Five design firms take home seven Gold Key Awards - News

Hotel & Motel Management, Dec 8, 2003 by Jeff Higley, John Walsh

New York -- Seven grand prize-winning projects were announced and one "Best of Show" Award was presented during the 23rd annual International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in November.

The grand prize winners are:

* Restaurants--seating to 110: Tony Chi and Associates (New York) for Bruno Jamais Restaurant Club in Toronto. Tony Chi and Associates also won the "Best of Show" Award for this project.

* Restaurants--seating over 110: Tony Chi and Associates for Cafe Zoe in Athens, Greece.

* Guestrooms: Duncan & Miller Designs (Dallas) for Hotel Zaza in Dallas.

* Suites: Anderson/Miller Ltd. (Chicago) for Hyatt Regency Chicago.

* Lobby/reception area: Wilson & Associates (Dallas) for Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch (Colo.).

* Spa/resort: Wilson & Associates for The Villas and Spa at Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.

* Senior living facility: Barry Design Associates (Los Angeles) for Sun City Kashiwa in Kashiwa, Japan.

The awards were presented by the IH/M&R Show and were sponsored by Hotel & Motel Management and Hospitality Design magazines.

AH&LA to vote in February about structure change

American Hotel & Lodging Assn.'s board members voted 47--2 in favor of a new proposed structure, which would allow hotel properties to have a dual membership with the AH&LA and a state association.

A majority vote was needed to present the new structure change to the meeting of the members at the Legislative Action Summit (Feb. 24-25) in Washington. For the AH&LA to restructure, there must be a majority approval by the meeting of members at the LAS.

Carlson adds incentive to Park Plaza brand

Executives at Carlson Hotels Worldwide are launching an incentive program that they believe will increase the number of its Park Plaza hotels in the United States.

If an owner stays with the full standard fees package for two years then decides to leave the brand, the company will offer a 60-day to 90-day period during which it will waive liquidated damages as long as it receives a reasonable notice. Other incentive packages are available for owners who don't want to use the opt-out window.

"It's really geared toward lenders," said Sam Winterbottom, executive v.p. of development for Carlson. "They are taking back properties because of the economy and don't want to be encumbered with liquidated damages. This will give them time to address the needs of the hotel and make decisions while using the power of the Carlson system."

Winterbottom said owners other than lenders can participate in the program and it provides a good exit strategy for those owners who want to flip properties quickly.

"We did this with Radisson and the owners there said they like the flexibility it provides," said Bjorn Gullaksen, executive v.p. of full-service hotels for Carlson and brand leader for Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Regent International Hotels.

Winterbottom said the company is planning to complete 15 Park Plaza deals during 2004.

There are 35 Park Plaza hotels open, including seven in the United States.

The brand has introduced prototype rooms to help operators make a timely conversion to the brand.

Wingate to launch free wireless Internet access

Wingate Inns, a Cendant Corp. brand that has featured free high-speed Internet access at its properties since 1998, will offer free wireless high-speed access to guests.

Keith Pierce, Wingate's president, said the brand will offer the wireless service through its pay-per-view offering with partner LodgeNet Entertainment Corp.

"Clearly, [other brands] have figured out that the pay model for high-speed Internet access doesn't work, and they are adopting the free model quickly," Pierce said. "With our 30-percent usage rate for wired high-speed access, we believe this wireless program will help us increase that number."

All properties will be retrofitted to deploy full wireless access in every guestroom in every hotel, Pierce said. The brand has 12,000 guestrooms in its system. Also included in the wireless coverage will be public spaces, business centers and administrative areas.

Pierce said the price for the new service will be higher--each property will have to pay $1.15 more per month per room to cover the support costs. However, because the upgrade also includes the installation of a storage firewall, operators will be able to use existing T1 lines for transferring information. Currently, they use dedicated phone lines to communicate with corporate headquarters. That means operators eventually will be able to eliminate phone lines dedicated to call-center reservations, property-management system maintenance and credit-card authorizations.

"The additional cost at the front end will be negated by dropping the three phone lines," Pierce said.

La Quinta executive predicts active pipeline

La Quinta Corp.'s strong revenue-per-available-room performance during the third quarter could help the company grow its La Quinta Inn brand, said Alan Tallis, executive v.p. and chief development officer.