External Articles

When school’s out, a Canadian dorm stay could open the door to big savings | washingtonpost.com

If you’re traveling to Canada for its sesquicentennial, there’s an inexpensive way to do it — but it requires going back in time.

When I graduated from college many moons ago, I swore I never would set foot in another dormitory.

But since then, I’ve attended several professional conferences on Canada’s college campuses, where participants were offered the chance to stay in the dorms. They turned out to be both convenient and affordable, and my view of those accommodations has changed substantially.

So much for never.

Mile-High City Just Got Higher: Denver’s First Cannabis-friendly B&B | TheGuardian.com

When Colorado legalised cannabis possession in 2014, the anticipated ‘Green Rush’ of dope tourists didn’t quite happen. But the first stoners’ B&B in Denver is now leading the way. When Colorado’s Amendment 64 took effect in January 2014, effectively legalising marijuana, hordes of tourists flocked to the state to try the barely legal drug – only to find there was nowhere to smoke it.

Airbnb Overhauls Service for Business Travelers - site has attracted 250 companies so far | bloomberg.com

Marc McCabe has become a familiar name among people working in human resources departments around Silicon Valley. When it’s time to compile travel expenses for the month, McCabe, who runs the business travel group at Airbnb, would manually send out invoices and Excel spreadsheets breaking down how much a company’s employees spent on room rentals. As the number of companies using Airbnb has ballooned to 250, McCabe’s monthly e-mails and the kludgy system of creating custom coupon codes that employees must enter when booking travel have not stood the test of time.

At Extended-Stay Hotels, a Sense of Home (or a Party) | nytimes.com

Mike Jones spends about 100 days a year on the road in his work as an executive at a chemical company. Traveling from his home in North Carolina to as far as Malaysia and Thailand, he prefers extended-stay hotels. They offer an atmosphere that feels more like home, but with the reliability of a national chain, he said. Experts say these hotels are becoming increasingly attractive to business travelers. Occupancy rates at extended-stay hotels have increased to 76 percent in 2014, from 64 percent in 2009, according to Smith Travel Research.

GBTA Global Business Travel Magazine - July / August 2014

The latest edition shines the light on some of business travel’s most exciting components, from the dazzle of today’s new-and- improved airports to the lengths tech companies are traveling to provide connectivity. . .everywhere!

Marriott, hotel chains, pursuing LGBT travelers | usatoday.com

Marriott International is going after the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community with a new social media and marketing campaign that launches today, joining a number of major hotel chains aggressively trying to lure the lucrative clientele. #LoveTravels will feature images wrapped around five hotels in Washington, D.C., print ads in LGBT media, an online portrait gallery and other ads in various U.S. cities. The ads will feature openly gay NBA player Jason Collins, among other spokespeople. Images and videos plus personal stories will be available at LoveTravels.Marriott.com and at Marriott.com/gaytravel.

The Great Hospitality Three-Way: How Hotels Really Work | businessweek.com

last year, five big resorts, including the Homestead in Virginia, Barton Creek in Austin, Tex., and La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif., shed their independence and joined Omni’s Resort Collection. Business travelers encounter this all the time: A hotel they’d been staying at for years suddenly changes brands. What used to be a Westin is now a Wyndham (WYN). A Hyatt (H) becomes, almost overnight, a Marriott (MAR). Brand changes are often the only visible result of what is usually a three-way transaction that defines how hotels are owned and managed today. Scratch the marble-and-brass surface of today’s hotels, and things are trickier than they may appear.

Marriage equality creates new hotel market | hotelnewsnow.com

Hotels in popular wedding and honeymoon destinations, such as Hawaii, could see increases in business from same-sex couples. As more jurisdictions legalize same-sex marriages, hotels that host destination weddings and attract honeymooners should see increases in business. However, to realize these additional revenues, hotel operators need to meet the needs and expectations of this market segment, sources said.

CEOs Fly Coach? Business Travel Turns Frugal | wsj.com

Business travel is back to pre-recession levels, but road warriors can expect less legroom than before. Traveling for work used to be somewhat cushy—grueling schedules and time away from family may have earned corporate travelers a lie-flat seat on a red-eye flight, a sporty rental car or room service after a day of meetings. But more companies are equating business travel with budget travel, so they're asking employees to forgo some perks and trade down to lesser hotels and are banishing even senior executives to coach.

New York: Long-Stay Hotels Settle In | wsj.com

New York hotel developers increasingly are targeting visitors like Huda Al Dosari, an internal auditor for the Qatar Foundation who has been in the city on a two-month stay studying English. Ms. Al Dosari, 30 years old, chose Marriott's Residence Inn on Sixth Avenue and 39th Street that caters to extended-stay travelers. Most rooms have kitchenettes and living-room areas so guests don't feel that they're hanging out all the time in a bedroom.

For New York Hotel Staff, Panic Buttons and Big Raises | nytimes.com

Operators of the biggest hotels in New York City have agreed to a long-term contract that will give hotel housekeepers and other employees significant pay raises, fully paid health coverage, larger pension contributions and one unusual benefit: personal panic buttons.

HOTELS Interview: Denihan's David Duncan

David Duncan is the recently appointed president of the Denihan Hospitality Group, New York City. Since its recapitalization in 2006, the boutique owner-operator with The James and Affinia brands among its stable has grown from six hotels in New York City to 13 in locations that include Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Miami Beach. In fact, it is in the middle of a US$40 million renovation of the Royal Palm on South Beach, which will relauncn as The James in the fourth quarter. At the same time, Denihan is about to announce deals for three new hotels in New York City and is eyeing West Coast expansion next.

Tom Magnuson | This Man Started The World's Largest Independent Hotel Group Out Of His Son's Bedroom

Tom Magnuson isn't your typical startup guy. When he started his company in 2002, he wasn't a kid coming straight out of college looking to raise money for a tech idea. Nor was he an ultra-rich investor, painstakingly searching for the next Internet behemoth. He was just a middle-aged man with a big idea, and a plan. "We had two Macs and this business idea that we could start a hotel chain for independents," Magnuson says. Back then, all he had for an office was his son's bedroom.

‘See something, say something’ campaign coming to New York hotels | nydailynews.com

The Department of Homeland Security is putting hotel guests in New York and around the country on the lookout for terror. The agency's snazzy "See Something, Say Something" public service announcements, which encourage viewers to speak up when they see suspicious activity, started airing this week on hotel room welcome channels at more than 5,000 sites around the country.

Complaining about loud, neighboring hotel guests can be a safety issue | usatoday.com

Recent events in the news have shown that complaining (or not complaining) about noise levels from a neighboring hotel room can present safety issues, whether for you - or for a person standing on the other side of a wall. On Monday night, a heated argument between Ted Williams - the now-famous Ohio homeless radio man - and his daughter grew so loud at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel that police were called in to respond. No violence was involved in this case.

Latest Terror Threat in US Aimed to Poison Food in Hotels and Restaurants | cbsnews.com

In this exclusive story, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports the latest terror attack to America involves the possible use of poisons - simultaneous attacks targeting hotels and restaurants at many locations over a single weekend. A key Intelligence source has confirmed the threat as "credible." Department of Homeland Security officials, along with members of the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, have briefed a small group of corporate security officers from the hotel and restaurant industries about it.

Holiday Inn trying to relaunch tired brand | Franchisees to pay up to $200,000 to update hotels | chicagotribune.com

In 1986, Holiday Inn told us, "We want you back." In 1997, they said, "We're making every Holiday Inn hotel as good as the best Holiday Inn hotel." And in 2006, they asked us to "Look again." But surveyed customers said the only things they saw when they looked again were the same tired carpets, chintzy floral bedspreads and rooms just off the highway. Today, Holiday Inn is trying, again, to change. By the end of this year, franchisees who haven't signed on to a billion-dollar overhaul that began in October 2007 will no longer be able to call their hotels Holiday Inns. The relaunch — new signs, business traveler-friendly rooms, comfy bedding and a new customer service philosophy — seeks to do what previous efforts could not: Bring consistency to one of the world's largest and oldest franchised hotel brands.