SureStay Hotel by Best Western Fairfield Napa Valley Makes Its Debut in California

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Fairfield Napa Valley has opened its doors in Fairfield, California.

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Fairfield Napa Valley will provide guests with an experience they can count on and the amenities today's travelers have come to expect. The SureStay service promise reflects the brand and the hotel's commitment to providing quality service and value to its guests.

Located at 3331 N. Texas St. in Fairfield, California, the hotel features 100 guest rooms

The property's location near world-class wineries and delicious restaurants makes it an optimal place to call home base when visiting Napa Valley. Also nearby is the Anheuser-Busch Budweiser beer brewery with a tasting room and tours and the Vacaville Premium Outlets which boasts 120 stores.

For more family fun, the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom theme park and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord water park are also in the area. Also nearby is the Travis Air Force Base, home to the site of the largest military aerial port in the United States.

"It has been a pleasure working alongside Sona Sales & Management to introduce SureStay Hotel Group to Fairfield," adds Daniel Knuckles, Regional Manager of SureStay Hotel Group. "We are confident that David Chin and his team will deliver on our service promise."

India Daily Hotel Occupancy Drops to 11%

As COVID-19 concerns and restrictions have intensified in India, the country’s daily hotel occupancy dropped to 11% during 23-29 March, according to preliminary data from STR.

. “The story was different in March, especially during the later portion of the month with year-over-year occupancy declines in excess of 80% for the last nine days we have processed

Along with a steep downward trend in occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) have also dropped significantly in India. ADR, which has decreased year over year by roughly 20% or more for eight consecutive days, went as low as INR4,924.18 on 28 March. RevPAR reached its lowest absolute level (INR537.54) on 22 March.

For more information click on below mention link :

https://str.com/data-insights-blog/coronavirus-hotel-industry-data-news

CHART Announces Membership Access Program to Support Hospitality Trainers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

To support hospitality trainers in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART, www.chart.org) is providing free membership through a newly created Membership Access Program to new members, and is providing pay-what-you-can renewal for current members who are unable to renew their membership due to the crisis.

“Hospitality training professionals are at the forefront of helping the restaurant, foodservice, and lodging industries get back on their feet and get employees ready to serve guests again in the coming weeks,” said Serah Morrissey, CHART President 

CHART membership includes access to:

• Ask My Peers – a private, members-only online discussion group that actively shares solutions and best practices

• Virtual Training Forums – newly-created to address timely and critical COVID-19 topics

• Regional Training Forums – in-person and virtual meetings across the U.S.

• Hospitality Training Magazine – articles and member blogs with practical training content

• Hospitality Trainer Toolbox – an arsenal of research, publications, and ideas

• Member Directory – contact information for the nation’s top hospitality trainers

APPLICATION INFORMATION: New members must meet the eligibility criteria of being in (or recently in) a hospitality training position for an operator business. Free membership will be offered through May 31, 2020 and will last for a period of one year.

DONATE: CHART, a non-profit association, is accepting donations to offset the cost of this program.

The hashtag for this program is #BetterTogetherCHART.

Sweetgreen Joins Forces with World Central Kitchen to Feed Heroes on the Front Line

Sweetgreen, announces the launch of the Sweetgreen Impact Outpost Fund. The fund -- the first of its kind for the fast-casual company - was created in partnership with World Central Kitchen (WCK), the international not-for-profit organization founded by chef José Andrés that uses the power of food to heal and strengthen communities in times of crisis.

Through the fund, corporations, sponsors and customers are able to join sweetgreen and WCK’s efforts to feed more front-line medical personnel working in hospitals

"To be able to help share not just nourishing meals with the tireless and brave medical professionals working on the front lines of this crisis, but also the hope, dignity, comfort and care that a delicious and fresh bowl of food represents is an honor, and we are proud to partner with sweetgreen on this mission," said Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen.

100% of the money raised will be dedicated to providing free sweetgreen meals to hospital workers, expanding the program's reach. In the midst of the current crisis, sweetgreen dedicated their Outpost operations and teams to support those on the front lines by creating Impact Outpost, a program that delivers free salads and grain bowls to hospital workers. To date, sweetgreen has delivered over 10,000 meals to hospitals across the country and together with World Central Kitchen they have a goal of serving over 100,000.

“We’re so grateful for the hospital workers and medical personnel who are putting others before themselves during this critical time,”

Restaurants Get Tax Breaks, Deferments from CARES Act

The CARES Act signed into law by President Trump postpones but doesn’t eliminate the inevitable — taxes. But the temporary changes in tax law can help ease the burden restaurants face during the uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis. Here’s a summary of some of the changes.

• Delays in tax filings/payments. The tax filing deadline will be extended from April 15 to July 15, and you can postpone estimated tax payments (both personal and business) due until October 15, 2020, with no cap on the amount of the payment you postpone. Social Security taxes also are deferred, with half due on Dec. 31, 2021, and the remaining half at the end of 2022.

• Employee Retention Tax Credit. Restaurants that closed or whose business declined 50% or more due to the coronavirus – compared with the same quarter last year – get a refundable payroll tax credit for 50% of wages paid to employees during the crisis. The credit applies to the first $10,000 of compensation paid, including health care benefits, from March 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020. What wages qualify vary somewhat depending on whether you have more or fewer than 100 employees.

• Tipped employee wage adjustment. Since table service has been discontinued in most states, and servers are no longer able to earn tips, you can base your payroll costs on the wages you’re currently paying waitstaff for the jobs they’re doing now, instead of the wages plus gratuities they collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can use these wages when you compute loan forgiveness.

• Cap on sick leave expenses. Your sick leave expenses are capped at $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate for each employee. Outlays for paid family leave are capped at $200 a day or $2,000 in the aggregate for employees attending to a quarantined child or family member.

• Modifications for Net Operating Losses (NOL). This provides that a loss from 2018, 2019, or 2020 can be carried back five years, and temporarily removes the taxable income limitation to allow a NOL you incurred to fully offset income.

Home2 Suites by Hilton Clovis Fresno Airport Opens in California

Home2 Suites by Hilton, part of Hilton's All Suites portfolio, opened on March 27th, its newest property, Home2 Suites by Hilton Clovis Fresno Airport. Designed for travelers who want to maintain their normal routine, the hotel features 111 suites and a range of value, tech-focused and eco-conscious amenities. Home2 Suites by Hilton Clovis Fresno is situated conveniently located 90 minutes away from 3 National Parks; Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. In the Central Valley, visitors spend $4.5 billion on tourism and hospitality which supports 46,600 jobs generating $258 million in State and local tax revenues in 2018.

“Clovis’ proximity remains a destination to visit for both international and domestic traveler’s and we are excited to bring our modern extended stay accommodations to Clovis,” said Stephanie Rodriguez, General Manager, Home2 Suites by Hilton. “Guests enjoying the area will love our convenient location and customizable suites that fit the needs of every unique traveler.”

Located at 810 Santa Ava Avenue, just 4 miles north of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, Home2 Suites by Hilton Clovis Fresno Airport offers guests convenient access to California State University, Lamonica Stadium and variety of eateries and wineries.

Restaurant Career-Enhancing Training Available Free During April

The National Restaurant Association's ServSuccess program, in partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation (AHLA Foundation), today announced five popular, career-advancing training classes will be available free of charge to industry employees throughout April. The available courses include the ServSuccess Restaurant Professional and Restaurant Supervisor learning suites and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) Supervisory Skill Builders, Hospitality Manager: Leadership, and Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) Review courses

The Restaurant Professional Learning Suite takes approximately 4 hours to complete and covers:

• Front-of-the-House Service & Communication

• Front-of-the-House Basic Operations

• Back-of-the-House Pre-Production

• Back-of-the-House Production

• Basic Business Operations

The Restaurant Supervisor Learning Suite takes approximately 5 hours to complete and covers:

• Managing Daily Operations

• Leadership & Communication

• Safety & Regulations

• Cost Control Fundamentals

• Controlling Costs

The AHLEI Supervisory Skill Builders course covers essential skills to help supervisors contribute to the success of a hospitality establishment. The nine modules develop skills in key areas including

• Conflict management

• Staffing and scheduling

• Communication

• Team building

The AHLEI Hospitality Manager: Leadership class teaches how to lead a team including:

• Building a positive workplace culture

• Aligning day-to-day operations with organizational goals

• Using emotional intelligence to connect with employees

The CHA Review covers the necessary knowledge essential to overseeing all functional areas of a hospitality establishment as a general manager or operations executive including:

• Rooms management

• Human resources

• Financial management

• Marketing and sales

  For more information or to register for one of the free courses, go to servsafe.com/freecourses.

OYO CEO and the Executive Leadership Team to Take Voluntary Salary Cuts

COVID-19 has impacted the global hospitality industry significantly with occupancies of various hotel chains being affected drastically. In this unprecedented and difficult period, Ritesh Agarwal, the Founder & Group CEO, OYO Hotels & Homes, has decided to forego 100% of his salary for the rest of the year. The company’s entire executive leadership team has taken a voluntary pay cut starting at 25%, with many opting for an additional uncapped amount, and some going up to 50% to enable building the runway for the company. This would be effective April 2020 and the entire company is standing together to tide over these times.

It has been a matter of pride for OYO Hotels & Homes that it has retained each and every single leader in the CXO group in the history of the company, and in a difficult time like this, the executive leadership has come together as one strong entity as true partners of the company.

Commenting on the development, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & Group CEO said, “The current situation the world over is deeply concerning to each and every one of us. OYO is doing everything to support the world with its limited resources in this pandemic from making isolation centers to finding a safe place for first responders. Given the current business situation, which is unprecedented for our industry globally

LEGOLAND New York Resort Opening Delayed to 2021 In Response To Coronavirus

In adherence to the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and evolving restrictions from state and local governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic, LEGOLAND New York Resort and parent company Merlin Entertainments regret to announce the postponement of the Resort opening until 2021. The measure is consistent with the closure of venues and postponement of events worldwide.

"Nothing is more important to us than the health, safety and security of our team, the partners we work with, and the communities we serve,”

All previously purchased annual passes or single-day tickets will be honored when the Resort opens in 2021. Those who have booked vacation packages through LEGOLAND Vacations will be given the opportunity to be the first to book for the 2021 season.

Resort officials still plan to hire more than 1,000 Model Citizens (employees) to staff the theme park and hotel, and all hourly employees who received an offer to work for the 2020 season will be invited to join the team in 2021.

Canadian Hotel Occupany Drops to 21.4 Percent for Week Ending 21 March 2020

COVID-19 impact, the Canadian hotel industry recorded negative year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 15-21 March 2020, according to data from STR.

In comparison with the week of 17-23 March 2019, the industry reported the following:

• Occupancy: -65.0% to 21.4%
• Average daily rate (ADR): -16.9% to CAD120.82
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -70.9% to CAD25.84

Quebec experienced the largest decline in occupancy (-75.5% to 15.0%) and the steepest drop in RevPAR (-77.8% to CAD19.94).

Prince Edward Island posted the largest decrease in ADR (-24.3% to CAD87.39).

Ontario saw double-digit declines across the three key performance metrics: occupancy (-65.1% to 21.7%), ADR (-18.1% to CAD120.77) and RevPAR (-71.4% to CAD26.22).

 Montreal recorded the steepest drop in RevPAR (-77.3% to CAD21.67), due to the largest decrease in occupancy (-75.6% to 15.3%).

Ottawa registered the largest decline in ADR (-20.6% to CAD129.49).

Daily Hotel Occupancy Falls to As Low As 12.9% in Lima, Peru

As the impact of COVID-19 broadens in South America, Lima’s daily hotel occupancy fell to as low as 12.9% on 19 March, according to preliminary data from STR.

That occupancy level came one day after the Peruvian government imposed a nightly curfew to combat the spread of COVID-19. STR’s most recent data for 22 March showed that just 13 of 100 rooms on average were occupied in the city.

“Despite the fact that corporate tourism is not strong during January and February, daily occupancy in Lima was as high as 70.1% on 19 February,” said Patricia Boo, STR’s area director for Central/South America. “The market’s daily occupancy was above 40% as late as the 12th of March, with the exception of 29 February and 8 March when occupancy was roughly 38%, but has been declining recently by more than 70% in year-over-year comparisons.”

STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors. For more information, please visit str.com.

Sabre Honored with Multiple Interactive Media Awards Recognizing Best-in-class Website Design for Hotels

Sabre Corporation , a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry, is thrilled to announce that it was awarded multiple HSMAI (Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International) Adrian Awards for its SynXis Digital Experience Web Design solutions.

Winning entries included work for The Farmhouse Ojai’s website (gold), the Meritage Collection’s website redesign (gold) and the Setai Hotels’ website redesign (bronze).

Sabre is honored to be recognized by the HSMAI for delivering innovative web solutions that can improve user experiences, increase conversions and drive direct bookings for hoteliers across the globe,” said Justin Ricketts, iInterim President, Sabre Hospitality Solutions.

Selected out of more than 1,100 entries submitted this year, Sabre’s work was judged to have exemplified outstanding advertising, digital marketing, public relations, and integrated marketing in hospitality.

U.S. Hotel Industry Reports 22.6 Percent Occupancy for Week Ending March 28th - 2020

Reflecting the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. hotel industry reported significant year-over-year declines in the three key performance metrics during the week of 22-28 March 2020, according to data from STR. 

In comparison with the week of 24-30 March 2019, the industry recorded the following:

• Occupancy: -67.5% to 22.6%

• Average daily rate (ADR): -39.4% to US$79.92

• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -80.3% to US$18.0500

  Aggregate data for the Top 25 Markets showed steeper declines across the metrics: occupancy (-74.5% to 19.6%), ADR (-43.9% to US$89.71) and RevPAR (-85.7% to US$17.60).  

  New Orleans, Louisiana, recorded the steepest decline in RevPAR (-92.8% to US$10.27), due primarily to the second-largest decreases in occupancy (-84.9% to 12.7%) and ADR (-52.3% to US$80.74).

  Oahu Island, Hawaii, experienced the steepest drop in occupancy (-86.4% to 10.5%).

  Miami/Hialeah, Florida, posted the largest decline in ADR (-57.9% to US$116.64). 

  Of note, occupancy in New York, New York, was down 81.8% to 15.2%. In Seattle, Washington, occupancy dropped 76.6% to 18.5%.

Distressed Hotels: What to Do with Distressed Hotels. Lender (and Borrower) Guide - By Jim Butler

When a hotel loan gets in trouble, a lender should immediately perform a Comprehensive Situation Analysis. Borrowers should do the same and be fast to approach lenders with candor and an actual plan demonstrating what is needed and how it will work. This Comprehensive Situation Analysis is the foundation for making some of the most important decisions that the lender and borrower will face on what to do with a distressed loan or asset. When the Comprehensive Situation Analysis is completed, what’s next? What do the amassed facts indicate? How do they tell the parties what to do? What are the alternatives for dealing with a troubled hotel loan? Basically, the alternatives for a lender with troubled hotel asset are:

1. Do nothing (or sell the loan)

2. Workout the loan

3. Appoint a receiver

4. Seek a deed-in-lieu

5. Commence foreclosure

6. Seek Relief in bankruptcy proceedings

The matrix below shows how many of the relevant factors will suggest the appropriate alternative to select.

For matrix please visit below mention link :

https://hotellaw.jmbm.com/files/2020/03/Alternative-Strategies-for-Trouble-Loans.pdf

Hotel Sales Teams: Two Sales Tasks You Can Do This Week To Get Ready For The Rebound - By Doug Kennedy

About Doug Kennedy

Doug Kennedy is President of the Kennedy Training Network, Inc. a leading provider of hotel sales, guest service, reservations, and front desk training programs and telephone mystery shopping services for the lodging and hospitality industry

Since 1996, Doug’s monthly training articles have been published worldwide, making him one of the most widely read hospitality industry authorities

For most hotels in North America, the sales team is entering week three of the Covid19 disruption. The first week or so was just crazy, as salespeople from all market segments endured a frantic wave of cancelations and postponements.  Just as that wave was starting to pass, most sales leaders had to make the difficult move of furloughing or laying off sales staff to pare down the payroll costs

Rather than signing off work early, here are two sales-related tasks you can do right now to get ready for the rebound, with more to come soon in my future blogs published here.

1) Reach out personally to your key client contacts.Instead, use your time to connect personally one-to-one.  For your very top tier, long-term clients, consider a phone call during their local business hours. State upfront that you are just calling to check on them personally. For most clients, a personal email is the best medium. While it’s okay to start with a template for an opening and ending, be sure to include something in the first few sentences that shows the receiver it’s genuine, not generic.

2) Master the use of your sales CRM.  When travel fully reopens, the competition is going to be greater than ever for the leads that resurface first.  

Instead, they use a mixed bag of inefficient tools such as flagged emails, calendar appointments, post-it notes and handwritten notes scribbled on print-outs of RFP’s.  This is a great time to become hyper-organized so you can be efficient later when the pent-up demand breaks through the barrier.

Register for the online tutorials that most sales CRMs offer, or to schedule a screen-share meeting with a coworker or friend to share tips and tactics.  Clean-up your CRM “task lists” and eliminate the past-due ones that have been haunting you for too long now. Get with your system administrator and redo the “auto-tasks” that occur when business goes definite, so they match what you truly need, and don’t clog-up your future lists with red flags.

Marriott International Notifies Guests of Property System Incident

Hotels operated and franchised under Marriott’s brands use an application to help provide services to guests at hotels. At the end of February 2020, the company identified that an unexpected amount of guest information may have been accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property. The company believes that this activity started in mid-January 2020. Upon discovery, the company confirmed that the login credentials were disabled, immediately began an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to inform and assist guests. Marriott also notified relevant authorities and is supporting their investigations.

Although Marriott’s investigation is ongoing, the company currently has no reason to believe that the information involved included Marriott Bonvoy account passwords or PINs, payment card information, passport information, national IDs, or driver’s license numbers.

At this point, the company believes that the following information may have been involved for up to approximately 5.2 million guests, although not all of this information was present for every guest involved:

• contact details (e.g., name, mailing address, email address, and phone number)

• loyalty account information (e.g., account number and points balance, but not passwords)

• additional personal details (e.g., company, gender, and birthday day and month)

• partnerships and affiliations (e.g., linked airline loyalty programs and numbers)

• preferences (e.g., stay/room preferences and language preference)

  Marriott is sending emails to guests involved. Marriott has also set up a dedicated website (www.mysupport.marriott.com) and call center resources with additional information for guests. The call center resources can be reached by calling the numbers listed on the dedicated website. The email sent to guests and the website also contain a list of steps guests involved can consider taking and information about enrolling in a personal information monitoring service that Marriott is providing.

Layoffs, rejig one-time exercise, will be over soon: Oyo CEO

Some parts of Oyo Hotels & Homes weren’t probably ready for the pace of growth it has witnessed and the hospitality chain is trying to address such issues this year, says its new chief executive for India and South Asia, Rohit Kapoor in an exclusive interview to The Economic Times. While confirming reports of job cuts at the company, he tells Anumeha Chaturvedi that it is asking about 15-20% of its 12,000 employees to go in a “one-time exercise” that “is going to end very soon”. There is no  deadline from Japanese investor SoftBank to report operational profitability on some businesses, he says, and adds that the management is committed to improving relations with hotel partners.

Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal has reportedly said the company is asking some of its employees to move to a new career. What explains this?
The question that whether some staff members are being asked to go is correct. Over the last one and a half years, there has been an increase in revenue to about 3x, and we had 1-million-plus rooms globally by the end of 2019. But I don’t think we have any hesitation in admitting that growing at the pace that we did over the last three years, we did sometimes go ahead of ourselves … What we mean is that maybe all parts of the organisation were not ready for that pace of growth and that scale of  of operations, and 2020 is the year when we are taking active steps to address this. We have a clear roadmap for continuing to drive success for Oyo for this year and beyond based on factors like sustainable growth.

Radisson Hotel Group continues to expand in China’s most dynamic destinations with new signing

Radisson Blu Hotel Nanjing South New Town is a striking new upper-upscale hotel being developed in Nanjing South New Town, a rapidly emerging commercial area that will become the city’s new CBD.

Scheduled to open its doors in 2024, Radisson Blu Hotel Nanjing South New Town will feature 300 contemporary rooms and suites. The property is being developed by Nanjing South New Town Exhibition Centre Development Co., Ltd.

“Nanjing has always been one of China’s most important cities; its name literally means ‘Southern Capital,’ which reflects its historical influence. Today, Nanjing remains one of China’s 21st century most vibrant destinations and the rise of Nanjing South New Town will further enhance its development

With its world-class accommodation, facilities and conference space, Radisson Blu Hotel Nanjing South New Town will be a central landmark in this exciting new district

Live Survey Reveals 50 Percent of Hotels Not Planning to Close Properties Due to COVID-19

Knowland, the leader in group hospitality analytics for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, conference centers and other meeting venues, announced the results of a live survey of more than 700 hoteliers conducted during its informative webinar “COVID-19 Preparing Today for Success Tomorrow.” Knowland’s VP of product management, Kristi White provided insight and guidance during a webinar held on March 25, 2020 

Throughout the webinar, hoteliers were eager to respond to a series of questions about how they were handling the COVID-19 crisis. Questions such as “Is your hotel closed?” and “What percentage of cancellations have you received for the next 90-120 days” were asked in order to gain insight into the current situation.

• Survey reveals “stay the course” mentality – While 70 percent have had 75 percent plus cancellations over the next 90-120 days, 50 percent of participants indicated that they are not planning to close their hotels and were “staying the course” during this time. This may be due to the fact that many hoteliers are hoping the new CARES Act stimulus bill will help keep them from shutting their doors and their teams capable of prospecting business over the next 60-75 days, however approximately 23% of attendees reported that closing their hotel was “under consideration.”

• Pivot and train your sales teams – White advised attendees to evaluate sales team members to determine those that are best qualified to conduct outreach based on compassion and assistance, as opposed to “making the sale.”

• Identify and cater to local market opportunities – The survey also revealed that 50 percent of participants conducted local sales outreach earlier this year, compared to 38% in 2019. Corporate, government and local catering, as well as smaller and regional events and local drive market will bounce back first. Knowland provides key profile indicators such as what businesses have held local events, the history of their performance (such as what they did during the 2008 recession) to help sales teams better identify potential local customers.

Radisson Hotel Group Expands Its Presence in Brazil

“Our partnership with Atlantica Hotels allows us to bring the bright, inviting and balanced feel of the Radisson brand into vibrant cities like Anápolis, Brazil,” said Frances Gonzalez, vice president of Operations for Radisson Hotel Group in Latin America. “We believe every modern traveler should have a hospitality experience that allows them to find more harmony in both their work and leisure lives, and we are excited to continue creating these experiences in destinations around Latin America.”

Atlantica Hotels is a licensee for Radisson Hotel Group’s brands in Brazil, including Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED and Park Inn by Radisson.