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Goodbye, Brownies on The Pillow: Hotels Ditch Services in an Effort to Save Some Cash

August 26, 2009 at 10:58 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

The Gramercy Park Hotel, which by the way, is still a five-star hotel.

All of the sudden the outlook for the hospitality industry seems to have gone from bad but with hope on the horizon, to worse with drastic cost-cutting measures now taking place.

Indeed, 2009 has been one of the worst years in history for hotels but yet the best year for travelers looking for steep deals. However, just because you got that five-star hotel for half of its usual price, doesn't mean you'll be getting all the perks you'd expect.

A new report says that hotels have begun dropping stars from their star ratings so that they can reduce their level of services and save money. Some hotels that have already done this? Starwood and Hilton Hotels. And here's why.

Hotel operators need to reduce services to conserve cash. Occupancy rates for luxury hotels worldwide fell to 57 percent in the year through July from 71 percent in the same period a year earlier, a bigger drop than for other types of accommodation, according to Smith Travel Research.

The average daily room rates at the most luxurious hotels around the world dropped 16 percent to $245.13, the Tennessee- based hotel-data company estimates. Prices for mid-range hotels fell about 13 percent to $87.12.

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Who Earned The Mobil Five Star Ratings This Year?

January 23, 2009 at 9:29 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

The Wynn wins a five-star rating.

The annual Mobil Five Star Awards for 2009 have been dished out to 44 North American hotels, adding three new hotels to the prestigious list from last year.USA Today reports:

Headlining the pack are Georgia's Sea Island Resorts, which earned four five-star kudos — for the Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island, its sister property, The Cloister on Sea Island, its restaurant, the Georgian Room, and its spa. Similarly, the Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas, its restaurant, Alex, and its spa received five stars. The Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York re-gained a fifth star five years after losing it. And the Ritz-Carlton Chicago (a Four Seasons Hotel) dropped to four stars after a six-year five-star run.

So to recap: it's a good day for Georiga, Steve Wynn, and Donald Trump. But someone in Chicago is probably not very happy.

As for the new five-star hotels on the list, those include The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C., and Skylofts at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. And if you're a fan of Four Seasons Hotels and Ritz-Carlton Hotels, then this list should please you very much as those are most of the five-star hotels on this list.