Starved Rock State Park, home of Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center in Utica, IL, set an attendance record in 2011, attracting nearly 2.2 million visitors and beating its seven-year-old record by nearly 3%. Park officials released a final total of 2,181,083 visitors through December 31, enough to top the previous record of 2,122,422 set in 2004. Full story...

J.W. “Bill” Marriott Jr. will step down as CEO of Marriott International in March and will be succeeded by Arne Sorenson, the company's current president and chief operating officer. Marriott will remain chairman of the company. Full story...

Lowe Enterprises Investors (LEI) announced it has acquired the Embassy Suites Chicago-North Shore/Deerfield on behalf of a pension fund client. The 237-suite Embassy Suites Chicago-North Shore/Deerfield is located in the Village of Deerfield, an affluent Chicago suburb that is home to many leading national and international corporations. The property will be managed by LEI affiliate Destination Hotels & Resorts and will continue to operate as an Embassy Suites branded hotel. Full story...

Chicago is emerging as a test market of sorts for new brands. This month, Carlson Hotels opened the first Radisson Blu hotel in North America. The 334-room Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago takes up the first 18 floors of the 81-story Aqua Tower. And last month, Virgin Hotels, a brand launched last year by Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson, announced that it would open its first hotel in Chicago in fall 2013. Full story...

Alliance Hospitality, a leading hotel management company in the United States, announced it will manage the 110-room Hilton Garden Inn Kankakee and 19,000 square foot RiverStone Conference Center in Kankakee, IL, under a franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide. Full story...

The lavish look is still out of fashion, but many hoteliers see better bookings and budgets for special events at their properties. And the upcoming U.S. presidential election could be a winner for business, too. Although the glory days of 2007 have not returned, many hoteliers are seeing special event business firm up at their properties. Full story...

After more than a year since their highly publicized brand launch, the executive team behind Virgin Hotels finally has something concrete on which to hang their hats: the site of their first property. The company on Monday morning announced it purchased for an undisclosed sum the Old Dearborn Bank Building in downtown Chicago in an all-cash transaction. Virgin will reopen the former office building as the 250-room Virgin Hotel Chicago in the fall of 2013. Full story...

Recently, a group of Chicago hotels have pledged to make more than $500 million worth of improvements to their facilities to help boost the city’s convention and exhibition industry. The announcement was made by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday and follows a resolution between convention center executives and union leaders about new work rules at McCormick Place. Full story...

The Inn at Okoboji, a lakefront resort and conference center located in the heart of the Iowa Great Lakes, wishes to thank all the great groups and events that were welcomed during the 2011 summer season. Guest lodging will be closing on October 16, 2011 for the season and reopening April 2012 as weather permits. The Inn at Okoboji remains open year-round for meetings and events as well as offering award-winning catering services throughout the entire year. More information...

It rises 29 stories above the streets of Grand Rapids and has been instrumental in the revitalization of downtown. A celebration took place Wednesday to mark the 30-year anniversary of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. The sold-out event featured speakers including Rich DeVos, co-founder of Amway; Doug DeVos, president of Amway; Steve Van Andel, chairman of Amway; Joe Tomaselli, CEO of Amway Grand Plaza Hotel; Dan Gaydou, publisher of The Grand Rapids Press; and Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley. Full story...

Carlson set November 1 as the opening date for the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago, the brand's first hotel in the U.S. Occupying the first 18 floors of the 81-story Aqua Tower, a block off Lake Shore Drive, the 334-room hotel will include 28,000 square feet of meetings space, including a 12,000 square foot ballroom with 20-foot windows overlooking Lake Michigan. Full story...

The hotel industry supply and demand outlook remains positive heading into the homestretch of 2011, but market uncertainty could change that in an instant, panelists said during Wednesday’s opening general session of the 17th annual Lodging Conference. The only performance measure currently lagging, panelists agreed, is average daily rate. Full story...

Eaglewood Resort & Spa becomes ALHI’s fifth member in Illinois, joining such distinguished members in Chicago as The Peninsula Chicago, InterContinental Chicago, Sofitel Chicago Water Park, and Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. Full story...

Online travel agencies are turning out to be very expensive retail channels for the hotel industry, according to research firm STR. STR recently estimated that OTA sales cost U.S. hotels $2.5 billion in potential revenue last year. That estimate, reported earlier this month, emerged when STR attempted to quantify the financial stakes in the often uneasy relationship between hotel owners and OTAs. Full story...

Cities from Los Angeles to Kansas City to Palm Beach are considering adding convention center hotels, welcome signs of life for developers. “The convention center business as a whole continues to grow,” said Charles Pinkham III, vice president of development at Portman Holdings, a real estate development company. “The pace of that demand is outgrowing the supply, both in convention space and hotel space. Convention centers really flourish when they have adjacent headquarter hotels. On top of that, large, significant convention center hotels can really drive revenue.” Full story...

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) has launched a second part to its popular informational campaign testing hoteliers’ knowledge on what they need to know – and do – to be compliant with the revised 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for commercial facilities, also referred to as ADA Title III regulations. Full story...

The highest impact phase of a nearly $20 million multi-year makeover of Kansas City’s largest convention hotel is now under way. The project focuses on transforming the hotel’s traditional lobby into Marriott’s new “great room” concept and is scheduled for completion in May, 2012.  “The M.I. Greatroom is a reimagining of the traditional lobby design,” says Cynthia Savage, director of marketing. “It allows modern travelers to function fluidly within a social context defined by their interconnected business, social and personal lives.” A component of that functionality is complimentary wireless Internet service throughout the room. 
The aim of the refurbishment and repurposing project is to improve the downtown Marriott hotel’s competitive position against convention hotels in other cities. It coincides with the increased national media attention Kansas City’s downtown renaissance is reaping from a $6 billion investment. The Sprint Center, Power & Light District, Convention Center’s expanded ballroom and recently opened Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts have given our community something to sing about,” says Savage. “We are adding another verse that is resonating with travelers and meeting planners.”

If the growth in the number of hotel rooms being offered on daily coupon websites like Groupon and LivingSocial has proven anything, it's that one hotelier's spark to ignite demand is another's fire sale. With 2010 leisure sales lagging previous years, Colorado's Vail Cascade Resort & Spa launched the first of its three flash-sale offers with LivingSocial, and the results were immediate. Full story...

Chicago's acclaimed Elysian will no longer be an independent luxury boutique hotel, Crain's Chicago reports. It's going to become a Waldorf Astoria, Hilton's luxury brand. Other luxury brands from the U.S. and abroad had also visited the hotel to possibly run it. The hotel will take a brand name because the other part of the news is that billionaire financier Sam Zell is buying the hotel for about $95 million. Full story...

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts announced that Hotel Sierra Green Bay officially changed its name to Hyatt on Main, Green Bay. Hyatt on Main, Green Bay, offers comfortable luxury and Midwestern hospitality in Wisconsin's oldest city. The hotel features 241 guestrooms and 17 flexible meeting and event venues. Full story...

Corporate travel will continue to lead the recovery for the remainder of 2011 and into the beginning part of 2012, and because of strong meeting-business demand hotels have established pricing power not seen in several years, according to electronic booking data from Pegasus Solutions. Full story...

Boutique hotelier Ian Schrager opened the first hotel under his new Public brand in Chicago last week. The hotel is located in the Gold Coast-district building that was formerly the Ambassador East Hotel, which was built in 1926. The Ambassador East was known for its Pump Room restaurant, which hosted celebrities from Humphrey Bogart to Queen Elizabeth. Full story...

When you're in the events business, having an affinity for hotel living is virtually a job requirement. After 19 nights on the road, I've just returned with a roll-aboard full of reminders on those little hotel details that can make a big difference to your conference guests' overall experience. Here are are few to keep in mind before you book your next block. Full story...

While Hurricane Irene and its ensuing damage served as a learning experience for the lodging industry, hoteliers along the eastern seaboard provided exceptional service and safety to guests. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) polled members to determine the extent of their damage and recommendations and tips. Full story...

Noble House Hotels & Resorts has assumed management of the University Hotel Minneapolis, formerly the Radisson University Hotel-Minneapolis. The hotel is the 16th addition to the Noble House Hotels & Resorts (NHHR) hospitality portfolio, which includes properties nationwide. Full story...

A handful of new brands launched just before the downturn assured rapid growth by way of new construction and promised to breathe new life into a tiring hotel landscape. I, for one, was excited to liven up business trips with overnight stays at Edition, NYLO, Element and 1 Hotels, to name a few. Full story...

The Hilton Milwaukee City Center has received AAA Four Diamond status and is one of only seven Wisconsin lodging properties that received AAA's Four Diamond Award in 2011. Of the nearly 60,000 hotels and restaurants evaluated this year by AAA across North America, just 3.5% earned the Four Diamond rating. The highest AAA rating levels are reserved exclusively for establishments that create a remarkable experience for guests. Full story...

Our research indicates there are 141 open indoor waterpark resort properties in the U.S. and Canada as of July 2011. There have been or will be one indoor waterpark expansion to an existing hotel, five expansions to existing indoor waterpark resorts, and three new construction indoor waterparks projected for 2011. Our survey found that, in 2011, the growth in indoor waterparks in terms of square footage will be one of the smallest in more than 10 years. There are also six privately operated, standalone indoor waterparks without attached hotels in the U.S. Full story...

I sometimes change roles to the demand side when it is time for KTN to conduct our own conferences and meetings. I recently had such an experience as our KTN team was planning a two-day conference in three locations. Now granted, this was not a huge piece of business by anyone's measure, as we were planning for a two-day meeting for 35 people and only a block of 10 rooms. However the dates were completely flexible, and our date range was right in the middle of hurricane season and our locations were small cities right on the Gulf or Atlantic Ocean. So it would seem that all the hotels would need some extra business then. Full story...

I was recently selected to be part of a leadership training program for DoubleTree by Hilton North America that focused on self development. The purpose was to further improve your already well-honed management skills with the intent to improve overall understanding of yourself. In doing so, you learn to leverage your own strength, to understand and control your potential challenges, and to deal with and lead through change. Full story...

Ohio's largest convention center resort is getting even larger. A $22 million expansion will more than double the size of the Kalahari Convention Center in Sandusky and is expected to open December 2011. The 120,000 sq. ft. addition will bring Kalahari's convention center total square footage to 215,000. Full story...

Trump Hotel Collection has selected OPERA2Go, a new mobile offering from MICROS. The Soho and Chicago properties are to pilot first, followed by the remaining properties. MICROS OPERA2Go will provide a new level of mobility for Trump Hotel Collection employees, utilizing smartphones and tablets to facilitate functions including check-in, check-out, reservation look-ups, room moves, and more. Full story...

Three high-profile lawsuits involving members of the hospitality industry are open and attorneys are taking depositions. Here is an update and analysis on each. Case: M Waikiki v. Marriott Hotel Services and Ian Schrager. Filed: 26 May. Status: Open; deposition deadline 18 October 2013. Summary: The owner of Edition Waikiki claims in a lawsuit that Marriott International and partner Ian Schrager haven’t put enough resources toward the launch of the Edition brand and backed out of promises to help the hotel succeed. Full story...

Benchmark Hospitality International has just released its Top Five Dining Trends for 2011. The trends were observed by its 40 properties coast to coast and off shore, and were announced by Giorgi Di Lemis, vice president of food and beverage. "The U.S. will continue to lead culinary innovation by embracing international flavors and preparations, converting these into contemporary dishes that elevate the dining experience," said Di Lemis. Full story...