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Marriott is Putting on (Some Changes at) The Ritz-Carlton

November 17, 2009 at 5:32 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

Back in August, we had heard whispers that Marriott Hotels would be changing things up with its Ritz-Carlton Hotels. The rumors were that Marriott would be making Ritz more Marriott-y by handing over some of the operations to Marriott corporate folks. A commenter lamented the change saying:

It is at General Manager level in Ritz Carlton that is causing the biggest effect. Marriott GM's are coming onboard and don't have the passion or understanding that "Old School" Ritz Carlton GM's have. The 15 year Ritz Carlton Veteran becoming a GM is a thing of the past.

And then that was pretty much we heard about all of that. Until Travel Weekly's article about the "ambitious corporate makeover" going on over at the Ritz. The rumors were true--Marriott is doing extensive restructuring of Ritz-Carlton.

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Could You Soon Be Sleeping in a Marriott Hotel And Not Know It?

November 10, 2009 at 2:02 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

This is a Marriott Hotel bed but will your next hotel bed be so forthcoming?

It's not hard to ever miss the presence of the all-mighty Marriott Hotels during your hotel stays. For one thing, chances are the Marriott name is a part of the hotel name. Marriott Hotels, JW Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott and etc.

Secondly, whenever you booked your hotel stay you probably had to go to Marriott.com where if you didn't know before, then you certainly know now that Renaissance Hotels are part of Marriott as are Fairfield Inn and Suites, Townplace Suites and SpringHill Suites. The only one that kind of trips people up is Ritz-Carlton. But yes, that's a Marriott hotel too.

But could this change in the future? A tipster emailed us to say that Marriott might be working on a new brand that will not be Marriott-branded at all.

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On December 1st, The Hotel Sax Chicago Will Be Thompsonized

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 333 N Dearborn Street [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60610
November 4, 2009 at 1:10 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Room 1433 at Hotel Sax Chicago.

We received a couple of tips lately that there was something brewing with Thompson Hotels and usually when more than one tip comes in, we know something's up. But today we have confirmation that indeed The Hotel Sax in Chicago, best known for its RockBand studio and where we recently shacked up the other week, is turning into a Thompson Hotel.

The conversion will officially happen on December 1st and while the hotel was recently renovated a few years ago, we fully expect the place to get "Thompsonized."

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Have You Ever Wondered Who Designed That Hotel Restaurant Menu?

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 306 Dexter Ave. N. [map], Seattle, WA, United States, 98109
September 11, 2009 at 10:58 AM | by EricRosen | 0 Comments

The Aquarius restaurant menu at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Usually we don’t even notice a menu design…unless it’s ugly, unwieldy or unappetizing. But if you're a hotel geek like ourselves then you've probably caught yourself staring at a menu before and wondering who did the design? Most likely, it wasn't someone at the hotel.

When we talk about design in the hospitality industry, we almost always mean décor. However, there is a whole world of materials that have to be designed, and that is where the design firm Taste Envy comes in.

Founded by husband-and-wife team Jason and Nadine Stellavato Brown, Taste Envy creates menu covers and other "branding materials for design-minded restaurants, hotels and hospitality brands." Jason formed a similar firm in 1994 called Lost Luggage, which designed and created folders and other supplies for clients, but it makes sense that the two branched out into menus—all you have to do is check out their blog to see what big foodies the two are.

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Is Marriott Taking Out a Hit On The Ritz-Carlton?

August 27, 2009 at 9:39 AM | by juliana | 1 Comment

The Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey.

We got a tip late last night that told us things could be changing drastically at Ritz-Carlton Hotels which as you all know is a part of the Marriott Hotels. Our Hotel Deep Throat writes:

Major restructure with Marriott International underway. Most Ritz Carlton corporate roles are gone or replaced with Marriott personnel. The operational and regional structure will also be replaced by Marriott. The question will be what effect this will have on the guest experience and the famous Ritz Carlton mystique.....is this the beginning of the end for this great brand (Ritz)?

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What's It Gonna Be, Hilton: Quinn or Denizen?

March 9, 2009 at 10:46 AM | by Jenna | 7 Comments


The Cosmopolitan resort development in Las Vegas: the future home of Hilton's Project Global21?

The tip line has been on fire this week as the excitement mounts for Hilton's unveiling of their new boutique brand, which has been referred to only as Project Global21 up to this point. We know the big announcement is coming sometime tomorrow (March 10th), with the news hitting the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin first.

We've been going back and forth on the upcoming brand's name for a while: we'd heard Quinn initially, then a few commenters brought a couple more possibilities to the table ("Vox" among them) — but we'd never really agreed on anything. And as we wait for the official word, some anonymous tipsters have swooped in to give us the inside scoop.

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Thompson Partners With Cornell to Breed Baby Pomerancs

November 10, 2008 at 9:00 AM | by Jenna | 1 Comment

Cornell University's renowned School of Hotel Administration (full disclosure: this HC-er's alma mater, where she learned everything she knows about hotels that the Internet couldn't teach her) has just announced a partnership between its Center for Hospitality Research and Thompson Hotels.

Thompson's co-owner, Stephen Brandman, will now sit on the research center's advisory board, contributing his insights and hopefully sharing the secrets to the "sophisticated but personal approach to service" Thompson is known for.

Turning the Cornell Hotel School into a breeding ground for baby Jason P's, perhaps? Maybe...

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Are You Staying in Hotels Anymore?

November 3, 2008 at 12:25 PM | by Jenna | 13 Comments

We've been hearing this for a few months now: With the economy tanking and the unemployment rate rising, people are tightening their purse-strings and closely counting their coins. Some are forgoing the frivolous expenditures like dry-cleaning their dog's clothing or cutting back on $450 rounds of golf. Others are clipping coupons, using generic brand goods and just making use of what they've already got.

One of the biggest industries that takes a hit when people decide to scale back their disposable income spending is travel. Hotels already have a dismal outlook (even the luxury ones!) as occupancy is going down, after several years of it nowhere going up.

So, we can't help but wonder: how are you feeling about all of this right now? Hotels--especially the more high-end ones--are not that much different from a designer dress or a pair of expensive shoes. They are considered by many to be a luxury; a privilege rather than a necessity.

With that said, if you're bypassing the Louis Vuitton store and have cut out your expensive latte habits, have you stopped traveling and staying in hotels these days too? Why or why not? If the economy doesn't affect your decision to travel, how does it affect your choice of hotel?

Tell us how the economy is affecting your hotel habits here.

[HotelChatter OpenThreads are a place for readers to get in here and talk about hot stories and issues of the day in an open forum. If you are already a HotelChatter member log in to comment, if not become a member for free and comment away.]

[Photo: Tracy Olson]

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Manhattan Hotel Slowdown Confirmed (Again)

Where: New York, NY
October 31, 2008 at 10:27 AM | by Jenna | 0 Comments

Another day, another story about how the hotel industry -- even magical Manhattan -- is struggling and taking measures to curb the effects of the economic downturn by slowing development.

After yet another New York Times article was printed (after this one and this one) declaring the end of the "hotel boom," CB Richard Ellis released a special report on the Manhattan hotel development market and drove it home.

According to the New York Observer:

The report found at least 17 proposed hotel projects that have been shelved amid "increasing construction costs, tightening capital markets, and a lingering economic downturn." That's a loss of 3,225 rooms that were expected to open by the end of 2010.

That loss is just about a 30 percent decrease from "previous estimates cited in the marketplace," says to the report.

That doesn't mean the Manhattan hotel scene is going to freeze, though. There are still plenty of projects on the way in 2009 and 2010; if the Observer is to be believed, there may be as many as 30 new hotels with 4,860 rooms opening doors in 2009 alone. Uh, godspeed.

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Bad News for Luxury Hotels May Mean Good News for You

October 28, 2008 at 11:07 AM | by Jenna | 1 Comment

It seems like every time we've opened up the New York Times these last few months, we've run into some kind of depressing story about the sad economic state of the hotel industry.

Here's the deal: the economy is not doing so well (have you heard?) and some folks initially thought that hotels wouldn't be in too much pain -- but then we saw bigger chains slowing down their expansion plans because of declining occupancy. While mid-priced hotel chains began hurting, the luxury segment continued to do relatively well through the summer.

But more recently, the state of the economy has struck fear into the hearts of even Manhattan hotels, a city where occupancy rarely dips below 80%. So, you know, things are bad -- but top-tier hotels weren't so worried because those properties were generally sustained by corporate travel (not super rich leisure travelers, as you may have thought). Until now.

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AH&LA Fall 2007 Conference Starts This Friday

November 7, 2007 at 9:00 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We interrupt your regularly schedule hotel entertainment programming to sneak in a little hotel industry news.

On November 9th, the AH&LA 2007 Fall Conference kicks off in New York City at the Javits Center. For you non-hotel geeks, AH&LA stands for American Hotel and Lodging Association and the conference is being held with the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show.

So tons of NYC hotels are going to busy with hotel, motel and restaurant execs from all over. For instance, the welcome reception is being held Friday night from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. at the Waldorf-Astoria. That's followed by a CEO dinner at the Mandarin Oriental.

Throughout the conference there will be tons of hotel seminars. But Saturday will be a big day when the conference has its CEO leadership panel and the U.S. Lodging Industry Summit Panel, with a keynote luncheon given by Mary Matalin and James Carville titled "All's Fair in Love and Politics."

Interestingly enough on the schedule for AH&LA is a dinner tribute on Nov. 13th for Stephen F. Bollenbach, the former co-chairman and CEO of Hilton Hotels who was replaced this week by Christopher Nasetta of Host Hotels after the Blackstone group officially acquired the hotel chain. Don't worry it was nothing evil as Bollenbach announced last summer he would step down at the end of this year.

If any of you hotel industry folks are attending the show and see/hear/know of anything worth letting fellow hotel geeks know about, drop us a line. Photos most appreciated too.

Related Stories:
· AH&LA Conference 2007 [Official Site]
· Hilton Gets Sold! [HotelChatter]

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Ian Schrager: Still Has a Tan, Still Has White Teeth, Still in Bed with Marriott

September 14, 2007 at 12:16 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Ian Schrager was on Street Signs on CNBC yesterday and it looks like he's their new favorite guest speaker. He was on to address the state of the high-end hotel business and whether that's been affected by the recent economy shake-up.

We've got our recap on his appearance after the jump. Also we think Ian got hit on by the CNBC anchor.

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