Sean O'Neill

Sean O’Neill is our senior hospitality editor. He lives in Washington, D.C. Stop him before he starts another home improvement project.

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News Blog

Accor Names Gilda Perez-Alvarado as Group Chief Strategy Officer

Accor said on Monday that it had named Gilda Perez-Alvarado as its group chief strategy officer in charge of overseeing global strategy, relations with hotel owners, and strategic partnerships. Since 2004, Perez-Alvarado has been at the hotel brokerage firm JLL Hotels & Hospitality, working her way up to become its Global CEO. She's intimately familiar…

Sean O'Neill | 13 hours ago

Hotels

Hotel Brand Selina’s Wild Ride as a Penny Stock: Here’s What We Know

Selina's stock price stabilized on Monday after a sharp drop to an all-time low on Friday. The chain of premium hostels and coworking spots is taking steps to escape penny-stock status.

Sean O'Neill | 18 hours ago

Hotel Brand Selina’s Wild Ride as a Penny Stock: Here’s What We Know

Hotels

Omni Hotels Knows it’s Tiny. Here’s How it Thinks it Can Compete with Global Giants

The global hotel groups talk like they're going to inherit the earth. So how can a small brand like Omni thrive? In his first major interview as its new president, Kurt Alexander outlines his plan.

Sean O'Neill | 1 day ago

Omni Hotels Knows it’s Tiny. Here’s How it Thinks it Can Compete with Global Giants

Hotels

Blackstone Is Back Buying Hotels in Japan: Top Stories in Hotels

Blackstone is once again looking to acquire Japanese hotels, IHG debuted its newest brand, and Hyatt gave details on its latest brand. Plus, other highlights from this week's news in hotel deals and development worldwide.

Sean O'Neill | 4 days ago

Blackstone Is Back Buying Hotels in Japan: Top Stories in Hotels

News Blog

Hyatt to Debut Its Extended-Stay Brand in Markets It Hasn’t Tapped Yet

Hyatt gave details on Wednesday about the first locations for Hyatt Studios, a brand it unveiled in April. The hotel operator will open the first Hyatt Studios just outside of Mobile, Alabama, and Marysville, California — targeting spots where its other brands aren't present. "We’ve learned that when Hyatt guests stay with a competing brand, they…

Sean O'Neill | 6 days ago

Hotels

IHG Launches 19th Hotel Brand – the Strategy Behind ‘Garner’

IHG really needs a conversion brand in the mid-market for supply and demand reasons. So this move is smart. Yet Garner falls flat with us as a name.

Sean O'Neill | 6 days ago

IHG Launches 19th Hotel Brand – the Strategy Behind ‘Garner’

Hotels

Hotel Re-Brandings Are Risky – Here’s How Strawberry’s CEO Makes the Case

Nordic Choice Hotels has rebranded to Strawberry as it tries to break free of just being a franchisor of Choice Hotels. CEO Torgeir Silseth is striving to find a whitespace for the private company amid the global giants.

Sean O'Neill | 1 week ago

Hotel Re-Brandings Are Risky – Here’s How Strawberry’s CEO Makes the Case

Hotels

Inventing a Boutique Hotel in Kentucky’s Horse Country Isn’t Easy

The story of how Nik Feldman, 29, opened his first hotel tells a bigger narrative about the sector, too.

Leslie Barrie | 2 weeks ago

Inventing a Boutique Hotel in Kentucky’s Horse Country Isn’t Easy

Hotels

Top Stories in Hotels: Earnings Misses, Vietnam’s Slump, More…

Analysts did an uneven job of predicting hotel company performance. Vietnam's hotel market is slumping. Plus, other highlights from this week's news in deals and development.

Sean O'Neill | 2 weeks ago

Top Stories in Hotels: Earnings Misses, Vietnam’s Slump, More…

News Blog

Marriott Names New Mid-Market Extended Stay Brand StudioRes

Project MidX Studios, the lower midscale, extended stay property, is officially called StudioRes. Marriott describes it as a new-build, midscale extended stay development platform for owners and franchisees in the U.S. and Canada. The world's largest hotelier said 1,800 target markets have already been identified. The new build extended stay prototype rooms include 124 keys with…

Sean O'Neill | 2 weeks ago