Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008 - (Page 46)

News H&MM February 18, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition DENIHAN HOSPITALITY GROUP Denihan “[Denihan] has a great infrastructure, operational depth and deep pockets,” Wilson said. “We needed that solid infrastrucContinued from page 4 ture to expand the brand.” han executives. Wilson said DHG is talking to Errico DHG owns eight properties—six in about acquiring the other real-estate assets New York and two in Chicago, and man- he owns. ages three—two in New York and one in “Our intent is to bring the James brand Washington. to those sites either through management Barrett and her brother, co-c.e.o. Pat- contracts or direct development ourselves,” rick Denihan, bought out other family he said. members in 2006 to form DHG. In 2003, Wilson said DHG now has a solid Afﬁnia was the rebranded name for what choice of products to offer to developers. had been Manhattan East Suite Hotels. “Afﬁnia can go into a secondary or even DHG purchased the James brand and tertiary market,” he said. “You could have the Chicago hotel from Danny Errico, a an Afﬁnia boutique or lifestyle hotel in a real-estate operator and founder of Equi- market like Cincinnati. And with the Bennox Fitness Clubs. jamin and James brands you could offer “Danny and I talked a lot about a choice of products for a major equity partners and we saw there market that includes either tradiwere a lot of synergies between us tional or modern luxury.” and Denihan,” said Brad Wilson, Another powerful expanwho was c.e.o. of James and will sion tool, Wilson said, is Afﬁnbecome executive v.p.-operations ia’s database. for DHG. “It was a really good “Think about the depth of ﬁt. They had the right personalithis database—with DHG’s ty, good funds and were anxious eight hotels in New York, a place to grow. I was anxious to get into Wilson that everybody passes through,” joint ventures and management, DENIHAN he said. “We can turn on a switch which was not Danny’s vision.” for a brand just off e-mail marketWilson will oversee the growth of the ing, let alone positioning.” James brand as well as the expansion of the Wilson, who was on the original execAfﬁnia and Benjamin brands. utive team for W Hotels, said that while he The James Hotel in Chicago will be part of a larger family of James Hotel properties under ownership by Denihan Hospitality Group. opened 20 W Hotels in eight years, he’s not sure DHG will match that. “However, it could be 10 James hotels in eight years,” he said. The corporate team of The James Hotel Group, which had been based in New York, will move to DHG’s New York headquarters. The on-property staff at the Chicago property will remain in place. “There will be an interesting integration between The James and DHG people in the next few months,” Barrett said. “However, one of the things that attracted us to James was similar values and culture amongst our associates.” Barrett said she sees The James as a lifestyle brand, but not only a lifestyle brand. “We also view it as a luxury product, though the customer might be more hip or stylish and the hotel is more of a scene,” she said. “The restaurant is David Burke’s Primehouse and the J Bar is becoming very popular.” Barrett said DHG is open to more management contracts, as well as acquir- ing hotels and taking on new equity partners. At this point, DHG does not share equity in any of the hotels it owns. DHG manages The Surrey Hotel in Manhattan,The Eastgate Tower Hotel in Manhattan, which it previously owned, and the recently rebranded The Liaison Capitol Hill, An Afﬁnia Hotel, in Washington. Barrett said the company has targeted seven cities for expanding the James brand: Boston, Chicago, Washington, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco. “We are still looking at a good 2008 with New York quite insulated from the softening economy because of the weak dollar and other factors,” she said. “We did a major recapitalization last summer at very good terms this past summer so we have funds available to grow. For us, timing was everything.” Barrett said Afﬁnia will introduce a new My Afﬁnia program that lets guests customize their visits online, choosing beverages, pillow type, yoga equipment and more when they make reservations. She said she hopes for an April launch. hmm@questex.com AAA’s trend spotting is consistent with brand initiatives, Petrone said. “We’ve been to Starwood [Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s] secret headquarters and seen the new prototypes and seen the new Best Western prototype and Hyatt’s prototype, and we’re very well aligned. “It isn’t your traditional guestroom anymore because the younger generation isn’t looking for that experience anymore.” sricca@questex.com New AAA guidelines Continued from page 4 give examples and use words like ‘such as.’ “The wording may have changed, but we don’t expect a lot of properties to face rating changes as a result,” Petrone said. What Petrone and his team do notice, however, are quicker changes within the industry as upper-segment brands adopt trends in technology and amenities and lower-segment hotels follow suit. “This time, we didn’t have any premeditated expectations for adjustments,” he said. “We wanted to take a snapshot of the industry and incorporate the most obvious changes—it is about residential designs, improved bedding and new technology.” es,” he said. “[Inspectors] look at the ﬂooring, the curtains, the wallcovering, bedding and furniture. The residential feel is about things being decorative rather than institutional. Even some new designs may look modern and fancy, but when you sit in the chair you slide right out. “Now you see a lot of throw blankets, multiple pillows and curved shower rods—things you didn’t see years ago,” he said. “High-thread-count sheets also have been a change, especially at the three-diamond level and even down to two-diamond.” Technology was another catalyst for change this time around. “We needed to get rid of a lot of outdates,” Petrone said. “TVs in armoires are going away, for example. And when we undertook the last edition, wireless Internet was just [becoming popular]. It appeared it would be restricted to higher ratings, but now it’s free at lower-end properties.” It’s all about customer expectations, Petrone said, and hotels should remember that their priority is to remember what’s best for their guests. “The one-diamond rating will continue to be what it is, and that’s OK because we need all levels and they are limited by room rate,” he said. “It’s in the upper midmarket, at three-diamond, that is getting to be more about experience and environment.” Service continues to be the hallmark for four- and ﬁve-diamond properties, an element Petrone called “a trump card.” “The true mark of a ﬁve-diamond property is being able to recognize the person the staff is serving,” he said. “What signals are they sending out and how can you anticipate their needs? You can achieve that in many ways, so that’s what we did with our service guidelines, too.” Petrone said AAA’s goal is to avoid creating homogenous results among rating levels, and that service ratings are highly subjective. Diamonds are a hotel’s best friend That homey feeling Just like the word “quality” can mean different things, so can the word “residential.” To put the trend into words, Petrone explained how AAA inspectors quantify a comfortable feeling. “We break it down into piec- guidelines for service and guest satisfaction. Richard C. Kessler knows a thing or two about The beneﬁts of a high diamond rating are the AAA’s Diamond Rating Guidelines. Six of tangible, Kessler said. the seven properties in the Kessler “We see our ratings as both a Collection’s ownership portfolio marketing tool for our properties and maintain AAA four-diamond ratings. proﬁtable,” he said. Kessler said it’s important for The Kessler Collection’s four-diamond everyone at the property to buy in to properties are the Beaver Creek Lodge the value of the ratings process. in Beaver Creek, Colo.; the Casa “Our standards are set very high Monica Hotel in St. Augustine, Fla.; the for guest satisfaction, and the AAA Celebration Hotel in Celebration, Fla.; guidelines help us reinforce those,” the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando; he said. El Monte Sagrado Living Resort & Spa in Kessler KESSLER COLLECTION Property-level employees Taos, N.M.; and the Mansion on Forsyth receive best practices training that Park in Savannah, Ga. incorporates both the company’s and AAA’s sricca@questex.com http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008 Contents ALIS Attendees: Bumpy Road Ahead Denihan Expands with James Hotel Purchase AAA Updates its Diamond Rating Guidelines Perspective Letters to the Editor Legal FAQ Satisfaction Trends Sales Clinic HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Locally Grown Food Gains Popularity Companies Cultivate International Ties Wireless Internet Access Opens Up Possibilities Ice Machine Care Improves Efficiency, Performance The Importance of F&B to Leisure Travelers Lamps/Lighting Transactions Events Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008

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