high hotel prices and residents facing all-time high rents.
citizenM, the pioneer of affordable luxury hotels, is celebrating the opening of its second Boston-based property - citizenM Boston Back Bay. The newest addition to the portfolio is located in the heart of Boston's historic Back Bay neighborhood, part of the mixed-use development, Lyrik, and designed by citizenM's long standing architecture partner concrete Amsterdam. Local architecture firm Elkus Manfredi also worked on the project, which is situated on the same campus as the new LEGO office. The 15-story tower is citizenM's largest hotel to date and is sure to be wicked cool, featuring 399 signature citizenM rooms with XL king-size beds to get lost in.
A year after a series of tragic fires in Maui, the island’s hotels and Hawaii's governor want visitors to return to the destination to help support the local economy and regain a sense of normalcy.
U.S. economic growth improved during 2Q-2024 with Real GDP having risen 2.8%, well above the 1.4% increase achieved in 1Q-2024. A strong U.S. economy fueled a national 2.5% RevPAR increase, an acceleration from the 0.0% RevPAR change during 1Q-2024. However, 2Q2024 performance was aided by an earlier than normal Easter observance as well as the rare total solar eclipse that occurred over a large swath of the nation in April.
Americans are notorious for leaving vacation days on the table. Despite the numerous benefits of taking time off from work, over half (53%) of Americans don’t plan to use all their paid time off this year. It’s a troubling vacation travel trend, especially compared to other countries where taking extended breaks is more the norm.
After three months of year-over-year growth, U.S. RevPAR was flat (0.0%) compared with last July. The result was due to falling occupancy (-0.5%), which was not offset by a small gain (+0.5%) in ADR. The Top 25 Markets saw some growth (+0.5%), but the increase did not rise to the level of Q2 and was not enough to erase decreases in the remaining markets (-0.4%). Chain scale results remained bifurcated with the upper tier (Luxury, Upper Upscale and Upscale) posting gains of 1.6% and the remaining chains scales falling by the same amount in aggregate.
Before joining The Publisher Hotel, Monjure made an impressive impact in immersive leadership roles across the United States, including as Director of Food and Beverage at Hilton DC National Mall, The Wharf in Washington, D.C., where he seamlessly managed diverse departments, to his time as Director of Operations at Potomac Point Winery & Le Grand Cru Bistro in Stafford, Virginia, and as the General Manager at Hawthorn Grill Restaurant at the JW Marriott Resort & Rampart Casino, where he consistently raised the bar in hospitality, among other notable roles throughout his career.
The Hotel Group (THG), an affiliate of Hotel Equities, in partnership with co-owners Hogback Development Company, is thrilled to announce it has acquired land to develop a Marriott StudioRes in Moses Lake, WA. StudioRes is Marriott International's new midscale, extended stay lodging brand appealing to investors for its focus on the short-term rental market and building/design efficiencies. The smart, modern, all-studio hotel will feature spacious suites providing an exceptional option for travelers seeking convenience, comfort, and flexibility- especially for longer stays- in the central Washington market.
Viewline Resort Snowmass, an Autograph Collection Hotel and mid-mountain resort in the heart of Colorado's Snowmass Village, announces the appointment of Gregg Fracassa as General Manager. With over 25 years of experience, Fracassa brings his passion for community and genuine relationships to the sophisticated 254-room Viewline Resort Snowmass, where he will oversee day-to-day operations. In his new role as General Manager, Fracassa will lead the strategic implementation of key business initiatives, along with forthcoming operational updates and his contagious enthusiasm for innovative approaches to hospitality.
Premier, an end-to-end architecture, design, procurement, project management, and corporate engineering firm with specialization in hospitality, multi-family residential, student housing, adaptive reuse, and mixed-use development, is pleased to announce the completion of its latest upscale full-service hotel adaptive reuse and conversion project: Le Méridien Fort Worth Downtown. Owned by Ashford Hospitality Trust and Blueprint Hospitality, and managed by Remington Hospitality, the property celebrated the completion of the two-and-a-half-year project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.
The Hotel Group (THG), an affiliate of Hotel Equities, in partnership with co-owners Hogback Development Company, is thrilled to announce it has acquired land to develop a Marriott StudioRes in Moses Lake, WA. StudioRes is Marriott International's new midscale, extended stay lodging brand appealing to investors for its focus on the short-term rental market and building/design efficiencies. The smart, modern, all-studio hotel will feature spacious suites providing an exceptional option for travelers seeking convenience, comfort, and flexibility- especially for longer stays- in the central Washington market.