Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Study Reveals 63 Percent of Restaurant Workers Handle Food While Sick

Pop-quiz question: What is the easiest way to ensure a food service establishment ends up embroiled in a foodborne illness outbreak?


Answer: Fail to implement a sick leave policy and allow food handlers to work while sick!

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Jail for cleaners who stole from hotel room safe

The Dubai Criminal Court awarded two Filipino cleaners who confessed to stealing and hiding $4,100 of a hotel visitor three months jail followed by deportation.


Shahram Gulam, 32, Iranian, businessman complained about the missing of $4,100 from the safebox of the hotel room after he left for Sharjah with his brother at 9.20 am on June 7.

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Premier Inn agrees to to stop claiming to be largest hotel brand in London

Premier Inn, the UK's largest budget hotel company, has agreed to stop claiming that it is the largest hotel operator in London, following talks with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).


The company was reported to the ASA by its bitter rival Travelodge in connection with adverts in which Premier Inn appealed to developers and landowners to help them expand the company, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

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Are hotels ready for the dynamic pricing revolution?

Even though dynamic pricing was first introduced in the hotel industry by chains like Marriott, Hilton and InterContinental in the early 2000s, it seems we are only now starting to get onto the barricades in this hotel pricing revolution.


Just over a month ago, IHG announced at the National Business Travel Association convention that following the success of a test with dynamic pricing in Asia-Pacific over the summer, it now seeks global adoption of dynamic pricing.

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Pritzker Firm Acquires L.A. Hotel

Geolo Capital, the private equity arm of San Francisco billionaire John A. Pritzker, has acquired a 250-room boutique hotel near LAX from a New York hedge fund.


The 12-story hotel, which originally opened in 1975, was re-launched as Custom Hotel in 2007 following a $20 million-plus renovation by Palisades Development Group, a Los Angeles developer headed by Avi Brosch.

Palisades, after running into financial trouble during the credit crunch, lost the property in foreclosure to hedge fund Marathon Asset Management LLC. Financial terms of the deal between Marathon and Geolo were not disclosed.

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Fore! Hotel clerk thwarts armed robber with a golf club

According to the Island Packet a 60-year-old hotel clerk didn't put up with a man's attempt to rob the Quality Inn Suites early Sunday, according to an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.


The clerk was doing his daily audit about 1:30 a.m. Sunday when a man wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun ran into the north-end island and demanded money.

The clerk pushed the robber, who then hit him with the gun. The clerk then grabbed a golf club and chased the man out the hotel. The clerk then called 911.

The robber was described as a white man, about 175 pounds, 5 feet 10 inches, wearing a dark ski mask, blue jeans and a dark-colored T-shirt. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 843-524-2777.

Hersha lines up credit of up to $250 million

Hotel owner Hersha Hospitality Trust said Tuesday it has obtained commitments to borrow as much as $250 million under a senior secured credit facility.


The real estate investment trust said it signed a commitment letter with TD Bank NA and TD Securities (USA) LLC for a proposed $225 million credit line that comes due in three years. The facility also includes the option for a one-year extension and may be increased to $250 million.

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Detroit Westin's hotel restaurant unsuccessfully sued TripAdvisor

Given the growing interest among some hotels in the USA and Europe in possibly suing TripAdvisor for allegedly defamatory user reviews, Tnooz.com's story about a Detroit restaurant that sued the online-review giant caught my eye.


Restaurant 24 Grille in the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit hotel sued TripAdvisor in April 2009 in a Michigan state court for $25,000, Tnooz.com tell us.

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Woman sues Hyatt over cross-dressing employee

DEERFIELD, Ill. — A Los Angeles woman who says she caught a male hotel employee dressed in some of her clothes this past summer in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield has filed a lawsuit against the Chicago-based Hyatt company.


According to a complaint filed with Deerfield police, 36-year-old Dayanara Fernandez said that when she returned to her room at the Deerfield Hyatt on June 6, she found a male hotel worker wearing one of her skirts and a pair of her high-heeled shoes. Fernandez said she later discovered the man was wearing some of her underwear.

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Wyndham looks to be around to stay in Pittsburgh

Wyndham is building a reputation as an up-and-coming name in the hospitality business. Hilton long has been one of the top three or four players.


Experts in hotel operations say Parsippany, N.J.-based Wyndham Hotel Group is eager to put its Wyndham Grand flag atop the Pittsburgh region's biggest hotel and conference center, enhancing its network of destinations in major markets.

The hotel's bankrupt owner, Shubh Hotels Pittsburgh LLC, took down the Hilton signs there on Friday, a month after Hilton Hotels & Resorts terminated the franchise license.

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