The vista from the private terrace of the John Barrymore Suite at the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince is a vision of verdant hills and a brilliant blue bay, a dramatic postcard that reveals not a hint of the mountains of rubble and trash left over from Haiti's catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake, nor the escalating cholera epidemic, nor the slums just beyond the hotel's gate.
The suite named for the American actor boasts an open-air, king-size bed draped in mosquito netting, two bedrooms, artisan-painted armoires, high ceilings and lace curtains -- lavish quarters that are the jewel of Haiti's most famous hotel, which served as the setting of Graham Greene's 1965 novel The Comedians.
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Friday, December 10, 2010
Hotel brand loyalty dives
In its 2011 travel forecast, TripAdvisor surveyed 3,000 Americans to reveal a nose dive in hotel brand loyalty.
According to the survey, 39 percent of travellers say they are faithful to one hotel brand, down from 59 percent a year ago. Travel industry watchers have noted for several years that travel brand loyalty, be it to hotels, airlines or rental car agencies, has dipped. But 20 percentage points in a year?
Brooke Ferencsik, a TripAdvisor spokesman, speculated that the drop came in response to travellers being better informed of their options.
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According to the survey, 39 percent of travellers say they are faithful to one hotel brand, down from 59 percent a year ago. Travel industry watchers have noted for several years that travel brand loyalty, be it to hotels, airlines or rental car agencies, has dipped. But 20 percentage points in a year?
Brooke Ferencsik, a TripAdvisor spokesman, speculated that the drop came in response to travellers being better informed of their options.
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Man Dies After Altercation With Burger King Employee
According to a story by CBS Detroit , an altercation between a 20-year old Burger King employee and a 67-year old man has led to the death of the customer.
The incident happened Thursday evening at a Burger King restaurant on Gratiot, near St. Aubin, on Detroit’s east side.
According to Detroit Police, the employee allegedly punched the customer, who then fell to the floor.
The man apparently began choking on his dentures. The man was rushed to a hospital where he died a short time later.
The Burger King employee has been arrested.
The incident happened Thursday evening at a Burger King restaurant on Gratiot, near St. Aubin, on Detroit’s east side.
According to Detroit Police, the employee allegedly punched the customer, who then fell to the floor.
The man apparently began choking on his dentures. The man was rushed to a hospital where he died a short time later.
The Burger King employee has been arrested.
TripAdvisor blocks Google Places from accessing its hotel reviews
TripAdvisor confirmed that it blocks Google Places from accessing its hotel reviews. According to TripAdvisor, it believes the user does not benefit with the “experience of selecting the right hotel”.
TripAdvisor reviews of hotel properties, alongside reviews from other providers, were streamed in as part of bitesize summaries of individual reviews, with a link to follow in order to read the full review on the TripAdvisor site.
TripAdvisor would feature next to reviews from online travel agencies or other hotel booking sites, but given its page rank in organic search, often found itself at the top of the list.
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TripAdvisor reviews of hotel properties, alongside reviews from other providers, were streamed in as part of bitesize summaries of individual reviews, with a link to follow in order to read the full review on the TripAdvisor site.
TripAdvisor would feature next to reviews from online travel agencies or other hotel booking sites, but given its page rank in organic search, often found itself at the top of the list.
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Blackstone Said to Seize 14 Columbia Sussex Hotels It Sold Five Years Ago
Blackstone Group LP took ownership of 14 hotels it sold to Columbia Sussex Corp. five years ago after buying junior debt on the properties and seizing control, a person with direct knowledge of the transaction said.
Thirteen of the hotels will be managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts Inc., according to a statement yesterday by Arlington, Virginia-based Interstate. They include properties under the Westin, Sheraton and Hilton brands.
Blackstone is betting that hotel real estate will recover after the credit crisis depressed values. The New York-based firm was part of a group that this year won a bankruptcy auction for hotel chain Extended Stay Inc., which it sold in 2007 to investors led by David Lichtenstein’s Lightstone Group LLC.
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Trump pays down hotel debt
Developers of the Trump SoHo hotel-condo building "substantially paid down" the debt owed on the project to iStar Financial after receiving a new loan from CIM Group.
Trump Soho is a joint venture between the Trump Organization and the project's developers, Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization.
Donald and Ivanka Trump both declined to discuss financial terms of the deal.
In September, iStar offered $20 million more in financing to the Trump SoHo in a mortgage restructuring. It had already lent more than $250 million to the project, the Wall Street Journal reported.
IStar, the New York-based commercial real-estate lender, had about $2.8 billion of non-performing loans as of Sept. 30. It may refinance loans with a new $1 billion to $2 billion credit line as an alternative to bankruptcy, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.110 women arrested on prostitution charges at Macau's Venetian
Hong Kong's vice squad raided Macau's Venetian casino resort Friday, arresting 110 women on prostitution charges and 22 suspected pimps, Agence France Presse reports.
The women were forced to pay their pimps a daily "protection fee" of as much as about $130 dollars, the article says.
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The women were forced to pay their pimps a daily "protection fee" of as much as about $130 dollars, the article says.
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Thursday, December 9, 2010
S.F. police revive toddler found in hotel fountain
San Francisco police rescued a toddler Wednesday who fell into a lobby fountain at the Hyatt Regency hotel while his mother frantically searched for him, authorities said.
The mother called 911 at 1:22 p.m. to say her son was missing, and within minutes responding police officers found the 1 1/2-year-old boy in the fountain, police Officer Albie Esparza said.
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The mother called 911 at 1:22 p.m. to say her son was missing, and within minutes responding police officers found the 1 1/2-year-old boy in the fountain, police Officer Albie Esparza said.
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Radisson to terminate about 20% of hotels as part of USA image overhaul
The Radisson hotel chain's $1.5 billion revamp in the USA not only involves the sprucing up of existing hotels - Radisson's also firing hotels that don't meet new standards.
By the end of 2011, Radisson will have terminated 12% of hotels in its system, Thorsten Kirschke, chief operating officer of Carlson Hotels, told USA TODAY Travel yesterday during a meeting.
Radisson, which now has 430 hotels, next year plans to remove another 10% of hotels, he said.
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By the end of 2011, Radisson will have terminated 12% of hotels in its system, Thorsten Kirschke, chief operating officer of Carlson Hotels, told USA TODAY Travel yesterday during a meeting.
Radisson, which now has 430 hotels, next year plans to remove another 10% of hotels, he said.
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Holiday Inn Upgrades Price Out Some Hotel Owners
For Doug Schubert, who has operated a Holiday Inn on the banks of the Fox River here for 34 years, the end will come Dec. 31. The next day, his 146-room hotel will begin operating under Choice Hotels International Inc.'s Clarion brand. He would have liked to stay with Holiday Inn, he says, but he couldn't afford the renovations and upgrades that were demanded by the unit of U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, which he estimated would cost $1.6 million.
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GAO study cites fraud, abuses in guest worker program used by hotels
Will hotels soon face increased federal scrutiny to determine whether they're treating their low-wage foreign workers fairly?
It's a question some are asking today, in light of the recently released government report, "H-2B Visa Program: Closed Civil Criminal Cases Illustrate Instances of H-2B Workers Being Targets of Fraud and Abuse."
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It's a question some are asking today, in light of the recently released government report, "H-2B Visa Program: Closed Civil Criminal Cases Illustrate Instances of H-2B Workers Being Targets of Fraud and Abuse."
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Host Hotels unit to buy 7 hotels in New Zealand
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — A unit of Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. has agreed to acquire seven hotels in New Zealand for $143 million, the real estate investment trust said Tuesday.
Affiliates of Tourism Asset Holdings Ltd. sold six of the properties, while the remaining hotel was sold by an affiliate of Accor.
The hotels, which are located in Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington, have more than 1,200 rooms combined.
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Affiliates of Tourism Asset Holdings Ltd. sold six of the properties, while the remaining hotel was sold by an affiliate of Accor.
The hotels, which are located in Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington, have more than 1,200 rooms combined.
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Romeo's Pizza goes to St. Louis
A slice of Northeast Ohio is heading west.
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It's many slices — pizza slices — actually.
Romeo's Pizza, headquartered in Medina, has signed an agreement that allows a franchisee to open 90 stores in the St. Louis area.
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Dunkin’ Donuts percolating in Milwaukee
Dunkin’ Donuts has signed a multi-unit store-development agreement with the Milwaukee Coffee Brewing Company. The deal entails a plan to open 36 new restaurants in the central and southern parts of Milwaukee.
The units will be under the operation of six existing Northeast Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees, who are partners of the MCBC. They currently run more than 370 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in metro and upstate New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut.
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The units will be under the operation of six existing Northeast Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees, who are partners of the MCBC. They currently run more than 370 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in metro and upstate New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut.
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