Hotels/Motels

On Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, Jeffrey Epstein had a full calendar. He was scheduled to meet that day with Bill Gates, Thomas Pritzker, Leon Black and Mortimer Zuckerman, four of the richest men in the country, according to schedules and emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Epstein also planned meetings that day with a former top White House lawyer, a college president and a philanthropic adviser, three of the dozens of meetings the Journal reported he had with each of them. On Monday,…

TOKYO—A group that includes MGM Resorts International won government approval Friday to build Japan’s first casino, which they hope to complete by 2029 on an artificial island in Osaka.  The decision finally creates a clear path forward for a long-delayed plan to make casino resorts part of Japan’s tourism mix. Osaka, a popular tourist destination that has a large international airport and is close to the ancient capital of Kyoto, was among the first to raise its hand for a gambling license after…

A New York hotel union has reached a deal with hotel owners and operators that will boost the wages of hospitality workers by $7.50 an hour, the largest increase in the union’s 100-year history. The agreement covers 7,000 members of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council who work at 87 suburban hotels spanning from Princeton, N.J., to New York’s Albany region and Long Island. The five-year pact has already been ratified by the employers and is expected to be ratified by workers this month, according to union President…

March 29, 2023 5:30 am ET The owners of New York private members club Fasano Fifth Avenue opened in spring 2021 with 12 fully furnished luxury rental residences on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, aiming to meet a demand for bookings of 30 to 60 days.  The new business didn’t turn out as planned. Some guests checked in for a stay of a month or two but ended up staying for a year to 18 months and more. “The…

Danielle Thomas dashed off one last Facebook post from Las Vegas on the way to check out of her hotel last week. It wasn’t like her others.Instead of nightclubs and a desert ATV tour, she featured a pile of Doritos, Cheetos, orange juice, coffee creamer and water bottles stashed next to a vending machine on the 16th floor at the Horseshoe Las Vegas hotel. They were leftovers from a Walmart delivery to her room at the start of her trip. The 38-year-old financial account representative from…

When hotel operator Nath Inc. reopened its eight hotels in the summer of 2020, it struggled to fill openings for housekeepers and front-desk employees. The company boosted wages for some positions by more than 30% but was still short-staffed. Then Nath tried a different tack. The company created a career-development program with cross-department training and leadership workshops. Prospective housekeepers liked the idea that the company offered a path from cleaning rooms to running housekeeping or even managing a hotel,…

A Miami real-estate developer is leasing land from a Catholic organization to transform part of a 15th-century Italian palace into a Vatican City boutique hotel.  Fort Partners reached a deal this month for a 30-year lease with the owner of the property, the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, according to a statement from Cardinal Fernando Filoni, who serves as Grand Master of the Order.  The developer has tapped luxury hotel operator Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts to manage a hotel at the site, which is just…

The priciest item on your next hotel bill might not be the room but a posh slice of poolside shade and privacy.Cabanas, those curtained-off retreats with TVs, padded lounge chairs, couches, trendy sunscreen and other perks, are fetching eye-popping prices as the travel boom stokes demand. Vacationers are shelling out for them, hoteliers say, often because they are still splurging on all things travel to make up for getaways put off in recent years.  For an Easter weekend getaway, the Phoenician resort at the…

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a wave of promises by global businesses to exit Russia. A year later, many of those companies are still there.Hard Rock International closed its Hard Rock Cafe in Moscow but says it is negotiating the end of a franchise agreement with an independent restaurant operator in St. Petersburg. Volkswagen AG VOW 0.03% , Europe’s biggest auto maker, stopped sales and production of cars in Russia and says it is in advanced discussion to sell…

PHOENIX—One of the top perks of access to airport lounges—bringing family members and partners along to eat, drink and relax for free—increasingly comes with a price tag. Maddie Davidson and her family hiked to the American Express Centurion Lounge in a neighboring concourse at Sky Harbor International Airport a few weeks ago to enjoy free breakfast and some mimosas before a flight to Orlando, Fla. She was surprised when the front desk agent at the lounge said the price for her husband and two…