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Thompson Hotels
Thompson Partners With Cornell to Breed Baby Pomerancs
November 10, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments
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...
OpenThread
Are You Staying in Hotels Anymore?
November 3, 2008 at 12:25 PM | 11 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]
Hotel Industry News
Manhattan Hotel Slowdown Confirmed (Again)
October 31, 2008 at 10:27 AM | 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.
Hotel News
Bad News for Luxury Hotels May Mean Good News for You
October 28, 2008 at 11:07 AM | 0 Comments
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.
Hotel Industry News
AH&LA Fall 2007 Conference Starts This Friday
November 7, 2007 at 9:00 AM | 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]
Ian Schrager
Ian Schrager: Still Has a Tan, Still Has White Teeth, Still in Bed with Marriott
September 14, 2007 at 12:16 PM | 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.
Hotel Openings
Manhattan Hotel Crunch: 9,000 Rooms in Manhattan Hotel Supply Line
July 30, 2007 at 3:31 PM | 0 Comments
This is one of those reports that pretty much quantifies the obvious. We thought we'd pass it along, in part because it reminds us how much we loved Econ 101 and everything that went with it: the supply and demand curve, price elasticity. Not surprisingly, the report confirms the sense that Manhattan hotel rates won't be going anywhere but up anytime soon, even with 9,000 (or so) rooms in the pipeline through 2009.
Fasten your seatbelts, hotel geeks: Per a report by HVS International, a Mineola, NY-based consulting firm, Manhattan hotel occupancy is at record highs, 85%. Average rates are also at a record high, $263.40 in 2006, up from $201.43 in 2004. (That is huge!)
Supply has tightened in part because of hotel-condo conversions. The best-known example is The Plaza, which is slated to reopen later this year with fewer rooms. The condo conversion has caused supply to drop by 1,135 rooms since 2003, or nearly 40% of the 2003 total average daily room count.
The shocking upshot: High occupancy, together with strong demand, allows hoteliers to charge higher rates. And hotels are earning more per room than ever before.
More tidbits from the report after the jump.
