Hotel Management April 9, 2012 : Page 18

18 NEWS Ap r i l 9 , 2012 | HotelMana g ement . net La Quinta conference Continued from page 6 feature, which debuted in early March and allows guests to hold a room reservation for four hours with their phone number. Cary said the feature ties into the cloud-based La Quinta prop-erty-management system, and the best available rate. Guests using instant hold will get a return text with the details and a second reminder text. The company added another simple enhancement to the new mobile site—a larger phone number. “Our goal was to make it easy to be able to book a room no matter how you do it from your cell phone.” In addition to the new mobile site, the brand launched new Apple and Android apps at the end of March. Also on the online front, La Quinta will incorporate reviews from TripAdvisor and Yelp onto its sites. COLOMBIA EXPANSION Trivedi called the partnership with Grupo TAO to develop La Quinta properties in Colombia part of the brand’s “determina-tion to grow very smart inter-From left, Rajiv Trivedi, La Quinta EVP and chief development officer; Marta Luz Maya and Luis Fernando Toro, Grupo TAO; and La Quinta president and CEO Wayne Goldberg. Rise Above the Global Financial Tempest CMBS ADA PIP s May 7-9 Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Technology Europe Unions Government Healthcare ® nationally, especially in Latin America.” Luis Fernando Toro, head of Grupo TAO, said La Quinta will appeal particularly to the busi-ness travel segment of Medellin, an industrial city that supports a large chunk of the country’s bank-ing business. “We are building our hotels for Colombians and South Americans,” Trivedi said of the development deal. “Because of our name, it’s easier in this part of the world for people to accept us.” Trivedi said all three properties will be part of high-rise mixed-use developments, and will contain lounges and restaurants, similar to how the brand has developed properties in Mexico. Grupo TAO has invested nearly $10 million excluding land into the entire mixed-use develop-ment, and Toro said he expects the first project to take about 18 months for construction and open in about 20 months. The La Quinta hotel component will have 73 guestrooms. Find Solutions Source Capital Create Value Register now! Early registration is $850 until March 1st, 2012 BREAKFAST AND UNIFORMS This spring and summer La Quinta will test new breakfast presentation designs. Prototypes feature a new signa-ture icon of La Quinta’s breakfast program—a green apple—along with bamboo-style serving ware and a slat wall. The company also is testing a new way to serve oatmeal. Also at the property level, La Quinta is rolling out new polo shirt uniforms for employees, a new shirt style for housekeep-ing staff and an updated orange HM nametag. ■ sricca@questex.com LA QUINTA

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP
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