hospitalitystyle.com

(October 2009) posted on Mon Oct 26, 2009 EDT

Industry news for the week of October 26, 2009

HIRINGS/PROMOTIONS:

Morgans Hotel Group Co. has hired Brian Jones as senior vice president of sales. Jones was previously with Zina International, an integrated marketing consultancy, and before that he was vice president of global sales for Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts.

Designtex, a provider of textiles, wallcoverings and surface solutions, has promoted the following: Kimberle Frost, to vice president of design; Rich Morrow, to director of unique solutions; and Caroline Vaughn, to director of marketing.

Benihana Inc., operator of the nation's largest chain of Japanese theme and sushi restaurants, has named Christopher Ames chief operating officer.

OPENINGS/RENOVATIONS/BRAND NEWS:

Hilton Worldwide has entered franchise agreements for two more hotels in Italy: Venezia Capitol Srl will open a 136-room Hilton Garden Inn in Venice in summer 2010, while Proma Srl will operate a 124-room Doubletree by Hilton in Olbia, Sardinia, that's slated to open later this year.

Hotel Indigo is opening two new properties in San Antonio, doubling the brand's presence in Texas. (Its other locales there are in Dallas and Houston.)

Arby's announced that its first eco-friendly restaurant, in Magnolia, Texas, has been awarded Silver-level LEED certification from the USGBC.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed franchise agreements for two properties in Argentina: the 218-room InterContinental Mendoza and the 175-room Holiday Inn Express Rosario. The 15-story InterContinental Mendoza is being developed by KLP Emprendimientos S.A., while the 9-story Holiday Inn Express is owned and managed by Organización Panamerica S.A., under a franchise agreement with IHG.

California Pizza Kitchen has opened a restaurant in Cancun, Mexico, its seventh locale in that country.

AWARDS:

John Portman, founder and chairman of John Portman & Associates, has been named the 2009 Lynn S. Beedle Award Winner by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Tall-building projects currently being done by Portman's firm include the Incheon 151 Tower, a 151-story building in a 1,500-acre master-planned community in South Korea; the Zhejiang Fortune Finance Center in Hangzhou, China; and Beijing Yintai Centre, a mixed use complex that includes the tallest tower in the Beijing skyline.

First Bristol Corp. announced that the Hampton Inn & Suites Providence Downtown won the Rhody Award by Preserve Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. The citation recognizes the historical preservation and rehabilitation by First Bristol in transforming the original home of the Old Colony Bank into a110-room hotel. The $20 million project was a joint venture between First Bristol and Granoff Associates, and opened in April 2009.