Word: rooms
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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With occupancy rates falling and the room supply outpacing demand in the $93 billion U.S. hotel industry, the big powers are thinking small. Even though boutiques still account for just a fraction of the total market, the chains "don't really have a choice," says Chekitan Dev, marketing professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. "For all practical purposes, the traditional hotel is obsolete. There's too much wasted space, it doesn't look inviting, and there's an erosion of brand loyalty." Starwood Hotels & Resorts chairman Barry Sternlicht tried in vain to lure Schrager to his camp...
...very efficient operator," says Edward Scheetz, a partner at real estate investment firm Northstar Capital, which, with help from financier George Soros, has shelled out a few hundred million dollars for a majority stake of the newly incorporated Ian Schrager Hotels. For instance, nearly everything in your room, from sheets and towels to toilet brushes, is for sale. Schrager's even giving thought to opening stores to sell these wares. And he leases in-house restaurants and bars, which can typically be a major drag on hotel earnings...
...early Web warriors, an engineer who helped develop the software language Java before eventually heading technology at Infoseek. He later caught the attention of Disney chief Michael Eisner, who tapped him to oversee the company's new Internet portal. So when Naughton logged on to a chat room called "dad&daughtersex" last March, he probably thought he was safe. After all, this was his domain...
This promising comic beginning is quickly dissipated by the curious affliction that overwhelms McCourt in his new surroundings: the total loss of his sense of humor. He is treated well in the U.S.--a job at the Biltmore Hotel, a room of his own, new friends--but it all seems like ashes to Frank: "New York was the city of my dreams but now I'm here the dreams are gone and it's not what I expected at all. I never thought I'd be going around a hotel lobby cleaning up after people and scouring toilet bowls...
...news to Andrew Brooks, CEO of Furniture.com Nevertheless, he thinks he can convert customers by making online sofa shopping much better than the showroom variety. Brooks is hoping to win consumers with features such as a program that allows them to click and drag pictures of furniture into a room on the website, to see how it might look at home. "This industry has been driven by the manufacturer's needs," says Brooks. "Online, we can be much more consumer-centric...