My worst camping trip......

Hotel News In Brief
Aug 28, 06 1:46 am
Westin Hotels And Intrawest Announce Plans For New Luxury Condominium Hotel In Napa Valley Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Intrawest Corporation announced plans today to build the Westin Verasa Napa, a 160-unit luxury condominium-hotel located in America's premier wine region, Napa Valley, California. With construction beginning in late 2006 and a planned opening date of 2008, the highly anticipated Westin Verasa Napa will be the first full-service property to come to Napa in nearly five years. Napa is an idyllic getaway in which to enjoy the best aspects of fine living. The hotel is located approximately two blocks east of downtown Napa and within walking distance to COPIA, The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, and a short drive from San Francisco. The Napa Valley is the foremost wine producing location in North America, well known for its culinary attractions, spas and a casual, inviting atmosphere making it a perfect location for a Westin Hotel. "This Napa location is the embodiment of Westin's vision of being a serene, relaxing haven for those with discerning tastes," said Sue Brush, senior vice president of Westin Hotels & Resorts. "The inspired architectural design, the integration with Napa's natural beauty and the Westin brand signature services and amenities provide the opportunity to own a truly unparalleled piece of the Napa valley. Everything Napa is just beyond your doorstep at the Westin Verasa Napa."
Jones Lang LaSalle arranged the $165 million refinancing of the 575-room JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson , Ariz. , on behalf of Starr Pass Resort Developments LLC . The hotel is located just outside of downtown Tucson and includes a 27-hole championship golf club and 20,000-square-foot full-service spa. Construction of the hotel was completed in January of 2005. Matt Comfort and Ben Singer of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Real Estate Investment Banking (REIB) group, conducted a comprehensive marketing process that generated strong bids. The transaction was awarded to a Wall Street lender on the basis of its highly competitive spread and ability to address the key objectives of the borrower, including a flexible structure that allowed the borrower to best execute its business plan. The hotel’s abbreviated operating performance history posed a challenge, but the strong year-to-date 2006 performance and the emergence of Tucson as an attractive market created a competitive atmosphere among lenders,” said Ben Singer, senior vice president, Jones Lang LaSalle Capital Markets. “This generated innovative bids and resulted in the ability to perfectly match a lender with the project.” This refinancing further illustrates that experienced sponsors with a clear and aggressive business plan are attractive to the capital markets,” said Alan Tantleff, executive vice president, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in New York .Dallas-based Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, the premier manager of ultra-luxury hotels and resorts throughout the world, has announced that the property formerly known as Laguna Kai in Riviera Maya, Mexico is now Rosewood Mayakoba. This marks yet another of Rosewood’s future properties to assume the prestigious Rosewood brand; Rosewood Sand Hill, in Menlo Park, California, opening in 2008, was the first hotel to follow this naming convention. “The Rosewood brand equity is incredibly strong, and we have been asked by our development partner in Mayakoba, OHL, to leverage the name recognition by incorporating the brand more prominently into the resort name,” stated John Scott, CEO of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. “Inherent in the Rosewood name are all of the hallmarks of this celebrated brand that have generated such high guest loyalty over the years; A Sense of Place™” “We’re thrilled that Rosewood agreed to include the brand more prominently in the resort name, allowing us to further leverage Mayakoba,” stated Salvador Linares, General Manager of OHL. In December The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, also known as the Crown Jewel of the Crescent City, will open her doors once more to the world as the premier luxury hotel. The building in which the hotel is housed is over one hundred years old and is a national historic landmark. Since opening on October 6, 2000, The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans has been ranked annually as one of the "Five Hundred Best Hotels in the World" by Travel + Leisure and remained on Cond, e Nast Traveler's "Hot List," "Gold List," and "Top North American Hotels" lists. The hotel closed post-Katrina due to extensive flooding in the basement, but new custom-built machinery including air conditioning, laundry and cafeteria equipment will be installed as it is delivered, allowing the hotel to open by December of 2006. Simon F. Cooper, president and chief operating officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is thrilled about the opening date. "We are very pleased The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans will be ready to welcome guests once again by year's end," said Mr. Cooper. "The road back from Hurricane Katrina has been challenging, but the hotel will return better than ever to reclaim its reputation as the finest in the city."The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans is an award-winning hotel situated on the edge of the French Quarter, in walking distance to area attractions. Beginning with the first floor, over 8,000 square feet of meeting space will be added in what was formerly known as the Gallery of Shops. This much-needed space brings the total to over 35,000 square feet for everything from intimate gatherings to plated dinners for five hundred.Hotel Fauchère, having undergone a top to bottom multi-million dollar restoration, has announced its grand opening o­n August 18, 2006. Guests are now invited to make travel reservations to the historic hotel in Milford, Pennsylvania which was originally opened in 1852 and has hosted the crème de la crème of New York society throughout its first 125 years before closing in 1976. An opening preview rate of $220 nightly is available now through September 28. This special rate reflects a savings of 20% off regular rates which will begin at $275 thereafter. A snapshot of the Fauchère includes: a beautifully restored Italianate structure with a collection of authentic Hudson River School paintings, private waterfall, llama picnics, private mile trout stream, Frette linens in a dual duvet bed configuration, Christofle silverware, Kiehl's products and vintage menus from 1920s Europe's best-known restaurants as both décor and menu inspiration. All this and more, coupled with Wi-Fi, iPod docking stations, flat panel televisions and a sleek underground bar with photography by Christopher Makos and the Hilton Brothers.Park Hotel Group plans to pump $125m into stylish, boutique hotel in Singapore Reflecting the strong sentiment in the Singapore hotel market, a state tender for a hotel site next to Robertson Quay Hotel yesterday attracted seven bids. The top bid of $55.5 million came from Hong Kong's Park Hotel Group. This price is more than double the $25 million minimum price for the 99-year leasehold site on the reserve list. 'The price we paid reflects our confidence in the Singapore hotel market in the years to come,' Park Hotel director Allen Law told BT. Last year, the group bought Crown Hotel on Orchard Road. Park Hotel beat Far East Organization by 6.4 per cent to emerge as the top bidder for the plot, which is located at the corner of Unity Street and Clemenceau Avenue. The site has a view of the Singapore River. Far East offered $52.18 million, marking the second time in a week that the local property heavyweight has been beaten by foreigners at a state land tender. Last week, Far East was defeated by just a 1.1 per cent margin by Australia's Lend Lease group, which emerged as the top bidder for the plum Somerset Central commercial site on Orchard Road. Park Hotel unit ParkSing Property's $55.5 million top bid at yesterday's tender reflects a unit land price of $466 psf per plot ratio - which is 55 per cent higher than the $300 psf ppr fetched for a Bras Basah Road hotel plot next to Carlton Hotel in January 2005, property consultancy CB Richard Ellis observed.Accor has taken over the innovative ‘corporate crashpad’ hotel, Columbard Auckland, and is re-branding the hotel as Formule 1 Auckland. It is the first Formule 1 to be launched in New Zealand . Accor was appointed to take over management of the hotel by New Zealand property development company, CP Group, which recently purchased the hotel. The 144 room hotel is located in Wyndham Street in the heart of Auckland ’s central business district. Rooms are compact 13 square metre studios that offer a double bed, kitchenette, bathroom, laundry facilities, TV, computer desk and balcony. The hotel has a street level reception. Previously, the hotel’s rooms were let on a weekly basis, but with the hotel’s re-brand to Formule 1 it has moved to a more traditional nightly rental basis, with rooms available for NZ$70 a night. Formule 1 is Accor’s renowned budget hotel brand, with over 600 Formule 1 (and ETAP) hotels operating in 13 countries around the world. The brand has been highly successful in Australia , where the network is set to grow to 19 hotels with the opening of a Formule 1 in the centre of Melbourne later this year. Formule 1s are located in major cities such as Sydney , Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth and Canberra , as well as at airports and in regional centres. Accor will be looking to increase the brand’s presence in New Zealand with new-build hotels in strategic destinations around the country. The new Candlewood Suites-Lincoln has opened. The property is owned by Pioneer Hotels LLC and managed by HMA Hotels LLC. Located at 4100 Pioneer Woods Dr., the new hotel offers high-speed Internet access, free local phone calls, free on-site guest laundry and a 24-hour fitness center. There is also a Candlewood Cupboard, where a variety of beverages, breakfast items, snacks, frozen entrees and sundries can be purchased, as well as the Gazebo Grill, where guests can enjoy cooking out. Additionally, guests of the Candlewood Suites-Lincoln can visit the free lending library, where movies and music are available for use in guestrooms, which all feature a DVD and CD player. There are now two Candlewood Suites hotels with more than 200 guestrooms in the state of Nebraska with the addition of the Candlewood Suites-Lincoln. The Griffin Gate Marriott Resort is celebrating its 25th anniversary here with the addition of a $1.5-million, full-service spa. Construction on the new 6,700-sf facility will begin this September, with its completion slated for April 2007. The new spa will feature seven massage rooms, one full wet massage room, a manicure/pedicure area, a relaxation room, a steam room and changing and shower rooms. The spa’s services will be available for hotel guests as well as the general public. In addition to the new spa, an additional $1.5 million will be spent to renovate the entire food and beverage area and create three new conference rooms. The current bar, Pegasus, and restaurant, JW Steakhouse, will be designed into a new dining and lounge experience that will be called JW Steakhouse. The three additional conference rooms will give Griffin Gate more than 21,000 sf of flexible meeting space. Construction on the meeting rooms will begin next month and will wrap up in April 2007. The food and beverage area will start in November and be completed by January 2007.The construction of the new spa, food and beverage area and meeting rooms follows the recent completion of a separate $13.5-million renovation program at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort. That 24-month project encompassed refurbishment of all 388 guestrooms and 21 suites, meeting space, the outdoor pool area, the Mansion restaurant, the Blue Grass Pavilion, the concierge lounge, landscaping and the golf course.

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