Hilton - Denizen Hotel (on hold)

[Ornello Mastrocola]

This is very interesting news. I follow the Hotel business and Montreal is quite recognized today as being a leading tourist destination with a highly regarded reputation. We all know that Montreal's hotel development was near to none for 20 plus years. So no surprise that we're like a newly re-discovered market. Montreal is in good company with many of those cities mentioned. In fact, Montreal and downtown Hollywood share a similar story. The place was literally abandoned in the 1970's and hit the skids until the late 1990's' early 2000's.

 

Your bang on!! Good point.

[Malek]

Un peu dans le même sujet, l'intercontinental est entrain de faire des rénos.

 

J'ai été dans une chambre fraîchement rénovée et c'était très bien, bravo.

[FFJ-MTL]

Apr 16, 2009

 

Starwood CEO's exclusive blog post about Hilton lawsuit

 

Hotel giant Starwood Hotels late tonight filed suit against rival Hilton Hotels, accusing it of stealing trade secrets to help it launch a rival luxury chain quickly and cheaply. The Wall Street Journal was the first news outlet to run a story about the filing.

 

Filed in federal court in New York, Starwood's suit alleges that Hilton stole more than 100,000 electronic and hard copy files containing trade secrets to help it expand its luxury hotel offerings. "The large volume of confidential information taken is extraordinary," the filing says.

 

Hilton last month announced the launch of Denizen, a chic, upscale chain that would rival Starwood's offerings. The brains behind Denizen include two executives who until last year ran Starwood's luxury hotels unit.

 

Among other things, Starwood asks the court to prevent Hilton from launching Denizen.

 

In a statement, Hilton senior vice president Ellen Gonda said that Hilton "believes this lawsuit is without merit and will vigorously defend itself." Hilton intends to move ahead with the development of Denizen, the statement said.

 

Starwood's suit suggests that Hilton was under pressure to perform because private equity firm Blackstone Group two years ago paid the "top-of-market" price of $20 billion for the hotel company.

 

Hilton stood to gain time and money from allegedly stealing Starwood's trade secrets, said Starwood's general counsel, Kenneth Siegel, in a statement.

 

"The wholesale looting of proprietary Starwood information, including a step-by-step playbook for creating a lifestyle luxury hotel brand, unfairly enabled Hilton to launch a new brand in only nine months instead of the usual three to five years," he said.

 

Starwood's suit names Hilton Hotels, as well as executives Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani, the former Starwood executives who last year went to work for Hilton. They knew Starwood's strategy for the St. Regis, W Hotels and Luxury Collection brands, the filing alleges.

 

More coverage by Marketplace and Reuters.

 

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/hotelcheckin/post/2009/04/65574153/1

 

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/04/22/Hilton-reverses-stance-on-Denizen-Hotels/UPI-80931240431349/

[monctezuma]

Travel Roundup: Injunction on Hilton's Denizen Brand, JetBlue's Sabre Makes Surcharges Easier, Motel Turns Affordable Housing and More

 

By Barbara E. Hernandez | April 24th, 2009 @ 9:58 am

 

 

 

U.S. District Court places temporary injunction on Hilton’s Denizen brand — Judge Stephen C. Robinson, U.S. District judge for the Southern District of New York, placed a preliminary injunction on any further work on the Hilton Hotels Corp.’s Denizen brand and using any of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.’s documents or electronic information. Hilton was also ordered to return any Starwood documents or files in their possession. Two executives at Hilton, former Starwood employees Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani, are accused of stealing trade secrets from Starwood and using the information to develop Hilton’s luxury brand, Denizen. The injunction will expire in 90 days. [source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts]

 

JetBlue may be considering first checked-bag fee — While JetBlue Airways may be be one of the few airlines not charging for the first checked bag, a conversation with CEO Dave Barger indicates that could change. Barger said he could see placing a surcharge on a checked bag for quicker service, but said if JetBlue were to go ahead with a surcharge, it would coincide with the carrier’s switchover to its new Sabre system in 2010, which can handle more transactions — and charges. [source: Boston Globe Travel Blog]

 

Springfield, Ill. motel becomes affordable housing — A former All Star Inn in Springfield, Ill. is being turned into 19 units of low-income housing. The former motel is now owned by Fifth Street Renaissance, a social service agency, who paid about $1.2 million for the 20-room motel with a 20-year loan from the Illinois Housing Development Authority. [source: Associated Press and State Journal-Register]

 

Amtrak’s Empire Builder to bypass Grand Forks, N.D. — Flooding has disrupted Amtrak’s Empire Builder line, requiring the rail company to use an alternate route from Fargo to Minot, N.D., bypassing its regular route through Grand Forks, Devils Lake and Rugby. An Amtrak spokesman couldn’t say when the original route would be open again. The Empire Builder line runs from Seattle to Chicago. [source: Grand Forks Herald]

 

Delta to add three new flights between Memphis and Dallas — Delta Air Lines Inc. will add three flights from Memphis to Dallas’s Love Field starting July 6. The carrier recently added nonstop flights from Memphis to Lubbock, Texas. [source: Memphis Business Journal]

[monctezuma]

Suite aux 2 nouvelles ci-dessus, j'indique ''on hold'' à côté du projet.

 

Selon moi, ça pourrait être long avant que l'on ait des nouvelles là dessus étant donné l'injonction, mais le projet n'est pas mort pour autant, à ce jour.