Hotel Reservation In Virginia Beach|"Developer Attempted Downtown Hotel Block"

Source              :  napavalleyregister.com
Category        :  Hotel Reservation In Virginia Beach
By                  :   JENNIFER HUFFMAN
Posted By     :  Hotels in Virginia Beach South Courtyard

Hotel Reservation In Virginia Beach

Just weeks after Todd Zapolski announced plans to bring a seven-story hotel to First Street, recent efforts to build another upscale hotel in downtown have surfaced. A Florida developer spent six months trying to consolidate ownership of an entire city block in hopes of creating a “four-plus” star hotel decorated with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fine art. The block, totaling 1.87 acres, is bordered by Seminary, Polk, Franklin and Clay streets, in a mixed commercial-residential area just north of the Clay Street garage. It’s  currently home to a WestAmerica bank branch, Mini Mango restaurant, MIV Insurance Services and two residences. Florida-based hotel developer Richard Kessler said he spent six months over the past year studying the block. His company is known for developing “very high-end four- and four-and-half-star hotels,” Kessler said in a phone interview Wednesday.

He’s developed more than 10 “luxury and boutique” properties in Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. A number of them go by the names of the Grand Bohemian or the Bohemian Hotel. Kessler said he plans to build his first California property, to be named the Bohemian Hotel, in Healdsburg. He’s also hoping to launch a similar project in Sonoma. Each Kessler Collection property is filled with between $500,000 to $1.5 million in fine art, including grand pianos and other accoutrements, Kessler said. “It becomes almost a museum in itself,” the developer said. Kessler said his search for a development site in Napa had included a variety of sites in downtown Napa, including Todd Zapolski’s newly announced Archer Napa hotel site on the north side of First, west of Coombs Street.

He said he ultimately decided not to partner with Zapolski because he wanted to do a slightly smaller and higher-end hotel. The WestAmerica block — a larger site totaling nearly two acres — was attractive because of its proximity to downtown, he said. Kessler said his firm visited with several property owners on the block, including Mae Woo, owner of the WestAmerica site, and Kent Imrie, owner of MIV Insurance Services. A very high-end luxury hotel is the type of project the city needs “to build a more sophisticated image,” Kessler said. The city “has tremendous potential of moving to another level,” but the lodging must be in place to do so, he said. Imrie represents the AH Smith partnership that owns an older home at 1461 Polk St. as well as the commercial office site at 1584 Clay St., where his business is located. The Polk Street home is on a list of “threatened treasures” created by Napa County Landmarks. “He was interested in building a boutique hotel in Napa,” Imrie said of Kessler. “He learned about our property and asked us about it. We were talking informally about numbers.” Imrie, acknowledging that his property sits at an area that is ripe for development, said the discussions did not progress, namely because he wants his insurance business to remain where it is. “It didn’t make sense for us, and we moved on,” he said.

However, Kessler’s idea for a luxury hotel on Clay Street “makes sense with what’s happening on the west end of Napa and the renewed popularity of Napa,” Imrie said. “We’re in an interesting area. I had no idea the west end would take off. All the things happening in this part of town have made our property something to look at differently,” he said. Kessler said that after meeting several times with the WestAmerica bank property owner Woo, “she concluded she had no interest in selling it.” And after talking with Imrie about buying his holdings, “the cost they needed to get from their land made it unfeasible to consider assembling” the block parcel, he said. “That’s the end of the story for us on that site.” Woo did not return a phone message asking to be interviewed. Jennifer LaLiberté, economic development manager for the city of Napa, said there was ongoing developer interest in the block that includes WestAmerica, Mini Mango and Imrie’s insurance office.

“Certain uses would probably work better than others,” LaLiberté said. Because the block is adjacent to a historic residential district and the Blue Oak School, any development must be “thoughtful about the location and how it integrates with its surrounding land uses,” she noted. LaLiberté noted that the Andaz hotel on First Street has a license to use part of the Clay Street parking garage. “We’ve been asked by various folks whether the city could allow another hotel to use the Clay Street garage,” she said. “I think that’s highly unlikely; that garage is already partially licensed to the Andaz, and we need the remaining capacity to serve the public. When the Town Center is fully leased, that garage will be much more utilized than it is today, in addition to the Pearl Street garage.” Zapolski’s proposed hotel, the Archer Napa, is considering utilizing the Pearl Street garage similar to the way that Andaz uses the Clay Street garage, she said.

“It seems like the only tangible solution is to put the parking under” any new development, LaLiberté said.

Michael Holcomb Sr., owner of the Mini Mango building on Clay, said he would have liked to “do something” with his Mini Mango parcel as part of a larger project on the block. The lack of parking in downtown is the biggest holdup in any redevelopment plan, he said. He’s talked to Woo about a development featuring a small hotel of about 130 rooms or a 100-unit apartment complex that would encompass the WestAmerica site as well as his own property, Holcomb said. But “unless you can deal with the parking epidemic, you have nothing else to talk about,” Holcomb said. Until then, “the idea of doing something on our site is remote.” While the WestAmerica block deal didn’t work out, Kessler said his interest in Napa remains. He had also been in talks with the city to develop the municipal parking lot behind Cole’s Chop House on Main Street into a luxury hotel. The city decided not to proceed with those plans, he said. In addition, “we think the Copia site has some merit” for a hotel project, Kessler said. He may have talked to Keith Rogal about possibly developing a hotel at part of the former Copia campus at 500 First St., but Kessler would not elaborate.

Source:http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/developer-attempted-downtown-hotel-block/article_2f0481c6-1814-11e3-b229-001a4bcf887a.html

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels|"City Centre Hotels Enjoy Their Best Year Since Boom"

Source              :  independent.ie
Category        :  Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels
By                  :   Dalata's Pat McCann
Posted By     :  Hotels in Virginia Beach South Courtyard

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels

That uplift in customers has seen job numbers at Mr McCann's 30-strong Dalata hotel group increase by 600 since the bottom of the market in 2010. This year, the summer heatwave had been a boon to hoteliers, especially in the capital, but the rest of the country, particularly urban areas, have also fared well. "It's the best year since 2007," he told the Irish Independent. "That's even allowing for the fact that last year business in Dublin was helped by the Tall Ships Race and the Navy v Notre Dame US college football game held in the city." The Government's 'Gathering' tourism initiative also propelled business this year, and Mr McCann said forward demand for 2014 was "very encouraging". Demand from corporate clients, as a result of events such as conferences, has also improved.

Mr McCann said the good weather had undoubtedly helped hotels around the country, especially those in coastal areas, but that some properties in regions such as the midlands probably still struggled a bit. The weather also had the effect of ensuring hotels were busy and room rates were higher, but kept visitors out of the hotels during the day, impacting food and beverage sales, he said. Room rates in Dublin are now on average just 10-15pc off their peak during the boom, Mr McCann added. The Dalata group has a stable of 30 hotels, all but one of them in Ireland. It manages 13 properties on behalf of receivers, five under contract with hotel owners and the remainder it owns and operates under the Maldron brand.

Since 2010, Dalata has hired an extra 21 people to work in its central office, bringing the total to 30, while Mr McCann said that on a like-for-like basis, the company had about 3,500 people on its payroll now – 600 more than it did in 2010, which he described as a terrible year for the trade. Dalata was founded in 2007. Mr McCann invested €1m of his own money in the venture, in which he has a 13pc stake. A team of Dalata executives sounded out interest in London among potential investors last May as the group considers making acquisitions of additional properties here.

Source:independent.ie/business/irish/city-centre-hotels-enjoy-their-best-year-since-boom-29559900.html

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels|"Tenants Placed In Hotels After Basement Fire"

Source              :  thespec.com
Category        :  Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels
By                  :   Stacey Escott
Posted By     :  Hotels in Virginia Beach South Courtyard

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels

The Red Cross is helping 21 people with temporary lodgings after a basement fire displaced the tenants of a six-unit, three-storey walk-up. Emergency crews were called at 4:40 p.m. Saturday to a multiple alarm fire at 455 King William St. between Steven and Ashley streets just east of Victoria Avenue. "The electrical system was damaged by the fire and it can't be restored. I don't know how extensive the repairs are going to be," said Claudio Mostacci, public information officer for the Hamilton Fire Department. On Sunday, Red Cross spokesperson Tanya Elliott said they have assisted 21 people with food and lodging at a local hotel and have provided them with whatever personal hygiene items were needed.

She did not know if they were able to go back home on Sunday night. Mostacci said the fire started in a basement workshop in the six-unit dwelling. The workshop did not belong to any of the units.There was a lot of smoke when fire crews arrived at the scene but the fire was quickly knocked down and contained to the basement.Everyone got out of the building safely and there were no injuries. On Saturday, Mostacci said residents would have to stay elsewhere for at least one night, depending on the electrical work required. An Electrical Safety Authority inspector will then make sure it is safe to restore the power. Damage is estimated at $5,000. Mostacci said the cause of the fire was electrical and not suspicious.

Source :thespec.com/news-story/4069321-update-tenants-placed-in-hotels-after-basement-fire/

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels|"Paying For Hotels In Turkey"

Source              :  telegraph.co.uk

Category        :  Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels

By                  :   Terry Richardson

Posted By     :  Hotels in Virginia Beach South Courtyard

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels

We have been recommended a hotel in Patara, Turkey. It looks excellent but we do not have much information on using credit/debit cards locally and the cost of doing so. I hope you can shed some light on this and on what is the best way of paying the hotel bill.The majority of the larger hotels will accept credit/debit cards, as indeed do most small hotels and pensions (guesthouse-type accommodation). A few places are, however, reluctant to accept cards as they lose a percentage of the payment to the card company. Indeed, even if the hotel does accept cards, you can often get a better deal by paying with cash.

As you already know the hotel you wish to stay in, I suggest you contact it by email and see what its terms are – most of the hotel and pension owners in Patara speak English, or will have a family member or friend at hand who does. Terry Richardson is the author of The Rough Guide to Istanbul, co-author of The Rough Guide to Turkey, and writes frequently about Istanbul for a well-known English-language Turkish newspaper. He also helps to research and lead trips to Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey for a specialist archaeology/history travel company.

Source : telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-advice/10283772/Paying-for-hotels-in-Turkey.html

Local Attraction At South Virginia|"From 70s Office Block To Hotel"

Source              :  canberratimes.com.au
Category        :  Local Attraction At South Virginia
By                  :   Meredith Clisby
Posted By     :  Hotels in Virginia Beach South Courtyard

Local Attraction At South Virginia

An empty and unwanted former office building in Woden has just started its new life as a modern hotel. Juliana House, the former home of the Commonwealth Department of Ageing, has been transformed in an adaptive re-use project by Canberra developers Geocon. The 11-story 1970s office block is now the company's third Abode hotel in addition to sites at Tuggeranong and Gungahlin. The building is on track to become the first Green Star-rated hotel by the Green Building Council of Australia. The $31.5 million project was completed within six months and opened two weeks ago. Managing director Nick Georgalis said he had targeted the Woden town centre as the base for an innovative project and had come across the office block, which had been vacant for a few years. The company purchased the building in July 2012 for $7.5 million. Mr Georgalis said when he had first walked into the office block all of the furniture remained and calendars, pens and note paper were still on desks. “It was as if there was a fire alarm and everyone had just left,” he said.

Mr Georgalis said the office furniture went to Ex-Government Furniture and the company was able to recycle almost everything else. Geocon kept the building façade, roof and glazing and former staff may also recognise the stone cladding and elevators. The 150-room hotel is becoming popular with travellers and will hit 65-70 per cent booked during the weekend. There is also a restaurant in the works which will be opened at a later date. Mr Georgalis said the approval process and “dragging it over the line” had been the greatest challenges for the project despite having the support of the ACT government. The company is waiting on a decision by the ACT Planning and Land Authority for its ambitious plan to build Canberra's tallest tower in Belconnen – which will include a fourth hotel. A spokeswoman for the authority said a decision on this project was “imminent”. Geocon is targeting Civic as the next possible location for an extension to the brand and another adaptive re-use project is a possibility. “We have that experience now and I hope that the market recognises that and presents more opportunities for us to consider,” Mr Georgalis said. The hotel conversion took about 8000 square metres out of the office block vacancy market.

Source : canberratimes.com.au/act-news/from-70s-office-block-to-hotel-20130905-2t6s1.html

Local Attraction At South Virginia|"Struggling Trenton Hotel Seeks Settlement With Marriott"

Source              :  trentonian.com
Category        :  Local Attraction At South Virginia
By                  :   David Foster
Posted By     :  Hotels in Virginia Beach South Courtyard

Local Attraction At South Virginia

It appears Marriott and the former hotel manager forgot to fully check out before leaving the city’s struggling hotel. At a special emergency meeting Wednesday night, the Lafayette Yard Community Development Corporation board, which owns the hotel, authorized its chairwoman to negotiate a resolution of payment disputes with Marriott and management company Waterford Hotel Group. “It’s our position that a potential settlement may be reached,” LYCDC attorney Gregory Johnson said after the meeting, noting the dispute includes invoices, payments and issues of service. “We believe there’s an opportunity for resolution.” Johnson added the amount contended is “in the neighborhood” of six figures. Marriott and Waterford pulled out of the location in mid-June after their contracts had expired. The hotel — now called the Lafayette Yard Hotel & Conference Center — is currently running as an independent. A new management team, Marshall Hotels & Resorts, took over operations from Waterford.The LYCDC board also took action of forming two committees of its own members to review proposals for a bankruptcy attorney and a broker to handle the sale of the hotel.

Source:trentonian.com/article/20130904/NEWS01/130909908/struggling-trenton-hotel-seeks-settlement-with-marriott

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels|"This Hotel Hosts Fleeing Families"

Source              :  ndtv.com
Category        :  Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels
By                  :   Agence France-Presse
Posted By     :  Hotels in Virginia Beach South Courtyard

Courtyard Virginia Beach Hotels

These are the new "tourists" in Damascus: families fleeing the violence in their hometowns who now live in decrepit hotels, packed into tiny spaces where they even cook in bathrooms. Since the March 2011 outbreak of the conflict, 4.25 million Syrians have been internally displaced, while more than two million more have fled the country in what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees coined Tuesday a "disgraceful humanitarian calamity". In one lower end hotel in the working class district of Marjeh, Hana fondly recalls her big traditional home made of basalt stone in an old district of Homs, the third largest city in Syria that has been devastated by war. "There was a pretty patio, many windows overlooking the road. I've been told it's been completely destroyed," she says, stopping at times to choke back tears as her two sons and daughter look on. Hana lost her husband at the beginning of the war, which started out as a rebellion against the regime of Bashar al-Assad and has since evolved into a fully-fledged armed conflict. Her husband was kidnapped and killed by unknown assailants. Over the past two years, the 30-something widow has changed hotel three times. For seven months, she has lived in this room where four beds are crammed in front of a television set. In a corner lies a suitcase, the only one she was able to bring as they fled the deadly violence engulfing Homs. "We spend all day looking at television series or cooking," she says."Look at my 'kitchen'," she adds, pointing to a little rusty stove standing next to the toilet.

syria_hotel_refugees_afp_1_295.jpgIn other rooms, the wallpaper is withered with damp, neon lights flickering constantly as moisture oozes from air conditioning units. The hotel used to be full of Iranian pilgrims who had flocked to visit Sayyida Zeinab, a Shiite holy shrine near the Syrian capital. But now, the displaced from Homs mix with those from the Damascus area, occupying half of the 40 rooms, according to hotel employees. Hana says she sometimes borrows the washing machine from her "neighbours, who are displaced from Harasta", a suburb of Damascus where army forces are battling the rebels. "My husband was a taxi driver in Homs and earned a good living, I didn't want for anything," she says with a sad smile as she adjusts her multi-coloured veil. A woman helped her before recently leaving the country, and Hana is now entirely without resources. "I owe the hotel three months" in rent, she says. Her 16-year-old son prepares embers used for nargile water pipes in a nearby cafe. "He sometimes gets tips of 500 Syrian pounds (around $2) a day, which helps us to survive," says Hana. "When I think about my situation, my head's ready to explode."

For many displaced, it is the feeling of loss that hurts the most. "I had a shop selling mobile phones, I felt important. Now, when we go ask a charity for help, we feel just like beggars," says Abu Amer, who has lived in the same hotel for a year and a half. "You know who helps us most? The churches in Bab Tuma" in old Damascus, he adds. The lobby and stairs in the hotel have turned into a playground for the children of the displaced, who like to skid down the ramp or chat on the floor. "I'm from Jubar," says a pale-looking boy of one of the flashpoint suburbs of Damascus. In the hotel dining room, deserted by the waiters, Abu Amer and his friends sit at the tables, playing cards. Rarely do tourists venture into the hotels in this Damascus district now, bar a few Arab businessmen. So the establishments have lowered their room rates, and some say they house displaced people for free. But they too have to earn money and meet their costs. "We used to pay 25,000 Syrian pounds a month, but now the hotel wants 30,000 pounds as fuel costs are increasing," says Abu Amer. By and large, though, most of the displaced say they prefer their rudimentary lifestyle to that of being a refugee. "At least we're in our own country," says Hana.

Source : ndtv.com/article/world/this-hotel-hosts-fleeing-families-not-tourists-414115