http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T22:45:14Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Hotel%20Industry%20News http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/6/141158/682 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/designhotels_adventcalendar.jpg" class="top"><p> This is an interesting development--<a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/design hotels collection"><b>Design Hotels</b></a>, a collection of 200 awesome independent, boutique, design-forward hotels, is now a part of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/starwood hotels"><b>Starwood Hotels</b></a>. But if you fear that your favorite assortment of art, design and fashion hotels will be corrupted by Westins, Sheratons and Ws, feel free to exhale. <p>The partnership is purely an investment deal as Starwood will not be involved in Design Hotels day-to-day operations nor will Design Hotels be a part of Starwood's reservations system or Starwood Preferred Guest program. That's reassuring but we're still suspicious of this whole deal.<p>But let's not focus on the negative, let's focus on the fun instead. Design Hotels has just kicked off their online juliana 2011-12-06T14:20:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/6/13648/4265 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/disneyaulani_reception.jpg" class="top"><p> Sorry kiddies, we hate to put a damper on the holiday spirit but there will be no more <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/disney hotels"><b>Disney Hotels</b></a> for a while. <a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-11-29/business/os-disney-standalone-resorts-20111129_1_standalone-resorts-aulani-shanghai-disneyland">The Orlando Sentinel</a> reports that Disney's vision for standalone resorts, like their recently open <a href="v"><b>Aulani Resort</b></a> in Hawaii (above), has been put on hold due to some money woes, namely because the House of Mouse has been so busy spending money on its theme parks and cruise lines.<p> The company recently scrapped plans for a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/5/19/91035/2524/hotels/A_Disney_Resort_For_the_D_C_Area_">500-room stand-alone D.C. hotel</a> even though they already bought the property in 2009 for about $11 million. Disney said the timing wasn't right but given that the Aulani has had some missteps in its juliana 2011-12-06T14:00:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/11/16/73850/613 <![CDATA[<p><p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/starwoodchineseamenities.jpg" class="top"><p> <i>Starwood Personalized Travel's tea cup and amenities menu translated to Chinese.</i><p>Hotel companies have gone gaga for China over the past few years opening tons of new hotels in the burgeoning economic powerhouse but maybe they were a little too overzealous? <p>A new report out says that four in 10 hotel rooms in China are empty, for about an average occupancy rate of 61 percent. And that number is not so comforting with more and more hotels in the pipeline. <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-16/china-s-low-occupancy-threatens-international-hotels-boom.html">BusinessWeek</a> had the full story including this omnious quote from a hotel analyst:<blockquote><p> <p>"Hotels in some markets of China are clearly oversupplied in the next three to five years and they <b>won't be generating good returns</b>, " juliana 2011-11-16T11:21:55-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/10/24/233059/73 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/crowneplazabirminghamUK.jpg" class="top"><p> <i>Crowne Plaza Birmingham, UK</i><p>Have you stayed in a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/crowne plaza hotels"><b>Crowne Plaza Hotel</b></a> lately? Yeah, neither have we. But this bit of news from <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/intercontinental hotel group">InterContinental Hotel Group's</a> Annual Investors & Leadership Conference today has us thinking a CP could be in our very near future.<p>IHG has announced that <b>Crowne Plaza is will undergo a three-phase repositioning strategy</b>, starting with a new brand identity and a modern look and feel for its U.S. properties (Crowne Plaza is way savvier abroad.)<p> This first phase, also known as the "Freshen Up", will also expand the brand's <a href="http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/global/exp/sleep_adv">Sleep Advantage</a> program which offers guests rooms in designated Quiet Zones and lots of pillows to get comfy with. juliana 2011-10-25T08:15:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/10/18/194619/70 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/hoxtondonotdisturb.jpg" class="top"><p><p>Last week, <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/morgans-hotel-group-to-sell-its-london-hotels-2011-10-10">news came out</a> that <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/morgans hotel group"><b>Morgans Hotel Group</b></a> would be selling their interest in both <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Sanderson/local/926">The Sanderson</a> and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/St+Martins+Lane/local/3218">St. Martin's Lane</a> but this didn't concern us too much as hotels sell off their interests all the time without ever losing their management contracts. And indeed, Morgans will still be running both hotels now until the end of time, or 2041, which ever comes first.<p> But then just the other day, some very interesting news about Morgans came out--the NY-based hotel group would be acquiring <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hoxton+Hotel+London/local/194"><b>The Hoxton Hotel</b></a> famous for its <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/1/26/93416/5348/hotels/Hoxton_Hotel_Rooms_for_1_But_It_s_Fastest_Finger_First_">£1 rooms</a>. <a href="http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4053362.html">Hospitality.Net</a> reports that Morgans has teamed up with Invesco Real Estate to purchase the hotel for juliana 2011-10-19T08:45:01-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/