Lodging Operator

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Industry News

KEY WEST INNS SEES DRAMATIC INCREASE IN RESERVATION REVENUES
Key West Inns Inc. has reported a dramatic increase in reservation revenues for 2009. When compared between May 2008 and May 2009, reservation rates increased 32 percent, as well as an increase of 27 percent in reservation room nights. The chain revenue also increased by 17 percent. The Key West Inn chain has 20 locations located in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Florida, and is focusing on expansion in Southeastern states from North Carolina to Texas.

Transactions

The 132-room Ramada Plaza Hotel in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin,
recently sold.

MILMARK HOTEL/MOTEL BROKERS SALE OF RAMADA PLAZA HOTEL
Milmark Hotel/Motel Investments has brokered the sale of the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Fond Du Lac, Wis., to Fine Hospitality Group, which the 132-room hotel plans to upgrade the property’s restaurant, lounge and meeting facilities. The company also plans to expand further across the Midwest. CPRS Properties LLP and One North Main, Inc., sold the hotel for an undisclosed price.

BROWN HOTEL COMPLETES SALES TRANSACTION FOR COMFORT SUITES
Brown Hotel Group recently completed the sale of the 54-unit Comfort Suites located in Castro Valley, Calif. The owners plan to renovate the 7-year-old hotel. Chuck LaPorte represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction.

MUMFORD CO. BROKERS TWO HOTEL SALES IN VIRGINIA

The Days Inn New Market, Virginia, changed hands in a sale brokered by Mumford Company.

Mumford Co. has represented affiliates of Allen Management in the sale of the 72-room Econo Lodge located in Wytheville, Va. to Tri-Strength LLC. The buyers plan to renovate the facilities and affiliate the hotel with the Knights Inn franchise. Ed James, David Mumford and Justin Pinkard of Mumford Co. brokered the transaction.
     In New Market, Va., Mumford and James handled the sale of of the 85-room Days Inn located adjacent to the New Market Battlefield and surrounded by the Shenandoah National Park. BSPM Hospitality of VA sold the property to Shree Vishnuji LLC, which is making renovations to the hotel and retaining the Days Inn flag.

Openings

IHG PLANS AND OPENS NEW HOTELS WORLDWIDE
HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates is designing IHG’s first Hotel Indigo — Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund — in the Asia Pacific region. The 180-room hotel is scheduled for completion in 2010 and is located along the riverfront of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. HBA will be using the Interpret Indigo design that captures the local character and culture of each location. The design of the hotel will also have a nature-inspired theme.
     A converted Crowne Plaza is now open for business in Reading, Pa., at 1741 Paper Mill Rd. After undergoing a $10 million conversion from a Sheraton, the five-floor, 253-room hotel includes on-site laundry facilities, indoor swimming pool, business center and 24-hour fitness center. The hotel also feature Crowne Plaza Sleep Advantage, Market Street Café and eight meeting rooms with approximately 17,000 square feet of meeting space.
     A new Holiday Inn Express and Suites has opened in Nashville, Tenn. The 113-room hotel will be the fifth to open in Nashville with the brand’s new sign. The hotel will feature the Express Start breakfast bar, an indoor heat swimming pool, a business center and the SimplySmart bedding collection.

ACCOR NORTH AMERICA OPENS MOTEL 6 HOTELS NATIONWIDE
Accor North America has completed several Motel 6 properties across the Chicago land area, located in Arlington Heights, West-Villa Park, North-Glenview, Elk Grove, Northwest-Palantine, Southwest-Aurora, and Joliet. Each hotel features the new “Phoenix” design, which includes a modernized interior, European boutique-style guestrooms, wood-effect laminate flooring and a variety of energy management systems. Accor North has also opened multiple Motel 6 properties nationwide including a 150-room hotel in Cutler Bay, Fla., a 158-room hotel in Frederick, Md. and a 190-room hotel in Springfield, Va.

$167 MILLION SHERATON HOTEL TO BE DEVELOPED
DLR Group, Garfield Traub, and Turner Construction and Sundt Construction are planning to develop a Sheraton hotel in Tucson, which is scheduled to open in 2012. The $167 million, 525-room full service hotel will feature an outdoor pool deck, business center and 36,000 square feet of meeting space.

RADISSON PLAZA MISSISSAUGA TORONTO AIRPORT NOW OPEN
Radisson Hotels & Resorts has opened the new Radisson Plaza Mississauga Toronto Airport. The $24 million, 100-room hotel is located at 175 Derry Rd. East in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The rooms range from 400 to 1,500 square feet, with many of the suites featuring Sleep Number beds. The hotel also features 13,000 square feet of meeting space accommodating up to 800 guests.

HOMEWOOD SUITES OPENS NEWEST PROPERTY
Homewood Suites by Hilton has opened its newest property in Fort Smith, Ark. The four-story, 88-suite hotel is located 7300 Phoenix Ave. and is owned by Marion Driscoll Hotel Group. The hotel features one- and two-bedroom suites, and five handicapped suites. The hotel also features the Suite Start breakfast, an executive business center, a 24-hour on-site pantry, a swimming pool, sports court and 850 square feet of meeting space.

TWO HOTELS COMPLETE EXTERIOR PHASE IN CONSTRUCTION
Two new hotels have had their exterior construction completed in the new Marriott Place Indianapolis development — The Courtyard and SpringHill Suites by Marriott Indianapolis Downtown. All together, the two hotels will bring 1,626 rooms to the Marriott Place. The Courtyard and the SpringHill Suites are scheduled for completion for March 2010.

ENGLEWOOD CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULED TO COMPLETE SIX VALUE PLACE HOTELS
Schiller Park, Ill.-based Englewood Construction is scheduled to complete six Value Place hotels in four states. Englewood has started construction on three of the properties located in Council Bluffs, Iowa and two in Baton Rouge, La. The final three hotels – two in North Carolina and one in Ohio – will start later this summer. The hotels should be complete within 2 to 6 months. Each hotel will be four stories and feature either 113 or 121 rooms.

Englewood Construction is building six Value Place hotels across the Eastern and Central U.S.

Appointments & Hirings

BITTEL ELECTRONICS HIRES DEAN COMPOGINIS AS CMO
Dean Compoginis has been hired as chief marketing officer for Shandong Bittel Electronics of China. He is responsible for new product development, implementing marketing plans and consulting in global markets, and branding. He previously was the vice president of marketing for Teledex and oversaw the company’s worldwide marketing activities.

Feature Articles:

For more articles from Lodging Operator, see our archive.

Growing a Strong System

The America's Best Value Inn located in Glen Rose, Texas.

The economy has hurt the travel industry across the board in the past few months, with the pipeline diminishing, with financial institutions losing the ability and confidence to lend for new projects and refinancing, and with both business and leisure travelers having to make cutbacks. These stories aren’t a mystery to anyone, and hotel companies, hotel owners and consumers have been working hard together to make the best of a bad situation and turn around a rough recession.

Click here to read the entire story.

Keeping Green and Clean

Pellerin Milnor Corp.’s 30022 V6J, with a 60-lb. capacity, 150 G’s, and a 593 RPM final extract.

Trimming unnecessary expenses is always at the top of a hotelier’s priority list, which contributes greatly to the “green” trend catching on so heavily. In that sense, it’s understandable why becoming “environmentally friendly” met with such dissent in the trend’s early stages. With respect to energy management, it seemed at first concerning and counterintuitive in many ways — consumers aptly did not want to be told to buy all new equipment when their old appliances were working just fine.
Luckily, technology advanced begetting more efficient machinery just as budgets started getting tighter when the economy went into a recession. Coupled with labor expenses, energy management is on top of mind for almost all hotel operators. Therefore, they are even more keen to taking into account equipment and practices that will provide the greatest return over the longest period.

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	© 2008, France Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photos in header (from left to right) are courtesy of InterContinental Hotels Group; AmericInn International LLC; and The Courtyard by Marriott-Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley.