Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 - (Page 42)

42 Special Report ANNUAL HOTEL COMPANY REPORT H&MM September 15, 2008 | HotelMotel.com Storytelling, environmentalism shape DNC Parks & Resorts ASSOCIATE EDITOR E very company may have its own history, but for Delaware North Cos. Parks & Resorts, its history is The Tenaya Lodge, owned by DNC Parks & Resorts, is located at the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. PORTMAN HOL DINGS C R E AT I NG th e LANDMARKS DEFINING the SKY Portman Holdings has a rich history of Defining the Sky with its development of premier mixed-use landmark projects. Since our inception, we have conceived, designed, developed and managed projects Marriott Marquis – New York Westin Charlotte – North Carolina ® valued today at more than $7 billion. As developer, joint-venture partner, project manager, and asset manager, we have the unique ability to create the concept vision, as well as execute the development process to seamlessly produce world-class investments. Hilton San Diego – California If you are interested in Defining the Sky with your next development investment, contact Roger Zampell, Senior Vice President: Development Portman Holdings, 404-614-5252, or rzampell@portmanholdings.com. For more information visit www.portmanholdings.com. CIRCLE NO. 146 AT L A N TA R E TA I L > > SHANGHAI MIXED-USE > > SEOUL > MUMBAI > RESIDENTIAL > OFFICE core values of DNC Parks & Resorts; as owner/operators of eight lodging properties comprising 3,500 rooms in national parks and other historic sites, the company prides itself on being stewards of the environment, stewards of historic structures and artifacts, and stewards of interpretation and education. At its properties, serving as storyteller is a major role. With the recently acquired Gideon Putnam Resort, the hotel within the Saratoga Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., DNC Parks & Resorts hired an outside ﬁrm to assist in developing the lore, notably through interpretative programs and activities. “We really focused on the interpretation side—telling the story of the hotel because there was a huge story that wasn’t being told,” Socha said. “You’d walk into the hotel and you knew it was different, but you didn’t know how it was different and why it was different.” The difference, for one, lies in the historic aspect of the properties DNC operates. Because it will not acquire just any property— “It needs that story to it,” Socha said—the company takes on the additional role of restoring and keeping the properties’ structures and artifacts intact, such as items from the Smithsonian Museum at the Kennedy Space Center. Perhaps the company’s biggest dedication to preservation, however, involves to the environment. When the parks and resorts division of Delaware North Cos. got its start in 1993 through a contract with Yosemite National Park, the company committed itself to environmentalism and the hospitality ﬁeld. Then, around 2000, the company entered into ownership of hotels, followed by taking on management roles at properties. Now DNC Parks & Resorts See Parks & Resorts | page 46 HOTEL DNC PARKS & RESORTS By Emily Hanna built on stories. “How do we deﬁne who we are overall? We say that it’s stewardship and hospitality in special places,” said Scott Socha, VP of ﬁnance and business development at DNC Parks & Resorts. “We really look for those special places that have a story that needs to be told.” Storytelling of each property’s background is one of the three http://HotelMotel.com http://www.portmanholdings.com http://www.portmanholdings.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 Contents Microtel, Hawthorn Settle in at Wyndham Is it Black or Red for Green Hotels? New City on the Strip When in Doubt, Purchase some Seashells Legal FAQ Consultant's Corner Sales Clinic On Finance Travel Trends Franchise Law Guest Column Events Cornell Insights HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Top Hotel Companies Survey Awards Lending Requires Knowledge, Preparation Casegoods Minibars Historian to Keynote Leadership Forum at IH/M&RS Fitness Equipment The Lodging Conference Preview Accent Lighting Awards Vacuums Supplier News Transactions People Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008

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.