April 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

There are still a fair share of cynics out there calling the "green" movement a PR ploy by hotel companies. There may be some truth to this point of view and this industry has a long way to go to call itself truly "green," but I am here to tell you most of the hotel companies making big efforts to "green up" are well intended. And why not? Who doesn’t want to save the planet? Earth Day only a few years ago was nothing much to talk about and not on everyone’s lips as it is today. That alone shows how much progress we are making and how much more serious we are taking this issue,

I have to admit the number of "green" hotel press releases that passed my in-box during the last 48 hours has been a little thick and can make you wonder a bit about the sender’s true intention. But if you want "buzz," and we all k...Read More

April 9, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (6)

While attending industry conferences over the past, say, five years, there is always an argument about how to define a true “boutique hotel.”  It seemed that anything that did not fit into the chain “box” template was being called “boutique.” If it had any edge or style, it was a boutique hotel. Of course, I always scoffed under my breath, as I think the true, modern day definition of a boutique hotel has to be associated with the likes of Bill Kimpton, who created a handful of unique, stylish hotels in California with a great food and beverage component. And then there were the true little independents around the world that were one-of-a-kind, small and very entrepreneurial in spirit.

Today the term “lifestyle hotel” appears to be the catch-all phrase that lumps together everything from W hotels and products like the ne...Read More

February 20, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I love the way Marriott International is embracing video online. I just watched the first of three short films that together will shine a completely new light on the Ritz-Carlton brand. It is entertaining and provides an outstanding example to the industry about using Web 2.0 media to reach a new, younger demographic.

It should also be noted that Marriott International has a few of its own channels on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/MarriottIntl and www.youtube.com/user/MarriottNews. As of February 20, the first link has just 45 subscribers and 3,606 channel views; the second has 79 subscribers and 6,304 channel views. I am sure a lot of the subscribers are Marriott employees, but giv...Read More

February 4, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

For me, the highlight of the 2008 Americas Lodging Industry Summit (ALIS) conference last week at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles was the evening cocktail party hosted by Marriott International—and unlikely bedfellows Bill Marriott and Ian Schrager—to introduce its new boutique brand, Edition.

The only news coming out the elegant, very un-Marriott-like event was that the company had signed agreements for the first nine Editions, with the expected opening of the first properties in 2010. While details are sketchy and I have not been able to see a single rendering, Schrager explained how no two Editions would be alike as he will use local creative service to give each hotel its own identity.

On this evening, the all-smiles, yet very reserved Schrager and th...Read More

November 1, 2007 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) put on a very splashy and seemingly expensive show in Dallas last week to hype the re-launch of its Holiday Inn brands (Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express). I even got to watch Andy Cosslett play guitar in the opening act. He looked like he knew what he was doing, too.

It was an impressive display that included the Holiday Inn “experience,” a Disney-like guided tour showcasing the history of the brand and some of the amenities that will make up its just-announced future. I walked through very large rooms in the Dallas Convention Center, including one that featured full-size versions of the new signage. The show ended with a song-and-dance production number about what makes the new Holiday Inn so inviting. It was truly an “experience”—one that the 5,500 conference goers had to get tickets and wait in long l...Read More