West United States
Just opened at a cost of some $11 million is the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Sacramento Airport-Natomas. The property has 100 rooms and offers guests a host of freebies. These include complimentary “café-style” breakfast, shuttle service to the airport, free high-speed Internet access in-room, free local phone calls, comp parking, in-room coffee machine, complimentary daily paper and private voice mail…Scheduled to open in Park City, Utah in February will be the Silverado with 200 units that will be the third property in The Canyons Resort complex. The property is about three miles from downtown and will have 2,000 square feet of meeting space and comp Wi-Fi throughout…In Portland, the existing 5th Avenue Suites Hotel is slated to become the Kimpton Hotel Monaco in late February. Involved will be a $4 million renovation of the 221-suite property which is located in the heart of the city’s downtown area. Though originally built in 1912 as a department store, the 10-story property was converted in 1996 to a hotel and is now undergoing another upgrade. Guests get free Wi-Fi throughout, in-room working area, choice of major newspapers delivered daily, and access to a self-service business center with two PCs and a Mac. Some 6,000 square feet of space are available for meetings.
Southwest United States
Among hoteliers, the hot new genre is “Lifestyle” properties. Now, the far north Dallas city of Plano will host this type of trendy hotel. NYLO hotels is the company, and it just broke ground on a 176-room property. Soaring ceilings, custom-designed furniture and high-tech amenities define the product—a product designed for business travelers. Look for NYLO to charge $120 to $140 per night. The NYLO Plano is going up at the intersection of Headquarters Drive and Preston Road, near the Dallas Tollway. It will be in the midst of a 2,665 master-planned community called Legacy. What NYLO believes will set this hotel apart is “guest lofts”—high ceilings, six-foot-tall windows, a plush bed, movable desk, free Wi-Fi and high-speed Internet, flat-screen TV, and lots of places to plug iPods and computers into televisions.
Midwest United States
Hotels: More long-term lodging in Lincoln. Candlewood Suites recently opened an 85-suite hotel in the southeast section of the city, at 4100 Pioneer Woods Drive. That puts it in decent proximity to such concerns as Lincoln Benefit Life Insurance, State Farm and the Nebraska Heart Institute…Back home in Indiana there’s word Staybridge Suites is putting up a new 113-suite property in downtown Indianapolis. Look for it to debut in early 2008 just north of Interstate 70, at Exit 79A.
South United States
Major news out of the Crescent City. By the time you read this the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton New Orleans should be open for business. The move comes just in time to accommodate what locals hope will be an influx of seasonal visitors. There really are two Big Easy's these days: the business and tourist-oriented Central Business District, French Quarter and Garden District—and the rest of town. The former is in excellent shape. The latter is very much a work in painfully slow progress…A newly renovated Holiday Inn in the midst of Fort Myers’ Downtown Historic District just debuted. The 123-room hotel is located at 2431 Cleveland Avenue.
Northeast United States
Tribeca is about to sport a new boutique hotel. The 45-room Duane Street Hotel opens in the trendy Manhattan neighborhood just after the start of the year. The property is suffused with Wi-Fi, and rooms feature flat-screen high-def televisions, expandable work desks and hardwood floors. Rates at the pet-friendly enclave start at $300…There are few more quintessentially business destinations than Wilmington. That’s why the renovation of a major business hotel in the Delaware city is significant. The Doubletree Hotel Wilmington just finished a $7-million makeover. It’s in the heart of Wilmington’s legal and financial district, and a 30-minute (depending on traffic) drive from Philadelphia International Airport.
Worldwide
Hilton Garden Inn is making real inroads in Europe. Latest evidence: a new 121-room hotel in Florence. The Hilton Garden Inn Florence Novoli can be found at Via Sandro Pertini 29 50127—in the heart of a new business/residential area in the northern section of the city. Nearby are the new Justice Courtrooms, and the new University Centre. Wi-Fi is free in the hotel’s public areas, and there’s a 24-hour business center…Doubletree now has a full-service hotel in Québec. The Doubletree Plaza Hotel Montreal was formerly a Crowne Plaza. You’ll find it at the intersection of Sherbrooke and Berri Streets…The ubiquity of the devices demands a move like this. The Langham Place Hotel, Mongkok, Hong Kong just put iHome iPod clock radios in all its suites and club rooms. Plug and play.
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