To Lure Conferences, Resort Hotels Drop the R-Word From Their Names
(WOW… that’s all I can think of to say. Seriously? Drop resort from the name…? I would think the people for whom that would be a problem – would be the very people who more than likely wouldn’t go to a resort. It is after all… a …resort. A place to escape. To relax. We’ve gone off the deep end. Locally the news media chastises our public officials for going to a conference in another town – where travel expenses are required. That’s just stupid. Do we really want our public officials to work in a vacuum; never learn from others’ mistakes or insight?
It’s the excess that should get the criticism. It’s the excess that should have the head lobbed off. Whatever happened to common sense. Hotel and lodge … that sounds like an exciting place to go… and makes ‘em stand out in all their advertising with all the other Super 8’s too, eh. bc
p.s. I also think it’s asinine to think the president of one of the largest banks in the world isn’t going to fly to meetings in a personal jet. What is an executive’s time worth? And just how successful is this bank as a result of his efforts? If the guy is making that kind of success for his stockholders and firm – I bet they want to make his life pleasant. I don’t think this needs to be confused with the other excesses that are taking place in the financial world. Again though, that would take some common sense, which is more scarce than jobs at the moment.)
To attract business conferences in these tough times, some luxury resort hotels have resorted to a sort of strategy of last resort: They’re dropping the very word “resort” from their names.The Ballantyne Resort in Charlotte, N.C., changed its name during the summer to the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge after several corporate clients indicated it would have a better chance of landing their business if it weren’t called a resort. Same for the Westin Stonebriar near Dallas, formerly the Westin Stonebriar Hotel & Resort. Ditto the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World, no longer the Renaissance Orlando Resort at Sea World.Other than the name-dropping, little else has changed. The bedsheets at the Ballantyne remain Egyptian cotton, and guests still can book an appointment at the spa. Guests at the Westin Stonebriar still can get a tee time for the property’s Tom Fazio-designed golf course. And those at the Loews Lake Las Vegas—a resort no more—aren’t deprived of the property’s “white-sand beach” on the lake nor master sushi chef Osamu “Fuji” Fujita’s culinary creations.”It doesn’t change who we are,” Renaissance Orlando sales director Gary Dybul said. “But there’s no reason to put roadblocks in the way” of landing conferences.That such trivial compromises are needed to salvage business is a sign of the times for luxury hotels and resorts. The industry is in the throes of its worst downturn since the Great Depression, with occupancy at historic lows and many properties facing foreclosure. Resorts must also contend with public backlash against the conferences they host.The resort stigma was stoked by widespread outcry late in 2008 about a $400,000 sales retreat that American International Group Inc. planned to host at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, Calif. Facing scorching criticism, AIG, the recipient of $180 billion in taxpayer assistance, canceled the event. The 400-room St. Regis couldn’t recover from the bad publicity and was foreclosed upon by one of its lenders, Citigroup Inc.
via To Lure Conferences, Resort Hotels Drop the R-Word From Their Names – WSJ.com.