hospitalitystyle.com

(August 2010) posted on Mon Aug 09, 2010 EDT

Industry news for the week of August 9, 2010

HIRINGS/PROMOTIONS:

Casual dining company O'Charley's Inc. has hired David Head as its president and ceo, effective Sept. 1. Head was previously chairman, president and ceo of Captain D's Seafood Kitchen.

Gary Inman has been promoted to principal at Glavé & Holmes Architecture in Richmond, Va. Inman is an interior designer and director of the firm's hospitality and residential studio.

The Orchid Group, an operator of nearly 300 pubs, restaurants, bars and clubs in the U.K. under such names as The Living Room, Ultimate Leisure and Bar Room Bar, has appointed David Bernstein as its non-executive board chairman.

Hera Lighting has hired Bryan Wessling as its West Coast sales manager.

OPENINGS/RENOVATIONS/BRAND NEWS:

Marriott International Inc. has opened its first JW Marriott luxury hotel in Bogota, Colombia. The 264-room hotel is operated under a franchise agreement with Real Hotels & Resorts of El Salvador. Marriott has also opened the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway adjacent to the Georgia International Convention Center and connected to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Marriott expects the hotel to earn silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program. The 403-room property is being operated under a management agreement with Grove Street Partners. 

The former Rockwood Palace Resort and Spa in Udaipur, India, has been re-branded as the Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort & Spa, under the management of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. 

Hotel Felix Chicago has received LEED Silver certification for commercial interiors from the U.S. Green Building Council, the first hotel in Chicago to earn that status. The 225-room boutique hotel is located in an 84-year-old apartment hotel building. It opened as the Felix in April 2009, after undergoing an extensive redevelopment designed to meet LEED certification standards. 

Choice Hotels International Inc. announced the conversion of the Roberts Hotel Group's 200-room hotel in Spartanburg, S.C., to the Clarion Hotel & Suites flag. 

ACQUISITIONS: 

Chatham Lodging Trust has acquired the Residence Inn by Marriott - Long Island Holtsville, N.Y., for $21.3 million. The 124-key hotel represents the eleventh property either acquired or under contract to purchase by the REIT since its initial public offering in April. 

Festiva Hospitality Group has purchased development rights and unsold inventory at Southcape Resort & Club in Mashpee, Mass., and its Festiva Management Group has assumed management of the property. 

BUSINESS BRIEFS: 

Swisscom Hospitality Services and LG Electronics have launched ConnectedHotel TV, the first all-in-one hospitality solution that features interactive, high-definition television, video-on-demand, and wired and wireless Internet connectivity through one converged network and one TV without a set-top box. 

The Latino Hotel Association, a new organization dedicated to expanding Latino ownership, leadership and commerce in the hotel industry, has formed a strategic alliance with the Association Mexicana Hoteles y Moteles, Mexico's primary hotel association. The two groups will work together to increase Latino hotel investment and ownership, concentrating on basic and advanced education programs about hotel franchising, investment and development, as well as networking. 

AWARDS: 

The following hotels were winners in the inaugural STR Best Performing Awards program: Four Seasons Hotel New York, luxury segment; Westin Sunset Key (Florida) Guest Cottages, upper upscale segment; Homewood Suites Jackson (Wyoming), upscale segment; Quality Suites Oceanfront Jacksonville Beach (Florida), midscale-with-food-and-beverage segment; Hampton Inn Chicago Majestic Theatre District, midscale-without-food-and-beverage segment; Days Inn & Suites Jekyll Isle Oceanfront (Georgia), economy segment; and White Elephant Hotel (Nantucket, Mass.), independent segment. The seven winners were chosen based on their reported performance in such areas as occupancy, average daily rate and RevPAR, compared with their respective market-scale performance.