Wheelock Street Capital Announces Acquisition of Hotel Contessa

Wheelock Street Capital announced it has acquired Hotel Contessa, a 265 room, all-suite and AAA Four-Diamond luxury, independent hotel located at 306 West Market Street in San Antonio, TX.

The 12-story hotel, built in 2005, benefits from its central location along San Antonio’s highly sought-after Riverwalk with direct access to many of the city’s top cultural destinations, including The Alamo, San Antonio’s Central Business District and the recently expanded Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The Property offers 10,000 square feet of function space, a rooftop pool, a full-service restaurant and bar opening directly onto the Riverwalk and a full-service spa. Wheelock plans to complete a full renovation of the ground floor restaurant and bar in the coming months. The hotel currently operates independent of a national brand affiliation and maintains an outsized transient base in one of the nation’s premier drive-to leisure markets.

Iconic airline brand returning to the building that once was its hostess training college.....

Braniff Airways, Incorporated, dba Braniff International, the former international airline based in Dallas and now a leading global historic airline branding and marketing, retail and historic airliner tour firm, signed an historic licensing agreement May 21, 2020, for the licensing of a new Braniff hotel project at the former Airline’s Hostess College located at 2801 Wycliff Avenue in the Oaklawn district of Dallas, according to Braniff Chairman Richard Ben Cass.

The agreement was signed with Dallas historical property developer MM Property Holdings, Inc. (Centurion American), the new owner of the Hostess College property, which was purchased from Greenway Properties of Dallas. MM Property Holdings was the developer of the famed and historic 169-room Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas, which was fully restored to its former glory in 2018.

New Hyatt Hotel to come to Palm Beach County in Florida......

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has confirmed it has entered into a deal with a franchise partner for a new Destination Hotel - The Banyan Cay Resort & Golf in Palm Beach County, Florida which is expected to open for business late 2021.

With 150 guestrooms, Banyan Cay Resort & Golf will offer independent-minded travellers a 5,000 square-foot spa and fitness centre, tennis pavilion, swimming pools, and three food and beverage venues, including signature restaurants and golf clubhouse dining. Banyan Cay Resort & Golf will be situated just six miles from pristine beaches and conveniently located near West Palm Beach International Airport. 

oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance support a globally harmonised approach to health testing to build a framework of trust

World’s airline alliances join together to call on international governments to act quickly to adopt testing protocols 

and digital health pass technology to reopen borders

 

The three global airline alliances, oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance, are in full support of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) second-phase Council on Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) report released on 10 November. Together, they urge governments to implement the report guidelines for passenger testing protocols, as well as the adoption of digital health pass technology, so air travel may safely resume.

Government-imposed travel and entry restrictions continue to significantly impact global travel demand. Meanwhile, COVID-19 testing has emerged as an important part of an end-to-end solution to enable the safe restart of international travel by potentially reducing the reliance on the blunt instrument of blanket quarantines.

 

“We welcome the publication of the updated CART report which, among other things, calls for the serious consideration of screening and testing as a means for easing travel and border restrictions, and reviving the travel and tourism industry and the global economy,” said Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh. “A robust protocol for testing will also provide further evidence to demonstrate that air travel is not a material cause for infections and will pave the way for a framework of trust to be established between countries.”

 

Hilton have the answer when working from home becomes too much of a chore.......

Best work-from-hotel guestrooms

For many, the continued threat of COVID-19 has made working from home the new normal for the foreseeable future. While there have been many benefits to this new way of life, there have also been a few gripes – from unstable Wi-Fi signals to uncomfortable workstations and the need for a distraction-free hour or two for an important meeting or to spark inspiration. Based on this new reality, WorkSpaces by Hilton presents a new work-from-hotel solution for both corporate customers and individuals seeking private office space to increase efficiency in their workday.

To provide more value for Hilton’s loyal customers during this time, the company launched an exclusive Hilton Honors offer this week, allowing members to earn 10,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after completing their first WorkSpaces by Hilton stay at participating locations. Hilton Honors members can also enjoy exclusive benefits, including the ability to earn Points and stay credit. Elite members are also eligible for space-available room upgrades, premium Wi-Fi and Executive Lounge access (where available). 

You can now enjoy a clean, convenient and distraction-free workspace at participating Hilton hotels across the U.S., UK and some parts of Canada. Consider one of the below Hilton properties for your next “work-from-hotel” day.

Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Wraps Families in the Light of the Season

With Christmas approaching and the calendar set to turn from 2020, Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas (Nov. 7 – Jan. 3, 2021) is poised to wrap guests in the warm light of timeless family traditions, new memories and joyous time spent together. Thanks in part to the glow of more than five million gleaming Christmas lights and a dazzling new holiday fireworks show, guests can bask in the memories of yesterday while embracing the hope of tomorrow.

Dollywood guests are immediately enveloped in the illumination of millions of holiday lights, which create a festive Christmas atmosphere that has become a cherished family tradition for generations. While the lighting itself remains familiar to guests, brand new area-based themes and lighting designs throughout the park provide a sense of wonder and discovery around each turn. Guests will find themselves strolling through a literal winter wonderland, as more live lighted Christmas trees will adorn the park than during any Christmas festival before.

Massive fine for Marriott over mega long data breach

Marriott Hotels has been fined £18.4 million by the UK's data privacy watchdog for a data breach that first started in 2014 and lasted until 2018.

This mega data breach saw the names, email addresses, phone numbers, passport numbers

arrival and departure information, VIP status plus loyalty programme numbers exposed to the hackers of around 339 million guests. That vast number of people affected includes seven million UK based guests. 

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said Marriott failed to put appropriate safeguards in place. "Millions of people's data was affected by Marriott's failure," commissioner Elizabeth Denham said. "Thousands contacted a helpline and others may have had to take action to protect their personal data because the company they trusted it with had not."

Despite fining the hotel firm, the ICO said Marriott had acted quickly once it found the breach and had improved systems since. "The ICO recognises the steps taken by Marriott following discovery of the incident to promptly inform and protect the interests of its guests,"

This fine does not take into consideration a data loss from Marriott in 2019, which affected guests based in other countries and territories.