A Winning Recipe: The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel Hosts Starwood’s First-ever North America F&B Leadership Conference 2012-04-16

The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel recently hosted Starwood’s first-ever North America Food and Beverage Leadership Conference – Recipe to Win – March 14 through March 16. More than 750 attended the conference, including employees from 150 full-service, luxury and upscale Starwood brand hotels and 100 Starwood franchise properties, in addition to senior leadership; directors of food and beverage, operations, catering and convention services; and executive chefs.

Whether traveling for business or pleasure, guests demand great dining. And as a leader in hospitality food and beverage trends, Starwood places great emphasis on innovation and adopting best practices across all brands and properties. During the conference, the company unveiled new F&B tools, concepts and programs, which senior leadership anticipates will allow individual properties to take traditional dining and banquet options to the next level and create unique representations of food and beverage – their own “recipes to win.”

Other highlights included:

• An opening session with surprise guest Sean “Diddy” Combs, music mogul, designer and savvy entrepreneur with a proven track record of developing high-end brands such as Ciroc Vodka, which is carried by Starwood properties.
• A special panel discussion featuring celebrity guests Todd English of PBS and Olives fame; Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group; Scott Gerber, Principal of Gerber Group; Dave Shula, Shula’s Steak House; Bob Spviak, Grill Concepts and James Gersten, President of Culinary Concepts Hospitality Group. The panel explored how hotels and third party restaurants can develop and maintain mutually-beneficial relationships, such as the one existing between the Yard House, Katie Mullen’s Irish Restaurant & Pub, and the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.
• Four general assemblies, six breakout sessions, numerous tradeshow events featuring unique food and beverage concepts, and a downtown block party showcasing Denver’s culinary traditions, six food trucks and headlining entertainment.

The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel was chosen as the location for the conference for a variety of reasons, including the property’s flexible and expansive meeting space, central location, recent renovations, commitment to sustainability and purchasing locally-produced goods (key conference themes), and confidence by Starwood leadership in a flawless execution by hotel staff. No doubt, it is certainly a privilege to be the host hotel for conferences and meetings of this caliber, but there is also a lot riding on the outcome when conference attendees are your colleagues and peers! The bar was raised high…and according to feedback from Starwood senior leadership and other event attendees, the team at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel delivered.

During the week following the event, accolades poured in and the compliments were non-stop. Many remarked how impressed they were by the staff’s outstanding, over-the-top job, which made the conference a huge success. Others said the property showed “the West’s Best hospitality” from the moment each attendee walked through the front door to the very last day of the conference, in addition to thoughtful creativity, flawless execution and focus. Or, as one member of the Starwood senior leadership team remarked, “I’m still hearing sensational comments from partners, leaders, and attendees. Your talented staff delivered at an extraordinary level and made all of us proud to be part of Starwood.”

Indeed, we too are proud of our employees and staff here at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel who made Starwood’s first Food and Beverage Conference a sizzling success!

Sean “Diddy” Combs lets loose with Starwood’s best at the company’s North America Food and Beverage Conference at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, March 14, 2012. L – R: David Tetens, Senior Director Food & Beverage Development for North American Division; David Benefiel, Regional Director of Food & Beverage South; Peter Lesser, Senior Director of Food & Beverage West; Bob O’Neil, Regional Director of Food & Beverage; Paul Fiala, Divisional Director, Food & Beverage Operations; Allison Glassman, Food and Beverage Specialist, NAD Starwood; Sean “Diddy” Combs; Brian Abel, Vice President, Food & Beverage, North America; David Dvorak, Vice President Catering & Convention Services; Mac Gregory, Director of Food and Beverage Franchise NAD; Christoph Leu, Corporate Executive Chef.

Sean “Diddy” Combs opens Starwood’s first-ever North America Food and Beverage Leadership Conference on March 14, 2012 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

Meeting Planning Sets Savvy New Standards 2012-04-11

An interesting article published by Hotel News Now on April 3 by Melanie Nayer offered an in-depth look at the future of meeting planning, including implications of mobile technology on the workforce (e.g. the need to appeal to a tech-savvy crowd), how to create meeting spaces that are more appealing to attendees (think mood lighting), and the latest trends in meeting location including non-traditional venues outside dark boardrooms and stuffy conference spaces (beach or rooftops, anyone?).

Read it here and let us know what you think. Will adopting these measures mean more meeting and event business for hotels? Is it critical to get out of the meeting room for effective brainstorming to happen? And, more importantly, can brand loyalty be established through a creative approach to hosting meetings outside a conventional ballroom?

Are Luxury Corporate Retreats Back? 2012-04-12

Earlier in the year, planning professionals stated they expected an increase in the number of business meetings in 2012, but that they would be shorter, smaller and closer to home. Companies were keen to avoid the perception of excessive spending on events, and many were following the pharmaceutical industry’s lead by incorporating a code of compliance that limits the use of five-star properties in addition to those with certain resort-type amenities like golf course and spas.

So it’s interesting to read an article in Forbes the other day that noted group business travel is not only on the rebound but businesses are once again springing for perk-laden retreats to reward their executives. We’re not talking a return to pre-recession extravagance, as these trips are still smaller, shorter and more concerned with striking a balance between work and play with fuller agendas. Regardless, the fact that companies are spending more on these types of “retreat trips” reinforces earlier predictions that group business travel is finally on the rebound, with travel spending up nearly 8 percent in 2011 and rising even more in 2012.

What do you think? Does a recent upswing in business travel to destinations like Las Vegas and others associated with “fun” indicate a sure sign of corporate travel’s comeback?

Business Travelers Hitting the Road – and Skies – More in 2012 2012-04-10

A good indication of how well – or how bad – the economy is doing can be found at airports and hotels: business travelers. The more companies spend on business travel, the more likely the economy is inching closer to a recovery. Why?

When businesses do well, they spend more on travel – and send their employees on more face-to-face meetings. Many of these business travelers – in particular road warriors – then look to get the most out of their trips by extending their stay for leisure purposes. (The term “bleisure travel” was coined a few years ago to describe this phenomenon. In fact, Starwood – our parent company – brought significant attention to the term in summer 2010 when results were published from a joint study with American Express on business travel.)

The good news: industry experts have been saying since late 2011 that a recovery is a very real possibility this year. Deloitte reported in December that corporate travel would fuel the travel, hospitality and leisure industry in 2012. In early 2012, industry experts predicted demand for business travel would remain healthy throughout the year and grow at a steady rate. And most recently, another annual business travel survey found that business travel is already on the rise, with hotels seeing continued growth across the board in group commitments as well as individual leisure and business travelers.

Denver is an ideal city to turn a business trip into a “bleisure trip,” and the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel offers business travelers many amenities including access to wireless high-speed Internet, PC stations and free printing, LCD flat screen televisions, smart desktops with laptop, iPod and television interfacing capabilities, and more. Plus, more good news for Denver: later this month, officials at the Denver International Airport will unveil a plan to attract businesses to Denver at the Airport Cities 2012 conference, which will be held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. Hopefully, the recovery in the travel industry – and business travel – will continue for years to come.

The Perfect Venue for Meetings and Events of Any Size 2012-04-07

The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel hosts many large conferences and conventions organized by companies with headquarters out of state, but we’re also an ideal venue for smaller, more intimate meetings and events held by many local corporations here in in the Denver metro area. One of these events is the Apple Awards, the biggest annual fundraiser for the Douglas County Education Foundation (DCEF).

This is the seventh year for the Apple Awards, which shines the spotlight on outstanding educators throughout the Douglas County School District. In addition to honoring teachers, the event raises proceeds totaling more than $500,000 for collaborative programs benefiting the classrooms and students in the district.

The Apple Awards honor excellence in teaching, and more than 5,600 nominations representing 1,650 different teachers were submitted online by Douglas County students, parents, staff and community members. While all nominees were highly qualified and truly inspirational, each school in the district could select only one teacher to represent their school for a total of 19 finalists – all wonderful examples of how teachers touch lives on a daily basis. The final winners – one primary teacher and one secondary teacher – receive a cash award from the DCEF as well as a gift from their school community.

On March 17, the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel rolled out the red carpet – literally. The finalists were treated like celebrities as they arrived at the event in limousines and were escorted down a red carpet leading into the hotel. The evening was designed to replicate a Hollywood-style black-tie affair (think the Grammys or Oscars) and included dinner, entertainment and a dance party featuring Boulder-based Funkiphino, a 12-piece cover band that plays funk, soul and R&B.