New Chinese Name For Holiday Inn Express Hotels

Image via Wikipedia(Hospitality Business News) InterContinental Hotels Group recently announced that Holiday Inn Express, its mid-scale hotel brand, has changed its Chinese name to Zhi Xuan Jia Ri in Greater China.

Commenting on the new name Keith Barr, the managing director of IHG Greater China, stated that the Chinese name change better reflects the needs of their guests who look for fresh, clean and uncomplicated hotels offering comfort, convenience, and good value. He added that they firmly believe this name change can also better represent the brand equity of Holiday Inn Express and IHG is committed to using a variety of our resources to communicate with their key stakeholders.

The group says that Zhi Xuan Jia Ri ( 智选假日 ), which is translated as 'Smart Choice' in English, is in line with the brand essence and values of Holiday Inn Express.

Based on the results of a large scale consumer survey, IHG conducted prior to initiating this name change program: it was decided that the new Chinese name provides a much clearer interpretation of the brand essence and positioning among Chinese guests. According to Barr, since they started changing the Chinese name and signage in November 2010 the brand has seen have seen a positive increase in the hotel business. He added that they were very confident that this name change would also be fully supported by the hotels' owners during the process of changing the hotels' Chinese names.

Holiday Inn Express is expanding quickly into China’s first and second tier cities, with 29 hotels up and running and around 30 more in the development pipeline.

Texas company sues Las Vegas Sands over rights to ‘Palazzo’ name

Another trademark infringement lawsuit has been filed in a dispute between the Palazzo resort on the Las Vegas Strip and a Texas clothing company.

The Palazzo hotel-casino, owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp., in 2009 sued Palazzo Design Corp. of Houston, charging the Houston company was threatening litigation over the Las Vegas Palazzo's sale of T-shirts and clothing items bearing the hotel's name.

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Trump Says He and Union Have a Deal on Tavern on the Green

Donald J. Trump and the head of the powerful union that represented the 400 workers at Tavern on the Green say they have come to an agreement that could revive the shuttered landmark restaurant that is now home to a food-truck court and a visitor center.

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Alchemy Japan KK Announces its Japanese Leisure Hotels’ 2010 Earnings Results

Tokyo, Japan (Hospitality Business News) January 24, 2011 – Alchemy Japan’s Japanese Leisure Hotels reported: an EBITDA of ¥564 million, a 10% improvement on the previous year, and a Net income of ¥909 million being a 9% growth on net income for 2009. Sales grew to ¥2.036 billion, a 4.3% increase on 2009. Revenue growth was led by an 18% increase in customer numbers as 2010 average Occupancy Rate (OCR) reached 257%.

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TripAdvisors top 10 dirtiest hotels for 2011

NEWTON, Mass. — January 25, 2011 (Hospitality Business News)— TripAdvisor®, the world’s largest travel site*, today announced the top 10 dirtiest hotels in America, according to traveler ratings for cleanliness on TripAdvisor. Now in its sixth year, and true to its promise to share the whole truth about hotels to help travelers plan their trips, TripAdvisor names and shames the nation’s most hair-raising hotels.
This year, the tarnished title of America’s dirtiest hotel goes to Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The southern belle hotel failed to charm TripAdvisor travelers; 87 percent of those who reviewed it recommended against staying there. The unpopular property elicited such hotel review titles as “Worst Hotel Stay of My Life,” “Stay Anywhere Else But Here,” and “Absolutely Horrible!”

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American socialite sues hotel for loss of diamond ring

SINGAPORE : An American socialite is suing Shangri-La Hotel for the loss of a 6.41-carat diamond ring.

She claims it is worth about S$280,000, about the price of a 3-room HDB flat.

The hotel disputes that, saying it is only worth a quarter of that price.

The owner of the ring, Ms Anne Hendricks Bass from Texas, said she had bought it from JAR's, a famous jeweller.

In her first appearance in the High Court - in a trial that is expected to last till Thursday - Ms Bass claimed that the hotel staff or masseuse had stolen the ring in 2009 when she was a guest there.

Shangri-La, through its lawyer Anparasan Kamachi from KhattarWong, said Ms Bass was making the claim because she was rejected by insurers, but Ms Bass disagreed.

The trial continues on Wednesday. A gemologist for the defence is expected to testify that the ring is worth between S$64,000 and S$77,000.

Ms Bass is one of the richest women in the US with a $260-million divorce settlement from Texas billionaire Sid Bass.

- CNA/al

A $400,000 hotel room-service tab? How?

Many unanswered questions remain in the case of the two women convicted of embezzling nearly $6 million from Aviva USA.

Some of you, for instance, want to know why Phyllis Stevens received a term of only six years in prison for her crimes against the West Des Moines life insurance-annuities company and why her spouse, Marla Stevens, got only three.

It's a good question, but mine isn't bad, either: How in the world did Marla Stevens rack up $400,000 in hotel room-service charges? Is it even humanly possible?

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Boom Boom Room cocktail waitresses claim Standard canned them for lacking 'runway model' looks

Two cocktail cuties at The Standard say they got canned for not fitting the mold of "willowy, svelte and statuesque runway models" at the trendy hotel's Boom Boom Room.

Aspiring actresses Faye Rex and Stephanie Jaggers are suing the Meatpacking District hotel, claiming management sees fit to employ only women with runway model looks at its sexy playpen above the High Line.

"There's definitely a type at the Boom Boom Room - and that type is beautiful, tall and skinny," said Richard Roth, a lawyer for the women. "Compare that to the men."

Rex and Jaggers lost their jobs as cocktail waitresses last summer soon after the reopening of the Boom Boom Room, where beauties frolic in a hot tub planted in the middle of the 18th-floor hotspot.

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Duncan Bannatyne to campaign against 'cowardly' TripAdvisor

Duncan Bannatyne, the Dragons’ Den panellist, is to spearhead a campaign against the “despicable and cowardly” TripAdvisor website after it refused to remove a review comparing one of his hotels to Fawlty Towers.

The Glaswegian entrepreneur said the internet giant was risking the livelihoods of dozens of hoteliers and restaurateurs thanks to its policy of publishing all reviews it receives.

He said he is considering suing the site over what he claims is a “dishonest” review published about one of his hotels and accused the internet giant of trying to “bully” him into silence using threatening letters


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Man arrested after threat to leap from Reno hotel

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Authorities say a Wisconsin man was arrested after officers persuaded him not to jump from his room in the 9th floor of the Sands Regency Casino Hotel.

Reno police say 48-year-old Randy Russell is wanted on a sexual assault warrant in Wisconsin in had previously been the subject of a search there. KOLO-TV reports that Russell is being held without bail.

Police say Russell was hanging from the window of his room threatening to jump when police arrived at about 9:15 a.m. Monday. It took officers about three hours to talk Russell out of jumping.

Another Helmsley Property Sold Off

The estate of Leona Helmsley has reached a deal to sell the New York Helmsley hotel to Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. for more than $310 million in the latest move the estate is taking to liquidate the real-estate empire Harry Helmsley took decades to build, according to people familiar with the matter.

Host, owner of 104 luxury and upscale hotels, prevailed in a lengthy bidding process for the hotel on East 42nd Street. The company plans to spend more than $50 million renovating it, people said.

A spokesman for the estate wasn't immediately available for comment

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Sales of Hooter's Restaurants completed

ATLANTA,( Hospitality Business News) Jan. 24, 2011  -- Today, Hooters of America, Inc. "HOA" announced the completion of a transaction which transfers ownership of the company from the estate of Robert H. Brooks who passed in 2006 into the hands of a consortium of private investors, including Chanticleer Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CCLR) "Chanticleer".  Simultaneous with this transaction the investor group will also acquire Texas Wings, Inc., the largest franchisee of HOA.  The two businesses will come together to strengthen the Hooters brand worldwide.

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Man Dies in Fall From Hotel in Midtown New York

A 23-year-old man died Sunday when he apparently fell from a fourth-floor landing at the Pennsylvania Hotel in midtown Manhattan, police said.

Moon G. Nam, of Jersey City, apparently became lost when he returned to the hotel, where he had spent the night with two friends, at about 6:00 a.m. to retrieve his cellphone that he forgot in his room, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said. He said surveillance video shows Mr. Nam taking a freight elevator to the fourth floor where he followed exit signs to the landing. Investigators believe he was looking for a fire escape or leaning over the guardrail when he fell.

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Innkeepers USA Trust up for sale

Innkeepers USA Trust, a real-estate investment trust that owns more than 70 hotels, is shopping for investors or outright buyers to take the firm out of bankruptcy-court protection, said people familiar with the matter.
Innkeepers bankers have contacted some 70 potential investors and are readying for a prolonged auction to pick a bidder to finance the company's bankruptcy exit, the people said.

Innkeepers is likely to attract investors who work with creditors to restructure the hotel company's debt, the people said. But Innkeepers is also essentially putting itself up for sale, looking for buyers who would take control of the company in an all-cash bid, the people said. Innkeepers runs hotels under brands including Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

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Argentina woman survives 23-storey hotel fall

A young woman has survived after falling from the 23rd floor of a hotel in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

Her fall was broken by a taxi, whose driver got out moments before the impact crushed the roof and shattered the windscreen.

Eyewitness said the woman had climbed over a safety barrier and leapt from a restaurant at the top of the Hotel Crown Plaza Panamericano.

She was taken to intensive care for treatment for multiple injuries.
The woman, who has not been named, is reported to be an Argentine in her 20s.

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