Hoteliers from around the globe met earlier this week in Los Angeles for the first big event of the year – the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) – and if the attendance and energy levels were any indication, folks are cautiously optimistic that 2012 will be a good and perhaps a great year for the hotel industry.

According to an article by online news resource Hotel News Now, top industry executives said the momentum felt in the hotel industry during 2011 should carry forward into 2012, with falling unemployment, a pickup in hotel deals, and increased travel spend signs that bode well for the immediate future of the sector. Adding to this sentiment was a report released on Monday by PwC that noted hotels in the US ended 2011 on a strong note, as well as one released on Tuesday by Ernst & Young indicating hospitality market fundamentals appear set to continue the recovery started in 2011.

But while a new year means a new beginning, it also brings new challenges to overcome and new opportunities to leverage. Savvy hoteliers will build on momentum achieved in 2011 by reinvigorating their properties and making enhancements to take advantage of key consumer trends in the marketplace. One prime example is meeting the needs of the always-connected, technologically sophisticated traveler.

 Fast Internet trumps brand loyalty any day, and a guest who experiences spotty or unreliable Wi-Fi coverage will take his/her business elsewhere the next time around. Additionally, as more guests bring their entertainment with them (such as Netflix, Hulu and other sites that offer streaming video), smart properties will shift investments from supplying content to supplying the high-speed Internet access needed for guests to access their own content faster and more efficiently. In 2009, the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel installed Link@Sheraton in the lobby, a cyber café-style lounge and communications hub where guests can use hotel-supplied computer workstations to send email and access free, wireless high-speed Internet (which is free throughout the entire lobby). Wi-Fi is also available in all Sheraton guest rooms.

Technology is one area where hotels will focus their efforts in 2012, making customers feel good about where they’re staying and the lodging industry in general. Next week we’ll take a look at key trends shaping the business travel and corporate meetings sectors for 2012 and how the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel is poised to capitalize on these trends.

The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, the largest hotel in Colorado, today announced the recent appointments of industry veteran Chuck Schuringa as Hotel Manager and Adam Roberts as Director of Engineering. Mr. Schuringa is the first addition to the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel’s executive committee since the property was acquired, rebranded and renamed in Feb. 2008.           

“We are delighted to welcome Chuck and Adam as we prepare to make 2012 the most successful year yet,” said Mike Ehmann, General Manager of the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.  “Chuck’s extensive repertoire of achievements, dedication to customer service and sharp business skills, along with Adam’s outstanding leadership qualities and wealth of experiences in the United States Air Force, make them invaluable assets to our dedicated and enthusiastic team as we aim to attract more meetings, conventions and events to downtown Denver.”

As Hotel Manager, Mr. Schuringa is responsible for overseeing the daily operations and guest experiences for Colorado’s largest hotel. He began his career in the hotel industry nearly 20 years ago as an overnight bellman at The Westin Denver, and quickly assumed additional roles and responsibilities as a member of a Pre-Opening Team and as Front Office Manager. In 2000, he transferred to the Westin Westminster as Service Express Manager and went on to fill several positions during his tenure including Director of Six Sigma and Rooms Manager. He returned to The Westin Denver in 2003 as the Director of Six Sigma and in 2006 was promoted to Director of Operations, a position he held until joining the Sheraton. During his tenure, The Westin received recognition for sustainability initiatives by the Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association, the City of Denver and HOST Hotels. Mr. Schuringa has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Mr. Roberts will join the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel at the end of January as the Director of Engineering, having spent the past 13 years in various positions within the U.S. Air Force. Most recently, he served as the Commander and Director of Facility Management at Buckley AFB, managing 231 people as well as the largest base-level construction in the Air Force. Other roles at Buckley AFB over the years included Director of Operations, Chief of Engineering, Chief of Design and Construction and Chief of Construction Management. Mr. Roberts also taught graduate level engineering and construction management at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and spent nearly two years as the Chief of Construction Development in Iraq for both U.S. Central Command and Multinational Security Transition Command. He has a Master of Engineering degree in Construction Management from Oregon State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio Northern University.

 Visitors come to Denver for numerous experiences, from citywide conventions to access to world-class skiing, shopping, arts and entertainment. The city has it all. But more and more, visitors are coming for the beer! Not only is the Mile High City home to the world’s largest single brewery, but it also has the nation’s largest brewpub, the highest number of home brewers and is host to the Great American Beer Festival, the brewing industry’s most prestigious event of the year. And Denver is not alone. Throughout Colorado, there are more breweries per capita than any other state, making Colorado the “Napa Valley” of beer.  On any given day, there are over 100 beers that are made and sold only in Colorado.

With the recent opening of the Yard House, the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel has become Denver’s Best Beer Hotel. The Yard House is known for the world’s largest selection of draft beer, with over 130 tap handles. Guests can sip their favorite draft beer from the popular half yard, traditional pint or six pack samplers which can be paired with more than 100 menu items.  Katie Mullen’s Irish Restaurant and Pub is Denver’s largest Irish pub and pours more Guinness than any other pub in Colorado! Katie’s has just installed one of Ireland’s most unique imports yet, an automatic beer dispensing unit that is an all-in-one beer tapping system and circular table that allows customers to pour their own beer at their own table whenever they choose. 16Mix Cocktail Lounge, an ultra modern bar, features 12 tap handles offering a variety of Colorado’s finest brews. With Katie Mullen’s, 16Mix and the Yard House combined, there are more varieties of beer poured under the Sheraton roof than any other hotel in the state.

 “The Sheraton Denver Downtown has become a one-stop shop for meeting planners who want to plan a unique meeting or tourists who want a great location,” states Maria Maxwell, the Sheraton Denver Downtown’s director of sales & marketing. She continued that even the hotel’s executive chef is an amateur home brewer.

The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel is located at 1550 Court Place. The hotel features over 135,000 square feet of meeting space, 1235 guestrooms and is located on Denver’s most popular tourist destination, the world famous 16^th Street Pedestrian Mall.

  www.sheratondenverdowntown.com; www.katiemullens.com or www.yardhouse.com.

We are excited to announce that Scott Skomal has been named executive chef at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. Scott previously held the same postion at the Sheraton Overland Park in Kansas, where he was named chef of the year by the Greater Kansas City Restuarant Association, and the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel in Alabama. He has been with Starwood Hotels & Resorts for more than 20 years.

Click below for the complete  Denver Business Journal Article

 http://bit.ly/sheratondenverchef 

REAL PIRATES

Enjoy a getaway to Denver and experience the Real Pirates – The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship (An exhibition from National Geographic), presented by Denver Museum of Natural Science. Real Pirates tells the true story of the Whydah, a slave ship turned pirate ship that sank off the coast of Cape Cod nearly 300 years ago. Enjoy one of our packages below

LandLubber Package

• Rates from $139 per night.
• Hotel accommodations for two
• Two tickets to Real Pirates - Untold story of Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship
• Valid for stays March 14 – August 21, 2011

Old Salt Package

• Rates from $169 per night
• Hotel accommodations for two
• Complimentary breakfast for two at hotel restaurant
• Two tickets to Real Pirates – Untold story of Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship
• Valid for stays March 14 – August 21, 2011

Click Here to book online

DENVER (January 4, 2011) A panel of convention and meeting experts put together by the Toronto Globe & Mail selected Denver as the No. 1 destination in the world for conventions. 

The article picked New York as the best “overall” city for business meetings, and cited Istanbul for best sightseeing, London for best “buzz,” Nashville for best music scene, Sao Palo as best pro-business city, and Mumbai as most exotic. 

But for conventions?  The best city was Denver.  “The mile-high city is no longer a pit-stop en route to the slopes of Vail,’ said panelist Zane Kerby, who has booked the National Business Travel Association’s 40th annual convention in the Mile High City for 2011.  Denver won for “its central U.S. location and cheap flights into Denver International Airport, a hub for United Airlines and discounter Southwest Airlines. Most hotels, including a new Four Seasons, are within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center.” 

Denver was also recently selected as one of the top 10 destinations for travelers to visit in 2011 by Lonely Planet. 

“These surveys show that Denver is ‘top of mind’ with key decision makers in the tourism and convention industry,” said Richard Scharf, president & CEO of VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau.  “We’re very proud that the largest newspaper in Canada has given us this designation.” 

In 2010, Denver was also selected as one of the top 10 convention destinations in the nation by two national studies of meeting planners, Metropoll and the Watkins study.