| VENUE NEWS 04.27.09 3:38 PM |
|
W Hoboken Opens With Jamie Foxx and Fireworks
|
 | W Hoboken's opening bash
Photo: Jeff Thomas/Image Capture |
|
It's not easy to get some New Yorkers to leave Manhattan, especially for something in New Jersey. But last Thursday night, with the promise of free booze, food, and a special performance by the acting, singing radio host Jamie Foxx, Starwood's W hotel brand drew an estimated 1,400 guests to the opening of its latest location in Hoboken. Adding to the attraction was the debut of the Chandelier Room, the latest club from nightlife partners Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm, the duo behind meatpacking district nightclub Tenjune.
Shannen Doherty, Tyson Beckford, and Sandra Denton (better known as Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa) joined the press, models, and hotel execs—and plenty of people who appeared to be locals. The Relevent-produced bash included a lounge singer atop a piano, girls posing in an oversized martini glass, fireworks exploding over the Hudson, and music booming from every corner of the venue. After starting at 7 p.m., the party was still crowded for Foxx's appearance more than three hours later. Before he took to the stage in the hotel's ballroom, Foxx made sure to acknowledge his host—addressing the crowd on a mic from offstage, the Oscar winner extolled the virtues of W and its customer service. —Anna Sekula
RELATED TOPICS
Starwood Hotels |
 |
| NEWS 04.01.09 3:06 PM |
|
In The News: Travel Industry Continues to Promote Meetings, Madonna's Fund-Raising Faux Pas
|
Travel Industry Combats Cancellations: As the U.S. Travel Association continues to lobby the government to support meetings and events during the recession, more statistics have emerged to illustrate how different facets of the industry are suffering. Canceled events accounted for a $220 million loss in room revenue during January and February, and Starwood Hotels—which owns the Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, and W brands—has booked 40 percent fewer group events in 2009 compared to this time last year, prompting the company to eliminate 10 percent of its staff, or approximately 6,000 employees. [NYT]
Host City Braces for G20: Protesters in London for the G20 Summit are causing quite a stir. To protect the world leaders in town for the series of meetings on the global financial crisis, London has enlisted a record number of police to maintain order. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that approximately 3,000 officers will be on patrol during the two-day summit, and that number could double, should riots erupt. [Telegraph]
MORE >>
RELATED TOPICS
Madonna, Gucci, Unicef, Raising Malawi, G20 Summit, U.S. Travel Association, Starwood Hotels, Vanity Fair, Cannes |
|
| VENUE NEWS 04.10.08 11:36 AM |
|
Sheraton Launching Large Expansion Project
|
On Monday, Sheraton announced its plans to open 54 hotels—that's 20,000 guest rooms—worldwide by 2009. This equates to a $2 billion investment in new North American properties, including hotels in Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.
The push is an attempt on Starwood's part to revitalize the Sheraton brand. The announcement marks the first phase of a multi-year plan to spend an additional $1.3 billion renovating 100 U.S. hotels (roughly half of Sheraton's North American locations), including some 50,000 guest rooms and 100 lobbies.
Also on tap: New York City properties set to open in Brooklyn and TriBeCa in 2009. —Courtney Thompson
RELATED TOPICS
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels |
|
 |
|
| EVENT REPORT 03.21.08 2:26 PM |
|
Showtime Dresses Sheraton as Castle for Tudors Premiere
|
 | The premiere for Showtime's The Tudors
Photo: Hal Horowitz/Elevation Photos |
|
It was about as wet and foggy as a romanticized vision of Tudor England could be on Wednesday night, when Showtime Networks held court at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers with the stars of its royal drama for the premiere of The Tudors' second season. To make the cast feel at home, transport the 500 guests, and get some great advertising in the process, the cable network, led by director of promotions and partnerships Larry Kieran, worked with partner One Source Visual Marketing Solutions to make over the facade of the hotel as a castle.
Actors Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Natalie Dormer, and the commendably persistent Peter O'Toole all took to the red carpet, which drew the attention of several dozen photographers and hundreds of Sheraton guests. Behind the small tent on the carpet, the hotel's giant rotunda was draped in mesh vinyl with a stone pattern, carefully placed windows that aligned with the building's, and brightly colored polyfabric banners featuring photographs of the cast.
MORE >>
RELATED TOPICS
Showtime, Condé Nast Traveler, Starwood Hotels |
|
| EVENT REPORT 02.19.08 12:52 PM |
|
Hotels Bring Back Old-School Games for Alternative Valentine's Parties
|
 | The New York Helmsley Hotel's anti-Valentine's Day ball
Photo: Francine Daveta for BizBash |
|
Amid the love- and couple-focused promos on Valentine's Day, some hotels generated publicity by hosting events for single people. The quirkiest of the bunch was the New York Helmsley Hotel's anti-Valentine's Day ball, an '80s-themed party open to the public (at $45 a pop) inside its ground-floor restaurant Mindy's. As much an opportunity to market the 27-year-old property as it was to upstage the efforts of other hotels, the throwback dance party was organized the hotel's general manager, Mark Briskin, and production firm MKG.
According to Briskin, the idea was not only to remind New Yorkers of the Helmsley but also to do something a little different and fun where guests could interact with one another. "[For holidays] hotels traditionally tend to keep to the straight and narrow—it's always the same run-of-the-mill menu, whether it's Mother's Day or Valentine's Day," he said. "Chocolate gets pushed in your face nine ways from Sunday.... We wanted to give them something kind of silly."
MORE >>
RELATED TOPICS
New York Helmsley Hotel, W Hotels, Starwood Hotels, Jimmyjane, Vosges Haut-Chocolat, Valentine's Day |
|
|
