La Quinta Inn & Suites Selects Sloan Flushmate

By Sally Wolchuk, Staff Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 10/1/2000

San Antonio, Texas La Quinta Inns & Suites has selected Sloan Flushmate®,

Franklin Park, Illinois, to install low-consumption-equipped toilets

in their hotels. Sloan is the world’s leading supplier of pressure-assist

operating systems and has been in operation since 1906.

Sloan Flushmate pressure-assist water closets are designed to be compact,

which enable the fixture manufacturer to use a wider range of designs

to accommodate the demands of 1.6 low-consumption laws.

Also, through the use of advance materials, the Flushmate operating

system is quieter during the flushing cycle. Flushmate

remains the leading performer in a 1.6 gallon-per-flush (GPF) system

on the market today.

Jim Ackles, director of energy and engineering

for La Quinta, reported that Flushmate units are reliable,

maintenance-free and meet their high performance standards.

VirtuaLINC Teams Up With ClipsCom

Dallas VirtuaLINC, a Next Generation Internet (NGI) service provider

addressing the broadband communications needs of hotels, convention

centers and other hospitality-related ventures, announced it has teamed

up with ClipsCom to offer the hotel industry streaming video and free

customer satisfaction surveys via the Internet.

The partnership with ClipsCom brings two new and

innovative products to the hospitality industry: GuestLINC Video and

GuestLINC Opinion. “The

hospitality industry is looking for fresh ways to grow revenue from

non-traditional sources and to increase their guests’ satisfaction

and loyalty. By adding these two products to VirtuaLINC’s offering,

we are now providing hotels with the Internet firepower they need to

offer their guests a full-service, technologically enabled experience,” says

Phil Colquhoun, president of VirtuaLINC.

Grindmaster Takes on New Name, Objectives

Louisville, Kentucky Grindmaster Corp., a leading manufacturer of beverage

equipment, announced a change in its logo and name: GCS, underscored

by Grindmaster Crathco Systems Inc.

Remarked David Hickey, president and CEO, of Grindmaster, “In

addition to being the initials for Grindmaster Crathco Systems, GCS

stands for ‘Global Customer Satisfaction.’ Our strategy

is for GCS to become the mission and image for the entire company worldwide.

We are moving toward what we call ‘Focused Strategic Profitable

Growth,’ and we have already identified key target accounts, geographic

markets and engineering development projects on which

to focus.”

RCI, Springer-Miller Finalize Agreement

Parsippany, New Jersey Resort Condominium International LLC (RCI),

a timeshare-exchange company with more than 3,600 affiliated resorts

in 93 countries, finalized its agreement with hospitality management

solutions provider Springer-Miller Systems Inc. (SMS), Stowe, Vermont.

According to the agreement, SMS becomes RCI’s

exclusive resort automation system vendor and will develop an enterprise-wide

resort automation system specific to the needs of the timeshare industry.

The first-of-its-kind system is scheduled for release in 2001. SMS

also will support the RCC Classic and Premier systems that are currently

used by many RCI affiliates.

Companies

• DiLeonardo International Inc., Warwick, Rhode Island, opened a new

  regional office in Dallas. Carlos G. Oroza will manage the office...

• UK-based Foster Refrigeration announced they

  will invest nearly US$11 million (£7 million) in new plant

  and training facilities during the next two years...

• Teledex LLC, San Jose, California, is now shipping

  their new CL2910 Cordless telephone. This cordless

  phone is designed specifically to address the unique requirements

  of the hospitality industry...

• S&D Coffee Inc., Concord, North Carolina,

  acquired Victor Coffee Co., Boston...

• Denver-based RNL Design finalized the acquisition

  of Klages Carter Vail & Partners (KCV). The firms will operate as RNL

  Design in the United States and as KCV+RNL abroad...

• Intros Hotel Supplies,

  Sassenheim, The Netherlands, appointed Bernie Thépass managing

  director and Peter Lagrand export sales manager...

• UK-based AremisSoft

  Corp. expands its U.S. sales team and appointed Scot

  Green as director of sales and Caren De’Ath as sales manager...

• Safe Place, Omen

  Systems, Kibbutz Hatzor, Israel, appointed two new

  area managers: Philip Toh for Asia-Pacific and Yossi Ben Avraham for

  Europe...

• Carlisle Foodservice Products, Oklahoma City,

  Oklahoma, promoted Todd Mauer to vice president of marketing...

• Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, Honolulu, promoted

  Fred Mikawa to senior associate and James G. Freeman

  to associate.

Edited by Sally Wolchuk, Staff Editor