Hotel & Motel Management - September 3, 2007 - (Page 1)

NEWS CONVENTION CENTERS ADD BELLS, WHISTLES Page 4 TECHNOLOGY WIRELESS NETWORKING TIPS Page 20 OPERATIONS COFFEE SERVICES: ENSURE FRESHNESS Page 26 www.HotelMotel.com News Analysis, Trends and People Since 1875 A HotelWorld Network Publication | Vol. 222, No. 15 | September 3, 2007 Rates, RevPAR continue upward movement By Stacey Mieyal Higgins SENIOR EDITOR U.S. performance metrics Date June YTD 2005 Total 2005 June YTD 2006 Total 2006 June YTD 2007 Occupancy 62.2% 63.1% 63.4% 63.4% 63.2% Supply Demand (% change) (% change) 0.0 -0.1 -0.2 0.2 1.1 2.8 2.8 1.7 0.6 0.9 ADR $90.58 $91.06 $97.35 $97.73 $102.95 RevPAR $56.35 $57.48 $61.70 $61.92 $65.09 National Report–Industry revenue measurements are still on the rise, according to the latest information released by Smith Travel Research. June year-to-date metrics for average daily rate and revenue per available room increased at healthy rates of 5.7 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. Freitag STR Jan Freitag, v.p. at Smith Travel Research, said things are looking good across the board. “With a RevPAR increase of 5.5 percent for the nation and 6.6 percent for the top 25 markets … [this] is double the rate of inﬂation and is certainly healthy,” he said. Occupancy, however, has remained See Revenue | page 34 Source: Smith Travel Research JER Partners keeps options open after deal By Stacey Mieyal Higgins SENIOR EDITOR Overall guest satisfaction slips By Stephanie Ricca MANAGING EDITOR See JER Partners deal | page 36 HILTON GARDEN INN McLean, Va.–The closing of the Highland Hospitality Corp. acquisition is not the end of JER Partners’ activity in the lodging industry, according to Alex Gilbert, JER’s managing director and head of acquisitions for the U.S. The $2.1-billion deal, which was ﬁnalized in July, represents a transaction of 28 hotels with about National Report–For the ﬁrst time in a few years, overall guest satisfaction scores stalled in the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study. It’s not a big cause for concern, said Linda Hirneise, executive director of the travel practice at J.D. Power, but understanding the elements that J.D. Power polls hotel guests on to determine overall satisfaction can shed light into areas ripe for improvement, she said. “Five segments lost ground in overall guest satisfaction, and luxury was the only segment to post an improvement overall compared to last year,” she said. J.D. Power’s study is based on responses gathered from more than 47,000 guests who stayed in hotels beSee Guest satisfaction | page 24 Settle Inn reintroduces Shoney’s Inn By Jeff Higley EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Top three reasons hospitality employees arrive late to work: 1. Trafﬁc: 31% 2. Fell back asleep: 13% 3. Long commute: 12% Source: Careerbuilder.com INFO CONCIERGE Hendersonville, Tenn.–A new owner, a new direction. That’s how it goes for the Shoney’s Inn brand. Settle Inn & Suites, which last December acquired the Shoney’s hotel brand name when it bought GuestHouse International, is reintroducing the brand ﬁve years after its former owner mothballed it. “We’d like a brand that stays solidly in the economy sector—it allows us to expand into another segment,” said Tim O’Connor, Settle Inn’s senior v.p. of brand management. “It gives us a broader range to say yes to someone trying to do a hotel.” See Shoney’s Inn | page 28 http://www.HotelMotel.com http://Careerbuilder.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - September 3, 2007

Cover Contents Convention Centers Add Bells and Whistles Questex Media acquires Five Star Alliance Perspective At Your Risk Energy Star Update Sales Clinic Transactions Awards Trends & Stats Wireless Networking Northwest Pipeline Coffee Services Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - September 3, 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.