Sea to land. IGY Marinas, New York, has promoted Charles “Charlie” Irons to vice president of hospitality to grow its hospitality pipeline. IGY is exploring a new-build hotel project in St. Thomas at The Marina at Yacht Haven Grande and will look at investment, management and development projects in other waterfront locations. It recently re-opened its owned and managed Montauk Yacht Club Resort & Marina in The Hamptons outside New York.
RLHC growth. Red Lion Hotels Corp. has agreed to open new franchised Americas Best Value Inns in Bastrop, Louisiana and Bakersfield, California. It also announced plans to open two new franchised Red Lion Inns & Suites in Vancouver, Washington, and Auburn, Washington.
Meyer Jabara teams up. LWHA Asset Management Services and Meyer Jabara Hotels have teamed to operate a portfolio of five hotels in North and South Carolina. LWHA will serve as asset manager, while Meyer Jabara Hotels will oversee day-to-day operations. Meyer Jabara Hotels has equity in this portfolio, with the majority ownership stake being held by NCSC Hospitality Portfolio, a conglomerate of private real estate investors. This will be the first time LWHA and Meyer Jabara will work collaboratively on hotel assets.
Trump hosting fund-raiser. Amid ethics concerns that the President Trump’s hotels are benefitting from governmental events, it was announced on Wednesday that the president’s first re-election fundraiser will be held at the Trump hotel in Washington, D.C. The US$35,000 per ticket event will be held on June 28, according to campaign executive director Michael Glassner.
Big deal in Auckland. Australia’s Pro-invest Developments has announced plans to develop a NZ$200 million 490-room Holiday Inn Express and Even hotel tower in Auckland, New Zealand.
Airbnb research. A new poll commissioned by AirbnbWATCH discovered that most Americans believe that people and companies who use short-term rental websites like Airbnb and VRBO to rent out apartments on a short-term basis should be subject to the same basic zoning, health, and fire safety regulations that are complied with by all lodging businesses. Fully, 91% of Americans agree that individuals and companies using short-term rental sites to run a business should be required to follow local and community zoning, health and safety rules; 87% agreed they should be subject to the same safety and fire regulations as hotels; 85% agreed these commercial operators should be required to register with the city and pay taxes.
New execs for Hard Rock. Hard Rock International has announced three key executive appointments. As the brand’s current executive vice president of hotel and operations, Jon Lucas will now serve as chief operating officer for Hard Rock International. Dale Hipsh, presently vice president of hotel operations development, has been promoted to senior vice president, overseeing the entire hotel portfolio for Hard Rock International. Sean Caffery has joined the team as senior vice president casino development for Hard Rock International.
AH&LA fights bad bookings. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) is announcing the launch of a new consumer awareness campaign, Search Smarter, aimed at helping consumers avoid online travel booking scams and misleading advertising practices. Currently, the AH&LA says there are 55 million “bad” hotel bookings worth US$3.9 billion each year. AHLA’s message: Look before you book, slow down, and search smarter.