Wyndham’s Tryp hotel to debut in New York

by Melanie Nayer on

The New York hotel scene is heating up, again. More hotels continue to open their doors to guests of the Big Apple, which means more options for every price range and personality.

Next up on the New York hotel scene: Wyndham’s newest hotel, the Tryp by Wyndham.

The 173-room Tryp New York City – Times Square South is currently under construction at 345 West 35th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, and is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2011. The Wyndham Hotel Group acquired the Tryp hotel brand from Sol Melia in June this year, bringing over 90 “select-service, mid-priced” hotels to cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Montevideo and now, New York.

The Tryp New York City will offer fitness guest rooms, allowing guests to work out in privacy, as well as function space, a business center and a community fitness centre.

While we wait for New York to open, Tryp by Wyndham is already planning the opening of hotels in Berlin, Medellin (Columbia), and Madrid by the end of the year.

Five basic facts about the hotel market, especially in New York

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Big-city hoteliers will be happier sooner than their small-time counterparts. It looks like demand for rooms in smaller cities is going to take longer to come back, with rate increases unlikely, it seems until next summer. The New York market has already shown a solid recovery, thanks to the corporate cards that keep road warriors away from home. For the little guys, though, the future isn’t as bright … at least, it won’t be until almost a year from now.

According to a study by Smith Travel Research, here are five interesting (and important) facts about the U.S. hotel market:

1. Flat occupancy: Small-town and highway hotels stayed basically flat for the first half of 2010, at 49 percent. Meanwhile, metro markets – like New York, Chicago and Washington, DC – pushed from 61 percent for the first half of 2009 to 65 percent for the same period in 2010.

2. Follow the money: Major hotel companies, including Marriott and Wyndham, have demonstrated that the cities have been kinder to them financially. The cash is coming from bigger city properties.
3. New York is crucial: Rates have been on the rise since March in New York, after the city experienced drops for almost a year and a half. This has been buoyed by business travel, which is where the real money is.

4. New York’s occupancy is 50 percent higher than the United States: While the overall U.S. occupancy rate reached only 56 percent for the first half of 2010, the city attained a level of 79 percent. Again, business travelers have contributed heavily to this trend.

5. Hotel rates dropped, except in New York: Excluding New York, U.S. hotel rates fell, on average, 2.7 percent (2 percent when you include New York). New York, which accounts for a mere 1.9 percent of room supply in the United States, it’s responsible for close to 6 percent of revenue.

According to USA Today:

“New York City is skewing the numbers,” David Loeb, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee tells Bloomberg. “Urban and suburban markets are doing the best while the others are recovering more slowly.”

[photo by Francisco Diez via Flickr]

Atlanta loses three hotels to weak market, two to become dorms

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Three hotels have succumbed to weakness in the Atlanta market. Among the recent casualties is the 502-room Marriott Renaissance. Rates have been pushed lower by an abundance of capacity that has caused even top brands to get stuck charging less than $100 a night. When there’s far more supply than demand, of course, this is what happens.

Joining the Renaissance in the graveyard will be the city’s Wyndam Garden Hotel and Baymont Inn & Suites. Georgia State University will be buying both and converting them to dorms. The future of the Renaissance remains uncertain, though 75 percent of its laid-off staff will be moving to other Marriott properties.

Given the state of the Atlanta hotel market, there’s the risk that more hotels could follow:

“More and more property owners are asking themselves the question, ‘Is operating this facility as a hotel really what produces the maximum economic return?'” Mark Woodworth, president of PKF Hospitality Research, tells the [Atlanta Journal-Constitution].

[photo by Nrbelex via Flickr]

7 day vacation rentals for $199 through Wyndham Worldwide

by Scott Carmichael on

Looking to vacation on a budget? Wyndham Worldwide has some hot deals on 7-day vacation rentals for just $199. The availability is obviously limited, and there is a bit of fine print involved, but I was able to find several properties for the advertised price.

To clarify – the $199 price is for 7 days – and since many hotels retail for the same price for just one night, you’ll understand why this is a real bargain. There are even several properties in the Orlando area, though given their high demand, you’ll be paying $399 for a 2 bedroom for the 7 day period.

Vacation rentals are perfect for families – because they come with their own kitchen, and most properties have a decent assortment of on-site amenities. So – browse through their properties and see whether you can find yourself a hot $199 deal on your own vacation rental for the week. The locations, promotion details and rules can be found here.

Ramada hotel reservations for 50% off – as low as $28/night

by Scott Carmichael on

A Ramada hotel might not be your first thought for a romantic hotel, but what if I told you that you can reserve a room with a sweet 50% discount? I’m guessing that suddenly makes it more interesting!

The Ramada Hotels reservation site has a promotion offering 50% off their lowest rates – and this isn’t the kind of promo that makes you hunt for hours to find the “hot deal”.

I spent a couple of minutes on their site, and found plenty of properties participating, with some offering nights as low as $28 for a night. There are even hotels with availability during Valentine’s day (hint hint).

The fine print of the promotion isn’t too bad either – book between February 8th and February 12th for stays to be completed by March 31st. There is no limit to the number of stays you can book, and the rooms are available in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Click here for the promotion, and please remember that we have zero control over promotions like this, so if a particular hotel is already sold out of the promotion nights, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Did you find yourself a great deal? Share it in the comment section!