As the preferred hotels for the Del Mar Fairgrounds, HGI and HWS join national sponsors such as Pepsi and Albertsons to support one of San Diego’s favorite annual traditions.

Since starting their partnership with the fair in 2005, the hotels have hosted many of the fair’s entertainers, from long-term acts to big-name performers such as Davy Jones and Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

“Every year when the fair is in town, our entire complex is buzzing with excitement,” said Bob Rauch, president of R.A. Rauch & Associates, the hotels’ ownership and management firm.  “We never share who is staying with us, but don’t be surprised to run into one of your favorite artists in our hallways.”

Just five minutes from the Del Mar Fairgrounds, home to the San Diego County Fair, Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton offer guests a full-service experience with a California bistro, spa, café and deli, and two swimming pools.

“A number of the return vendors have become like family to us,” said Ann Marie Kimble, general manager of the Homewood Suites.   “We always look forward to their return.”

The 2013 San Diego County Fair runs June 8 through July 4.

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San Diego County Fair

http://www.sdfair.com.

The San Diego County Fair, presented by Albertsons/Sav-on, is the largest annual event in San Diego County, the largest county Fair in California, and the 4th largest Fair in North America. “GAME ON!” is the theme for the 2013 Fair. The Fair will spotlight classic and nostalgic games we grew up with and show how games have evolved over the years. Opens Saturday, June 8 and runs through Thursday, July 4.

Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Del Mar
Located in Torrey Hills, the 80-room Hilton Garden Inn boasts unique on-site amenities that can’t be found at any other HGI property nationwide. Amenities include a California bistro and bar, a deli/café, and full-service spa and salon.

Homewood Suites by Hilton
The 120-suite Homewood Suites San Diego/Del Mar creates a home-like atmosphere with a full Suite Start® hot breakfast buffet in the morning and a Welcome Reception with complimentary wine and beer in the evening. Each suite includes a full kitchen with microwave oven, sink, stove top, dishwasher, full-sized refrigerator/freezer, complete set of china, glass and silver, toaster and all basic kitchen amenities.

R.A. Rauch & Associates
Bob Rauch is president of R.A. Rauch & Associates, Inc and is nationally recognized as the HOTEL GURU, a hotelier serving clients in all facets of the industry. Rauch’s team currently manages and operates the Homewood Suites by Hilton San Diego/Del Mar, Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Del Mar, the historic El Cordova Hotel in Coronado, the oceanfront Pantai Inn in La Jolla, La Pensione in the heart of San Diego’s Little Italy, Pacific View Inn in Pacific Beach and the Quality Inn & Suites Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Find out more about Rauch and his team and see how they can drive your hotel to success at HotelGuru.com

Robert Rauch, a local hotel developer and consultant, said the hotel will need both business and leisure travelers to succeed, but should get both.

As for rates, Rauch said he doesn’t believe Hersha will average more than $200 per night right out of the box, but that the REIT should go above that figure as the economy improves in the next three years.

Rauch said the hotel’s overall prospects look good.

“San Diego is a good market, Courtyard is a great brand, and the hotel is in a good but not a great location, since it isn’t located on the waterfront,” Rauch said.

As noted in a CoStar Group report on the sale, the property last sold to the Wheelock Capital Group entity for $40 million or $163,265 per room in May 2011. The hotel previously sold for $44.24 million or $180,592 per room in January 2005. This latest $71.1 million sale translates to a record high for the hotel at $290,204 per room.

When asked if this is too high a price, Rauch said that depends on the buyer. With this high price and long wait before recouping the investment, the property wouldn’t make sense for a private investor like himself. Given that a REIT has made the acquisition, it’s a different story, Rauch said.

“REITs only need a return that is in the high single digits,” he said. “They should get about an 8 percent annual return and the market has at least three good years ahead,” Rauch said.

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Other hoteliers say they’re noticing just the opposite. But that doesn’t mean summer travel won’t still be robust, said hotel owner and operator Robert Rauch.

“I think we’ll have a great summer, and I’m not afraid of the fact that the booking pace is behind last year,” said Rauch, who owns two San Diego hotels and manages four more in Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Coronado and Little Italy. “So no gas promos, no discounts. I don’t see any reason for any special promotions at all.”

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Robert Rauch, president of hotel consulting firm R.A. Rauch & Associates in San Diego, noted that the local region has seen just a sprinkle of new hotel construction amid the overall tourism recovery.  …Rauch said there are several projects in the pipeline in places like San Marcos and downtown San Diego, but they are unlikely to move forward anytime soon.  …With an expanded convention center up and running, Rauch said lenders and investors would be more amenable to backing hotel development projects in downtown neighborhoods like East Village and the Embarcadero.

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“Every hotel with a loan due that wasn’t properly modified during the downturn is subject to this situation,” said hotel consultant and developer Robert Rauch….Rauch said the $186 million note was based on an assumed value of about $250 million, which he said may be nearly twice the Park Hyatt’s current value.“This property was originally financed during the go-go years (of the mid-2000s),” Rauch said. “The debt is so much higher than the value that the owners only have three choices. Either they walk, modify the loan again somehow, or sell the hotel.”

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“There should be no doubt that digital marketing , such as a mobile-optimized site, your vanity site, social media and distribution channel management are paramount to your hotel’s success,” he said.

Held at the Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Del Mar, the conference drew 50 hoteliers, hospitality management professionals and lenders to hear Rauch’s state of the lodging industry and strategies for success in 2013.

State of the Industry
Rauch opened the conference with a presentation on the rebounding lodging industry.

Calling 2013 a recovery year, Rauch told the audience that by and large, travel demand is up. This past year, the hospitality industry has seen growth in both occupancy and average rate.

For instance, in the highly competitive San Diego region, where Rauch owns two hotel properties and manages four others, occupancy is forecast to hit 71 percent in 2013. According to Rauch, there is likelihood occupancy rates in 2014 will match that of 2007.

Occupancy peaked at 73.2 percent in 2007, plummeted to 63.2 percent by 2009 and has been rising since—to 65.8 percent in 2010, to 68.4 percent in 2011 and 70 percent in 2012, Rauch said.

While average room rates remain below what they’ve been in the past, Rauch is optimistic that in two years rates will reach what they were in 2008 on an inflation adjusted basis.

He warns hoteliers not to continue dropping rates as they have been in the Great Recession.

“Dropping rates will not increase profits,” Rauch said. “Instead focus on building customer equity with WOW service.”

Start With Stellar Service

Travelers can expect to receive four types of service when staying at hotels, Rauch told the audience. This includes, basic, expected, desired and ‘wow’ service.

“Providing ‘wow’ service is the key to building customer equity,” he said. “That’s truly the art of hospitality.”

This starts with really getting to know your hotel guests with data mining.  Rauch used an example of a guest who might be allergic to peanuts. First scenario is the guest will have to remind hotel staff of his allergy each time he sits down in the restaurant, or orders from the property’s café.  Or, the guest can stay at a hotel where its staff will recognize him and say, “Mr. X, we have a new item on our menu that does not have any nuts in its preparation.”

“Where do you think that customer will want to spend his money?” asked Rauch.

Rauch stressed that hotels should have important notes about each guest, at the minimum their birthday, room preferences, dining preferences/allergies and complete contact information, even Twitter handles.

The difference between a one-time guest and a regular when it comes to overall profit cannot be overstated.

“Bonafide, first-class hospitality can build a customer for life,” Rauch said.

“It’s a simple formula.”

Digital Marketing Efforts Will Define Your Success

Rauch’s guest speaker also stressed the power of simplicity in hotel digital marketing.

Travelers don’t want to be overwhelmed when researching travel options, said Adam Brownstein, founder of Buuteeq,  a digital marketing system that enables hotels to create and manage high-performing websites, mobile phone content, a Facebook presence, and direct-to-hotel online reservations.

“Focus, effort, time, and memory. That’s what a guest has to spend to find you,” said Brownstein.

You must present your hotel’s experience for your online customers, he noted. A cluttered Web site won’t do any favors for a hotel, and could easily deter business.

“If it takes too much focus, effort, time or memory to research or reserve a room – they’ll leave you.”

Brownstein told the group to make mobile a priority. According to Brownstein, 30 percent of Web site traffic and 65 percent of same-day hotel reservations come via mobile phones.

He also noted 54 percent of mobile users will not recommend a hotel that doesn’t have a mobile version of its Web site.

Guests want to see the value in your product, so make sure your mobile site is a good one. He also added that hotels must authenticate their product with good copywriting and quality photos.

“Guests will always linger on photos, so invest in good imagery,” Brownstein said.

Quality images are especially important for each of your room types, as that is the second most visited page on a hotel’s Web site, according to Brownstein.

Google is making a foray into the hospitality industry and hotels should “absolutely” be on Google + or have their listing updated on Google Places.

Before ending the conference, Brownstein closed with this guiding principle.

“Whether on a desktop, phone, or tablet, always present your hotel elegantly,” Brownstein said.

“A good user experience – with a simple interface, fast loading times, and elegant look – means a happy guest.”

SAN DIEGO—Hoteliers need to capitalize on smartphones and other evolving digital platforms to get the most from the United States’ economic turnaround, speakers said last week during the second annual Hotel Forecast and Digital Marketing Conference in San Diego.  “Everybody is using these to book hotels at the last minute or to do research,” Robert A. Rauch of R.A. Rauch & Associates, said while holding up his cell phone.

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The state of the hotel market and the technology that serves it were discussed at R.A. Rauch & Associates’ second annual Hotel Forecast and Digital Marketing Conference on Wednesday at the Hilton Garden Inn.  “In terms of occupancy, we’re back where we were in 2008,” said Robert Rauch, president of Rauch. With few hotels under construction — Rauch says only about 600 rooms are expected to be added this year — the countywide occupancy, now hovering around 70 percent, is expected to grow.  Rauch, who developed the Hilton Garden Inn and the adjacent Homewood Suites, among other hotels, said after the recession years of 2009 and 2010, recovery marked 2011 and 2012 — a trend he expects to strengthen the rest of this year and beyond…

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…Local hotel industry consultant Robert Rauch noted that the Legoland hotel could have a mix of impacts on the region’s hospitality industry, depending on how it’s received in the long run. It might draw vacationers away from competing resorts, but a more likely outcome is that Legoland will create more of its own hotel demand than it takes away from other properties.

An important variable is the international makeup of Legoland visitors, drawn in part by extensive local and global advertising by Merlin Entertainments.

“International travelers stay longer and spend more,” said Rauch, president of San Diego-based R.A. Rauch & Associates Inc. “It’s probably going to benefit the entire region.”

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“Today’s leisure traveler books in a very short booking window.  They look online and boom, they book,” said Bob Rauch, co-owner of the Torrey Hills Hilton Garden Inn.  Rauch, a board member of the TMD, said putting San Diego in front of travelers using marketing ads is what makes the difference.  ”The San Diego authority spending translates to about 10 to 1,” said Rauch.  That means for every dollar spent on marketing, hotels say they make up to 10 times back. So if all $30 million of marketing money in question isn’t spent, that could be a loss of up to $300 million in revenue.  “Right now it’s very damaging,” said Rauch. “It affects the entire economy.”

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