HP Hotels, a full-service third-party hotel management company, has been chosen by Lodging Fund REIT III, Inc. (“Lodging Fund”) to manage their newly acquired Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte North and Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte Pineville properties. HP Hotels CEO Kerry Ranson made the announcement.
Stonebridge Cos., a privately owned, nationally recognized, innovative hotel owner, operator and developer headquartered in Denver, acquired the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Las Vegas Airport, marking Stonebridge’s expansion into the Las Vegas market.
Today, we’re talking about… acquiring new customers. Here’s the thing. You’ve got to align your digital strategy around one, clear goal.
The Hotel Chelsea is one of those interesting thought experiments about the good old days in New York City — about wishing you had been there back then, back when it was all happening, back before everything changed, back before the banks and the Starbucks and the pilates studios camped out on every corner. On the surface, the history of the Chelsea reads like a fairytale of sorts, an almost too perfect confluence of place and personalities. Yet while many of the guests were glamorous, the hotel itself, in its heyday, wasn’t exactly a bastion of first-class accommodation. Some rooms, like the one Leonard Cohen rented during his fling with Janis Joplin — immortalized in the song “Chelsea Hotel #2” — were shabby and dated even by 1968 standards, and that didn’t change much in the intervening years.
Managing and overseeing offerings for meetings, groups, weddings and events is Banquet Chef Kevin Davidson. An industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in high-volume kitchen settings, Davidson attended Paris' award-winning Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute and participated in its Superior Cuisine Programme, where he mastered the arts of classic haute cuisine, contemporary menu planning and intricate preparatory technique. He followed his love of the culinary world to San Francisco where he held culinary operations and leadership roles with organizations including Project Open Hand, the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens and 2Forks before moving to San Diego where he most recently served as the executive production chef for REEF Technology. He brings an eye for maximizing operational efficiencies and desire to create outstanding food and beverage experiences to the property's banquets and events, where he works alongside Magnanelli to conceptualize and execute innovative culinary programming.
Director of Food & Beverage Amanda Bilbro is an accomplished, 25-year industry powerhouse who has held managerial roles at properties including San Francisco Marriott Marquis and Noble House Hotels & Resorts' Hotel Zoe in addition to working in Michael Mina's acclaimed Arcadia Steakhouse at the San Jose Marriott. She began her career path with Kona Kai as a task force manager and was quickly identified as an irreplaceable asset which resulted in a permanent position on the resort's food and beverage leadership team and a move to San Diego. Today, she manages key team members including the executive chef and banquet chef while overseeing the banquets and culinary departments and five individual outlets across the property. She also leads coordination of numerous annual property events including its luau, the Sails & Ales beer, wine, spirits and culinary tasting event and participation in the signature Noble House Hotels & Resorts quarterly dining series. She cites her background as a Southerner as the root of her passion for hospitality and approaches her role with a "we over me" mentality that shines through in her approach to both guest and internal team relations.
Executive Chef Joe Magnanelli brings more than two decades of worldly culinary experience to his role and has worked in hotels including The Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C. Upon relocating to San Diego, he spent a decade with Urban Kitchen Group and most recently played a key role in the opening of Downtown San Diego's Animae. Responsible for leading day-to-day culinary operations at the resort, Magnanelli is focused on menu ideation and execution for signature dining concept Vessel Restaurant + Bar in addition to supporting culinary programming for meetings, groups and events. At Vessel, he plans to introduce seasonally inspired menus focused on locally and thoughtfully sourced meats, seafood and produce with an emphasis on shareable plates for an added element of experiential dining.
Global hospitality and entertainment company Delaware North today announced the acquisition of Red Cliff, Colo.,-based Nova Guides, a full-service premier outdoor recreation and adventure tour company with exclusive wedding and lodging offerings. The purchase makes Delaware North one of the largest operators of winter outdoor recreation and adventure tours in the United States.
Located in the heart of Palm Springs, hotel ZOSO announces the appointment of General Manager, Joel Manion. Bringing over 30 years of hospitality experience to his new role, Manion now manages all aspects of the 162-room lifestyle property, including The Kitchen, an indoor and outdoor, locally-sourced dining destination; The Lounge at ZOSO, a stylish lobby bar; poolside experience inclusive of pool bar, lounges, and cabanas; over 25,000-square-feet of event space; and more. Working closely with Columbia Hospitality, the hotel's management company, Manion oversees all operations at hotel ZOSO to create an elevated, unforgettable guest experience.
Nearly all hotels are experiencing staffing shortages, according to a new member survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).
Until late spring of this year, the Boston & Cambridge lodging market had been one of the country’s slowest to recover. Due to a number of factors, the market experienced very strong results in Q2 and Q3 and looks to continue those trends in the Q4.
Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, has announced the latest successful implementation of its GuestCast streaming solution at the Stage Neck Inn, a 58-room luxury beachfront hotel in York Harbor, Maine. Seeking to stay a step ahead of the latest in-room entertainment trends, the upscale boutique property with GuestCast can now ensure a user-friendly and secure guestroom TV experience able to instantly adapt to the streaming preferences of any guest.
Infor®, the industry cloud company, today announced that Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a vertically integrated 67-story hotel, gaming, entertainment and meeting destination conceived by Fontainebleau Development, will partner with Infor to implement key front- and back-of-house hospitality solutions to automate critical business functions. Through this partnership, the Fontainebleau Las Vegas team can utilize cloud-based applications specifically built for the hospitality industry to unify and refine hotel operations, create scalable processes, improve processes, and share real-time data, empowering business leaders to make more-informed decisions as the property prepares for its global debut in late 2023.
Overlooking the mighty Shawangunk Ridge on 140 arcadian acres, Wildflower Farms, Auberge Resorts Collection opens as a new, environmentally conscious, luxury retreat, fringed by fiery fall forests and a slow-rippling river. A verdant escape in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, its expansive grounds encompass orchards, woodlands, a namesake farm, heirloom gardens and fields of native wildflowers. Nestled within are 65 bespoke cabins, cottages and suites; Thistle, an Auberge Spa; Maplehouse cooking school; and exceptional dining destinations, including the resort's signature restaurant Clay—all inspired by the region's wild beauty.
The recovery of the U.S. hotel industry from the COVID-19 pandemic has progressed to the point that many hoteliers budgeting for 2023 can see some return to normal.
Hyatt Regency Lake Washington, a 347- room property just south of Seattle on the shores of Lake Washington, is delighted to announce the appointment of Victor Diaz as Director of Operations. Diaz will oversee the processes of the Rooms and Food & Beverage divisions, bringing his experience to create an engaging experience for all guests at Hyatt Regency Lake Washington.
Jack Akai joins Park Hyatt Beaver Creek from Breckenridge, Colo., where he served as the director of human resources for a local utility repair company. His experience in the human resources realm also includes time with Whole Foods Market. Prior to that, he was worked in various leadership roles with several large organizations, including G.E., Capital, Samsung Telecom, and Best Buy.
Reese Lee joined the Hyatt family in 2019 as the director of sales for the Hyatt Place Keystone. He most recently was the associate director of sales for the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort and Spa sales team, starting as part of the task force and moving into a permanent role as the hotel rebuilt its team. He brings with him experience as a seller for IHG hotel brands, leadership skills as a former director of sales, food and beverage experience, as well as client perspective as a former group buyer for Conference Direct as a Global Account Executive.
AAHOA, the nation’s largest hotel owners association, recognizes the widespread devastation Hurricane Ian has caused throughout the state of Florida. AAHOA President & CEO Laura Lee Blake issued the following statement in response to the catastrophic hurricane that pummeled the West Coast of Florida this week:
While hotel industry revenues and profits are rising, guest satisfaction is declining. According to the J.D. Power 2022 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, the increase in industry fundamentals has not been met with a corresponding improvement in guests’ perceptions of amenities or services. One of the areas of greatest disappointment is the quality of the guest rooms and facilities. While guests appreciate the enhanced cleanliness prompted by COVID-19, scores for décor and furnishings, in-room amenities, and the quality of bathrooms declined from June 2021 to May 2022.