Life is good at the Royal Hawaiian :)

 

Life is good. : )

Finished my last day at the W San Francisco, now off to the Royal Hawaiian just for kicks!

Just finished my last day of work at the W San Francisco.  It’s been a real treat working with such talented and passionate colleagues at this hotel, all of whom contributed to an exciting and memorable journey for me thus far.  This truly is a hotel where creativity, comradery, and development thrive (and in a cool way)! 

As I turn the page on this chapter of my life, I’m taking a little beaching/surfing/snorkeling excursion to Honolulu before diving head first into my Cornell MMH program which begins in Singapore, two weeks from now.  I was googling Royal Hawaiian, which is where I’ll be staying for the next four or so nights, and came across a Starwood site with live webcams from each of the Starwoods out there.  Check it out right here!

As some of you may already know, the Royal Hawaiian (the pink hotel) was built in 1927 and just came out of an extensive renovation earlier this year.  In fact, the makeover into a Luxury Collection property seems to have gone over so well that Conde Nast just added the pink hotel back to its 2009 Hot List, saying that the Royal Hawaiian “has reclaimed its past glory.”

The last time I was at the pink hotel, it was back in the Fall of 2007 prior to the remake.  I’m looking forward to seeing with my own two eyes all the improvements, though I’m sure to be impressed if the revamped website is any indication.

Hotel Check-In blog checks in with Frits

Hotel Check-In is one of my favorite hotel-related blogs out there, if not my absolute favorite.  It’s led by their chief concierge, Barbara DeLollis, who has been covering business travel for over half a decade. 

Not only does Barbara blog about the latest promos across all the major hotels along with other major news and development in the industry, she is also hosting monthly conversations with CEOs of major hotel chains.  These posts are part of a monthly series called, “Checking in with the Chief.”

All last week, Hotel Check-In put up some fantastic posts on the thoughts of Starwood’s CEO, Frits van Paasschen.  Together they discussed and blogged about everything from Starwood’s newest SPG promotion offering free weekend nights to keeping green a top priority for Starwood Hotels. 

GREAT JOB, Barbara.  Keep up the awesome work!

I’ve linked all of her Frits posts below with a brief excerpt so you know what to expect in each . . .

Readying for recovery – Frits again — I’m back at the office … did an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning.  Those interviews always fly by, but we still covered quite a bit of ground in a short amount of time. If you didn’t get to see it – and would like to – you can check it out on cnbc.com. Would be interested to get your reaction and see if it sparks any other questions or comments.

New Free Weekend Promo – Now, I want to get right to it and fill you in on the “juicy promotion” Barbara mentioned Thursday – it’s a good one! Today, we are going to announce the return of SPG Free Weekends, the most popular promotion in Starwood’s history.

Too many W hotels in Atlanta? No. – The question is whether or not continuing to open new W Hotels will diminish the exclusivity of the brand.  The short answer is absolutely not.

On the impact of layoffs – As you know, our industry has not been spared from the job cuts that are occurring globally. Having to layoff valued members of your team is one of the hardest things you do as a CEO, so we’re working hard to save as many jobs as we can.

Going green still a big priority - A reader wants to know if going green is going on the back burner due to the economy. The answer is an emphatic, no. And, in fact, we will continue to increase our green efforts over the next few years to provide a hotel stay that good for the environment, good for guests and good for business.

Wants comfy bed and a good workout - Outside of the basics, one amenity that I cant’ live without is the fitness center. As I’ve mentioned (and as you’ve seen in the photo I knew would come back to haunt me), I am an avid runner. I even run with our associates at hotels when I travel.

We’ll fight to protect our “secret sauce” – Over the past weeks as we came to understand the magnitude of theft that occurred, and the volume of proprietary and highly confidential information that was taken, I knew we had no other choice than to take this strong action to protect our company, owners, associates, shareholders and, of course, our guests.

Starwood’s a little pissed off at Denizen Hotels these days

Happy Friday!  

What better way to usher in the weekend than with SPG’s ridiculously sweet promo, and oh yeah . . . a lawsuit against Hilton?

Earlier this morning, Starwood sued Hilton and two former Starwood execs for allegedly stealing extremely confidential and sensitive information used in the expedited development of Hilton’s new lifestyle brand: Denizen Hotels.  One of those executives is Ross Klein, the former President of W Hotels.  

Since there aren’t any real life Denizen Hotels open just yet, we don’t quite know the extent to which there are similarities with W Hotels.  Take a look at the Denizen Hotels YouTube trailer below though.  Gives you some idea, along with the recent Denizen Hotels announcement in Berlin last month.

 

 

A Starwood rep said that Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani stole “truckloads” of confidential documents related to the W Hotels brand which was then applied throughout the development process of the Denizen Hotels brand.  In other words, Starwood is accusing Hilton of being a copycat and singling out two ringleaders.  

According to Starwood, the allegedly stolen information included strategic plans for creating a lifestyle luxury hotel brand, and enabled Hilton to launch its Denizen brand in nine months as opposed to three to five years.

I recently had lunch with Bobby Graney, who along with Barry Sternlicht and the rest of the dream team created the W Hotels concept over 10 years ago.  As the originator of industry firsts (e.g. calling it the Living Room versus the Lobby), I’d certainly like to ask Bobby his opinion on this little fist fight between Starwood and Hilton.  

If you care to read the details . . . 

Three months later, and just days before Hilton announced the launch of its new lifestyle brand, Starwood received from Hilton eight large boxes of hard copy documents as well as computer hard drives, zip drives, and thumb drives containing more than 100,000 electronic files downloaded from Starwood computers, much of it highly proprietary. It was at this point that Starwood first became aware of the theft.

In delivering this mountain of confidential material to Starwood, Hilton informed Starwood that Klein and “other Hilton employees who formerly worked for Starwood” had “brought to Hilton documents or materials that they developed or acquired while they worked for Starwood.” Hilton also told Starwood that former employees had additional Starwood materials “at home.”

The materials taken by Klein and Lalvani and others working in concert with them are among Starwood’s most competitively sensitive information, including but not limited to.

- Forward-looking strategic development plans and confidential financial information on Starwood’s lifestyle and luxury brands

- Proprietary current and prospective negotiation strategies with owners and non-public contact information for owners, developers and designers of its lifestyle and luxury brands

- Step-by-step details on how to convert a hotel property to a lifestyle luxury hotel, including training materials, operational materials, marketing and promotional strategies, brand handbooks, proprietary design details and other signature elements

- Marketing and demographic studies for which Starwood paid substantial sums to third parties.

Source: PR Inside

Stay twice and get a free weekend night with Starwood’s newest SPG promotion!

Starwood is rewarding its hotel guests the best way it knows how to . . . with FREE nights!  This morning marks the announcement of SPG Free Weekends, which extends a complimentary weekend night stay after you stay two times at any Starwood hotel between May 1 and July 31, 2009.  By weekend night, I mean a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night.  Don’t you just love SPG? 

Don’t get too excited though, as you can’t register for this promo until April 17.  So sit tight for a few more days!

To make this new SPG promo that much more enticing, there is no cap on free weekend nights that can be earned, and earned nights can be linked back to back for a full or long weekend stay.   The complimentary nights are redeemable through September 30, 2009.

“SPG Free Weekends marks the return of the most popular promotion in Starwood’s history, but his time around we have ratcheted up the rewards and made it even richer and more accessible for our guests,” said Mark Vondrasek, SVP, Distribution, Loyalty & Partnerships for Starwood. “It’s like our own ‘travel stimulus’ program.”

Mark your calendars because this kickass promotion begins enrollment on April 17 (just 4 short days away)!  Find out the full details at spg.com/freeweekends.

If you look on the promo landing page, it looks like you can text “WEEKENDS” to 95495 to receive a reminder to register when the registration page is live.

This is the first time I’ve seen Starwood or SPG offer a texting reminder service.  Perhaps Starwood is starting to ramp up efforts to take advantage of mobile technology!  We’ll see if this texting service is available on future promos.

Who’s getting employee discount rates at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa?

 

Out of towners may not be flocking to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area like they used to, but that’s not going to stop the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa from getting locals to fill up their rooms and tee off on the golf course.

In appreciation of local businesses and the community, the hotel is offering $89 employee rates to all Arizona residents.  I did a quick double-check and sure enough that is exactly what I paid when I stayed there this past January.  This rate is valid for an unlimited number of nights between May 24 through September 10, 2009 . . . but remember you gotta be from Arizona and you gotta book by April 17, 2009!

“We are extremely thankful to Arizona residents for being our best customers year-round” said Managing Director, J. Bruce Lange. “The Westin Kierland would not be the success it is without their loyalty and our summer rate schedule is just one of the ways we can give back to those that have been so important to our success.” 

It looks like the valid dates for this promo fit nicely with the kids being out of school, in case you’re looking for something to keep the whippersnappers out of trouble.  I took a quick glance at the hotel’s website and saw an endless list of summer family activities, including the “Family FUN Program” which includes visits to the Phoenix Zoo and a FUN program led by the hotel’s Director of FUN.  One you’re done getting baked underneath the desert sun, there’s a humongous resort style pool complete with a 110 foot waterslide and lazy river.  The Westin Kierland’s gonna keep you comfy with a “cooled” pool that gets chilled 14 degrees below the desert temperature.  

There’s even a new activity this summer called “Movies on the Green” which are a series of movies you can enjoy from the comfort of air-conditioned golf-carts.  

While I didn’t get to do any golfing there during my last visit, I did get to snap this awesome photo of the Westin Kierland’s driveway . . .

 

Here’s the terms and conditions in case you think this is too good to be true!

Dorm room with a view . . . yeah right

 

Just wanted to thank all you readers for following me over the months.  I’ve had such a great time writing each of these posts, and I hope you guys have been getting some good Starwood info through my blog.

No, this isn’t goodbye just yet . . . but in the next few weeks, I’ll be slowing down the blog posts and channeling my energy toward some required online pre-courses for my upcoming Cornell MMH program (starts in May!).  Three of these e-courses just started and are concurrent: Mastering the Time Value of Money: MMH Version, Using Ratio Analysis to Evaluate Financial Performance, and Statistical Decision Making: Describing Data.  

Are you asleep yet?  Despite the reduction in posts, I promise to have at least one entry loaded per week though.  

Here’s something to keep you entertained through the upcoming weekend . . . Starwood’s put together a website called roomwithaview.com, which features live webcam feeds from some of the world’s most unique and intriguing locations.  Check this site out, and see the same stunning views Starwood guests get to see from their very own guestrooms.

Somehow I don’t think my campus housing isn’t going to have quite the same picturesque scenery.  :-/