DO NOT DISTURB FOR 2010WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MICHAEL MATTHEWS Michael Matthews has managed and marketed fine hotels around the world for 50 years. He spent 14 years based in Hong Kong building the Regent International group and has also worked with St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood hotels. He began his career in 1959 at the then newly opened Carlton Tower Hotel in London, the first five-star hotel in more than 50 years to be built in the city. He was most recently general manager of the Ventana Inn in Big Sur, California. Matthews is based in Arizona and began writing Do Not Disturb in early 2004. July 1: MAD MICHAEL: BANNED IN AUSTRALIA I am, in all probability, now banned from Australia. My big crime? I brought a bag of trail mix into the country and it had a single nut in it. Australia's system of on-the-spot fines and its regimen of guilty-of-snacking-until-proven-innocent has made me a fugitive from justice. May 13: A BUCKET FULL OF BOUTIQUE HOTELS This week's column is going to be the start of yet another bucket list. My list of ten, twenty, or maybe more, "boutique" hotels and resorts that I think you must experience before you depart for that greater bucket in the sky. I start with the best lodging experience on America's West Coast: The San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. In short, it's perfect. April 1: WHAT AM I BID FOR THIS FINE HOTEL? A hotel owner needs to charge $10 a night for every $10,000 spent per room to buy the property. But if it's all so simple, why do some hotels sell for sums of money that make absolutely no sense? From overpriced trophy properties to hotels selling at absolute auction, these are interesting times indeed. March 4: YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK ON THE ROAD What if the Federal government stepped in and took over bankrupt hotels, buying the properties with your tax dollars and then operating them? Don't laugh, it was already done here during the S&L crisis 20 years ago. But now an Irish government agency finds itself on the verge of owning some of the world's great hotels. Should we care? February 11: DROPPING LIKE FLIES IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS When lavish Ritz-Carlton hotels close, you know the lodging business is on the verge of a financial meltdown. The latest from the lodging nightmare that has been good for our pocketbook but absolutely brutal for hotels, resorts and the companies that own them. January 7: THE 2009 REVIEW IS GOOD FOR US, BAD FOR HOTELS In short, 2009 was a much better year for guests than for hoteliers. For once it is a buyers market. From the lodging industry's perspective, the worst trend of the year was the inordinate number of hotel bankruptcies from one end of the country to the other. Plus several new hotels for your bucket list. Copyright © 1993-2010 by Michael Matthews. All rights reserved. |
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ABOUT MICHAEL MATTHEWS Michael Matthews has managed and marketed fine hotels around the world for more than 45 years. He spent 14 years in Hong Kong building the legendary Regent International group. He has also worked with St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood hotels. Matthews is currently based in Arizona. He began writing Do Not Disturb in early 2004. THE FINE PRINT Joe Brancatelli makes this space available to Michael Matthews in the spirit of free speech and to encourage editorial diversity and the wider discussion of important travel issues. All of the opinions and material in this column are the sole property of Matthews. This column may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Michael Matthews. This column is Copyright © 2010 by Michael Matthews. JoeSentMe.com is Copyright © 2010 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved. |