For Roland de Bonadona, COO of Accor Latin America, the expansion of the hotel sector has been posit

In this week s roundup of news from the Americas region: Hotels throughout the region report big gains; the midscale hotel discount booking segment performs strongly; and Starwood Hotels ramps up its select-service development.
The Americas region recorded positive results in the three key performance metrics when reported in U.S. dollars for August 2012, according to data compiled by STR and STR Global , respectively parent hotel discount booking and sister companies of HotelNewsNow.com.
Among the region s key markets, San Juan, Puerto Rico, rose 6.6% in occupancy to 79.2%, reporting the largest increase in that metric. San Francisco experienced the only double-digit ADR increase, rising 12.8% to $180.19. Two markets achieved RevPAR increases of more than 10%: San Francisco hotel discount booking (+12.6% to $162.96) and Los Angeles (+12.4% to $112.85).
Strong absolute occupancies are pushing midscale hotels performance upward, Freitag said, referencing data from STR. Year-to-date hotel discount booking through August, midscale hotels had an occupancy percentage of 56.7% while upper-midscale properties saw 64.8% occupancy. Average daily rate for the two segments was approximately $75 and $98, respectively, Freitag said, referencing data from STR, parent company of HotelNewsNow.com.
Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide s specialty select brand group is forecasting fast-paced global growth. Starwood s select-service portfolio, which includes Aloft, Element and Four Points by Sheraton, is expected to open its 250th hotel in early 2013, with 10 more hotels scheduled to open over the next four months, according to a news release.
Aloft : Aloft is embracing existing hotel discount booking hotel conversions and adaptive-reuse projects. Aloft s first two conversions, Aloft San Francisco Airport and Aloft Nashville West End opened in September. Conversions or adaptive-reuse projects are also underway in Tucson, Arizona; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; Miami; and Detroit.
Four Points by Sheraton : Four Points has Starwood s second-largest pipeline, including 20 new hotels planned over the next 12 months globally. Four Points has Starwood s second largest development pipeline in China.
Accor reports hotel discount booking in a news release it has a secured pipeline of 90 contracts in Brazil to be delivered hotel discount booking by 2016. The group network in Brazil will increase by 13,819 new rooms and will generate more than 3,600 jobs, the company said.
For Roland de Bonadona, COO of Accor Latin America, the expansion of the hotel sector has been positively impacted by the political and economic momentum in Brazil, meaning greater investment and higher investor confidence.
Aiming to create a business based on the principle of familial loyalty, Juan Riu and his son Luis Riu Bertr n founded a hotel company in the 1950s that still honors those values today. With that philosophy set, the Riu patriarchy knew they would be successful no matter hotel discount booking how many hotels were in their portfolio, writes HotelNewsNow.com s Alissa Ponchione .
Building the first Riu in Mallorca in 1953, Riu G ell s grandfather and father set the basis of what our company still is today, he said. Today, the company has 108 hotels in 16 countries, he said, mastering its family-focused formula and looking to entrench it globally.
Best Western earlier this month announced an extended-stay prototype that could comprise as few as 20 rooms or all of the rooms of the 85-room prototype drawn up by Best Western executives. The 84,000-square-foot structure can be three to four stories tall and would feature kitchenettes that define the extended-stay segment. The rooms themselves would be approximately 300 square feet in size.
Ron Pohl, senior VP of brand management and member services, said while there is developer interest, the product at the time had zero properties in its pipeline because it had only been newly announced.
Starwood Hotels has debuted the Four Points by Sheraton brand in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with Four Points by Sheraton Puntacana Village, according to a news release. It is the first of two hotels Starwood slated to open this year in the Dominican Republic with its partner Grupo Puntacana, and will be followed by The Westin Puntacana Resort hotel discount booking in late 2013.
The newly constructed hotel features 124 guestrooms, an outdoor pool and access to five miles of private beach. Four Points by Sheraton Puntacana Village also provides 1,614 square feet of meeting facilities, a 24-hour business center, a fitness facility and full-service dining.
The travelers, who are drawn to the states by a strong Canadian dollar and a loosening of restrictions on duty-free goods, accounted for 1.9 million overnight trips to the U.S. in June alone the highest level in 40 years, according to Statistics Canada.
Weekend hotel occupancies surged to near-record highs in some markets as well, according to data from STR. Buffalo, New York, reported 90%, 94.7% and 94.7% weekend occupancies hotel discount booking during June, July and August of this year, respectively. During those same months, the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar was virtually even at CA$1.03, CA$1.00 and CA$0.99, respectively. As of 23 October, the exchange rate was CA$0.9968.
The 96-room DoubleTree by Hilton Mexico hotel discount booking City Airport formerly hotel discount booking an independent hotel is minutes from the Benito Juarez Mexico City Airport. The DoubleTree hotel discount booking by Hilton Mexico City is owned and operated by Operadora de Hoteles y Restaurantes ITER, S.A. de C.V. Renovations to the DoubleTree by Hilton Mexico City Airport are ongoing and include guest rooms and baths and the hotel s fitness center.
Wyndham Hotel Group has opened the newly constructed, 250-room hotel discount booking Tryp by Wyndham Bogot Embajada, according to a news release. The hotel is the second in the country to join the select-service brand s portfolio, following the June 2011 opening of its first Colombian property in Medell n.
Wyndham s presence in Latin America continues to grow with the company marking its 100th hotel in the region in September. The company s Latin American portfolio currently consists of over 100 properties and more than 12,000 rooms.
Hyatt Montevideo will offer 167 guestrooms, hotel discount booking including 14 suites, which will range in size from 484 square feet to 861 square feet. The hotel will also offer an all-day dining restaurant, a lobby lounge, a fitness center, an indoor pool, and more than 6,200 square feet of meeting and event space.
A Four Points by Sheraton will open in Edmundston, New Brunswick in July 2013, according to a news release. The former Clarion hotel will undergo a $2.5-million renovation prior to flying the Four Points flag.
Four Points by Sheraton Edmundston will offer 102 fully renovated guestrooms, 671 square feet of meeting space, a heated indoor pool, a 24-hour fitness center and full-service dining. The hotel is attached to the Edmundston Convention Centre with 14,000 square feet available for
Hilton Worldwide has opened the new-build 103-room Hilton Garden Inn Tucuman, the brand s first hotel in Argentina, according to a news release. The company also announced the official appointment of Agustin Maddocks, former rooms division manager at Hilton Buenos Aires, as GM. The Hilton Garden Inn Tucuman features 103 guestrooms.
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