The landmark property, which will be known as the Rome Cavalieri, marks the debut of HHC's luxury brand in Europe. "Today's announcement underscores our commitment to strengthen and grow our portfolio of one-of-a kind indigenous properties in a variety of destinations across the globe," said Ross Klein, HHC's Global Head of Luxury and Lifestyle Brands. "The introduction of The Waldorf=Astoria Collection in continental Europe marks the beginning of an aggressive growth strategy which will bring these authentic and unique products and guest experiences into markets where we believe there is significant growth potential in the luxury and lifestyle sectors. Rome Cavalieri brings the core values of The Collection to life through its distinct character, location and charm."


Revpar drops by nearly 10% at London hotels

London hotels saw revenue per available room (revpar) drop by 9.86% in the week ending 9 November, according to figures from hospitality research company STR Global.

Revpar fell to £108.73, down from £120.62 during the equivalent week of 2007.

Occupancy decreased by 4.97 percentage points to 78.96% while average room rate fell by 4.19% to £137.69 compared with £143.71 in the corresponding week of 2007.

STR Global is a new company formed from the merger of leading hospitality research firms Smith Travel Research (STR), Deloitte’s HotelBenchmark and The Bench.

Marketing a hotel online in a struggling economy

In a struggling economy, businesses slow down. This is especially true for hotels as their growth is directly related to the health of the economy. Consequently, your marketing budget shrinks and you need to be careful about how to spend your marketing budget wisely. In other words, identify what marketing methods work, and what don't. It is more important than ever that you pay attention to your return on investment (ROI).

In 2008, 37%-38% of all hotel bookings will be generated from the Internet (one-third in 2007, 29% in 2006). At least another third of all hotel bookings will be influenced by the Internet, but done offline (call center, walk-ins, group bookings, etc). All major hotel brands are already generating an excess of 40% of the (CRS) bookings via their brand websites. By the end of 2010, over 45% of all hotel bookings will be completed online

The internet has surfaced as the leader in travel and hotel sales. It has established itself as the most important distribution and marketing channel in the hospitality industry. Since this is the case, it only makes sense for you to give some serious thought and planning to Internet-related campaigns in your hotel's marketing mix. In other words, when your marketing budgets shrink, you could benefit by accentuating your online strategy versus offline strategy. The bonus is that Internet marketing is almost totally measurable, which allows for quick evaluation and continual adjustments to improve results.


Mandarin Oriental hit by the downturn

Luxury hotel group Mandarin Oriental has revealed falling occupancy levels and warned of delays to its opening programme due to the credit crunch.

With the slowdown in the global economy taking hold, Mandarin Oriental said hotel occupancy between the 1 July and 12 November had fallen behind that of the same period a year ago.

The company added that in-part some of these falls had been offset by higher room rates, although it expects a generally lower level of demand for rooms for the rest of the year.

The group, which opened a new hotel in Boston last month to take its total to 22 in operation and 18 in development, said at least some of its new sites would likely be delayed due to the global downturn.


World's weirdest hotel guest complaints

A star footballer complained his ocean-view hotel room overlooking Sydney's Manly beach was unsuitable because the sound of the sea kept him awake.

A British tourist at an upscale Caribbean island resort had a similar gripe. While she could step from her room to the beach, she would have preferred cheaper accommodation because the sound of crashing breakers supposedly interrupted her slumber.

And what of the foreign tourist at a top African game lodge who occupied a much-in-demand high-priced perch overlooking a waterhole where wild animals came to drink? He moaned that one of the elephants was visibly aroused and that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate".

Travel industry sources say some complaints are motivated by genuine misunderstandings. Others, however, are off-the-wall attempts to obtain compensation.

"By and large, Australians are pretty relaxed about travel and don't make many strange complaints or demands," says Haydn Long, spokesman for the big Flight Centre chain. "They're mostly good travellers who understand that things may be done differently to what they'd expect in Australia."

Peter Hook, spokesman for the country's largest hotel group, Accor Asia Pacific - with Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons, Ibis and Formule 1 brands - agrees: "Outlandish complaints aren't common." Nonetheless, zany incidents do occur.

For instance, a panic-stricken woman called reception and angrily protested that she was locked in her room. Staff were initially puzzled. It turned out that she had never previously stayed in a hotel and, seeing a "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on the doorknob, wrongly assumed that she should not open the door that would has allowed her to leave her room.