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Industry news for the week of July 5, 2010
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HIRINGS/PROMOTIONS:
Four Seasons Hotels Ltd. has promoted Kathleen Taylor to ceo, effective Aug. 1. She assumes that title from company founder Isadore Sharp, who will remain as chairman and retain oversight and direction for the design and aesthetics of the company's new and existing hotels.
HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates has hired senior project designer Frank Medrano, the hospitality design company's 500th employee. Medrano was previously Kelly Wearstler and Frank Gehry, where he worked on such projects as CityCenter Club at MGM Mirage in Las Vegas; the Viceroy Hotel & Residences in South Beach, Fla.; and the Tides Hotel & Residences in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
International travel company Cox and Kings India Ltd. has named Thomas Stanley chief operating officer and centre head of its Cox & Kings USA unit.
Al Wilson has been named general manager of the Century Casino in Calgary, Alb.
Damien Craft has been named director of the Spa at Sawgrass at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Richard Robinson has been named ceo of Acentic, a supplier of digital interactive TV and broadband systems for the hotel industry.
OPENINGS/RENOVATIONS/BRAND NEWS:
The Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, Calif., has opened a new hotel, spa, pool, bars and an expanded casino. The main addition at the seven-year-old destination is a 17-story luxury hotel with 297 rooms, including 40 suites.
The 250-key Doubletree Hotels San Antonio Downtown has opened at a former Radisson site. The new Doubletree, which underwent an $8 million renovation, is operated by Amgreen-Karena Hotel Partnership Ltd., under a franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide. It is managed by Phoenix Hospitality Group. In addition, Doubletree has opened a 91-room hotel in Fairlawn, Ohio, in a former Four Points by Sheraton site. This Doubletree is operated by PAC Associates Inc., under a franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide and managed by RDA Hotel Management Company.
Seasons 52, a fresh grill and wine bar restaurant chain operated by Darden Restaurants Inc., will open a locale at the Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix this fall. The Biltmore location will be the company's first in Arizona and 17th overall.
The 56-key Best Western Arena Hotel has opened in Brooklyn, N.Y. The new-build property is owned by Mukteshwar LLC.
ACQUISITIONS:
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC has sold the 422 room InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust for $105 million. IHG will continue to manage the six-year-old hotel under a long term management contract.
E.L.K. Lighting Inc. has purchased certain assets of architectural lighting manufacturer Baldinger Architectural Lighting Inc./Louis Baldinger & Sons, Inc. E.L.K. made the purchase through its sister corporation, Mount Summit Lighting Inc.
AWARDS:
The Peninsula Shanghai won the 2010 Development of the Year Award at the recent China Hotel Development and Financing Conference. The hotel is a development of Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd. and SPG Land (Holdings) Ltd.; BBG-BBGM served as its design architect.
The L.A. Live entertainment complex has received the Community Impact Award in the 40th annual Los Angeles Architectural Award competition. L.A. Live, which includes a JW Marriott and a Ritz-Carlton hotel, was built according to advanced sustainability principles and completes a 20-year redevelopment project in downtown Los Angeles.
Hospitality-related projects to take honors in the recent IIDA NY Lester Interior Design Competition include the Morgans Hotel Group by Rockwell Group and the Donato Salon & Spa by II by IV.
BUSINESS BRIEFS:
International designer Meichi Peng hired Laidlaw Group to oversee three rebranding projects: the creation of a new web site for Meichi Peng Design Studio, her interior design/architecture firm; an e-commerce web site for PENG, a 1,400-sq.-ft. gallery in Boston that sells art objects; and an online store for handbags created by Peng.
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