Acquisitions & Hotel Openings

Red Lion Announces New Franchise at Denver Airport

September 14, 2012 - Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE: RLH) announced the company has signed a franchise license agreement with the owners of a hotel located at the Denver International Airport, the fifth busiest airport in the nation.

Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE: RLH) announced the company has signed a franchise license agreement with the owners of a hotel located at the Denver International Airport, the fifth busiest airport in the nation.

"Our new franchise is one of the closest hotels in proximity to the Denver International Airport, a superb location that will gain visibility for our brand," said Ron Burgett, Executive Vice President of Lodging and Brand Development for Red Lion Hotels. "We have been looking for just the right property in this airport market and we are glad to have this hotel join the system."

The future Red Lion Inn and Suites Denver Airport, located at 7010 Tower Road, is expected to join the system by November 2012. The hotel has 87 guest rooms and is just minutes from downtown and multiple venues, including those used by the Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets.

"With all of the competition we have in this market, we think Red Lion will help us to differentiate our property and compete in the midscale segment," said Zanfar Kahn of Tower Hospitality, owners of the hotel.

Red Lion Hotels Corporation is a hospitality and leisure Company primarily engaged in the ownership, operation and franchising of midscale hotels under its Red Lion® brand. As of June 30, 2012, the RLH hotel network was comprised of 47 hotels located in nine states and one Canadian province, with 8,872 rooms and 443,587 square feet of meeting space. The Company also owns and operates an entertainment and event ticket distribution business.

Coming Up In The June Online Hotel Business Review


Feature Focus
New Trends in Hotel Architecture and Design
On any hotel design project, architects are generally serving at least three masters - the owner/developer, the hotel operator, and the general public who will utilize the hotel - and each have their own goals, objectives and demands. The owner/developer is concerned with brand standards, the target market and the hotel's locale, while the operator is concerned about achieving the highest possible revenue through efficient design. The public is demanding that architecture and design be fully integrated into the guest experience, based on prevailing tastes and preferences. The architect's role is to respond professionally and efficiently to meet the demands of all and to develop a unified solution. Though each project has its own prerequisites and obligations, there are some general design trends which seem to be prevalent across the industry. First, there is an increased emphasis on the importance of the lobby. The principle here is that first impressions matter and that a hotel has only a few minutes to convince a guest that they have made the right decision. Hotel lobbies are being completely re-imagined - from eliminating front desks altogether to turning lobbies into warm, intimate social spaces, replete with fireplaces and comfortable furniture. There is also an increasing use of ambient natural light, even in large spaces like ballrooms and meeting rooms. In addition, there is greater emphasis on incorporating the distinctive attributes of any given location into the hotel design, which guests are defining as central to their experiences. The June issue of the Hotel Business Review will report on all these exciting developments in the fields of architecture and design.
In this issue...
Experiential Design Across All Sectors
By Ellis Katz, Principal, John Portman & Associates
Challenges of Contemporary Design in Historic Buildings
By Gary Meadows, President, HCI Architecture, Inc.
Ideal Meeting Spaces Should Offer Flexibility, Flexibility and Then Some
By Ronald M. Lustig, Design Architect/Principal, Earl Swensson Associates, Inc.
The Hotel Lobby
By Jennifer Skaife, Senior Associate, DiLeonardo
PLUS: Keeping an Eye on the Return on Design; Check In To the Future; L'AND Vineyards Wine Resort; How to Preserve Architectural Detail; Catering to Women in Hotel Design; Sustainability Retrofits, and much more.