By Catherine Carlock – Real Estate Editor, Boston Business Journal

Choice Hotels International Inc. on Thursday will officially open Cambria Hotel Boston across from the MBTA Broadway Red Line station. The hotel is the first to bear the Cambria brand in Massachusetts and one of the few new hotels to be developed in South Boston. 

Rockville, Maryland-based Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH), a hotel franchisor, will hold a ribbon cutting on Thursday with Cambria’s developer, Boston-based City Point Capital. 

“Boston is our hometown, so it was important that the hotel reflect the heart and soul of the neighborhood,” Ryan Sillery, principal and owner of City Point Capital, said in a statement. “We’re proud that the Cambria Boston Downtown manages to convey a genuine ‘Southie’ experience while embracing the area’s innovative future—and thrilled to work with Choice to bring this hotel to life.”

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The Lodging Conference 2019, the annual event’s 25th edition, featured a new look and a new home at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the wealth of information about the lodging industry that can be gained at the conference. Hotel Management Editor-in-Chief Stefani C. O’Connor and Senior Managing Editor Elaine Simon interviewed a number of hospitality experts at HM’s news desk during the conference to find out why they were in attendance and what they are looking forward to as the calendar flips to 2020.

In this video, we feature Justin Jabara, VP development & acquisitions for Meyer Jabara Hotels.

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OK, let’s get this out of the way first: Southie? Yep, the same neighborhood that the hotel’s general manager, Bernardo Gubert, describes as formerly, “a bit rough,” and made infamous by Whitey Bulger, is now home to the state’s first Cambria hotel, an upscale brand from Choice Hotels International.

Whatever you think about South Boston, the neighborhood is definitely changing. “There’s new construction everywhere. South Boston is being developed with beautiful restaurants, condos, and apartments,” says Gubert, who was most recently with the Courtyard Copley Place hotel. Set in the heart of Southie, at the intersection of West Broadway and Dorchester Avenue. (the sprawling P&G Gillette building is next door), the new 159-room hotel is a 20-minute-or-so walk from Fort Point Channel and the Seaport District, and a short (if not scenic) walk to the South End. On a clear day, you can see as far as Quincy, they say.

And there’s this: the Broadway T stop is across the street, with Park Street station a mere three stops away. The guests we met (all from outside of Boston) were taking full advantage of this, T-hopping all over our fair city. The Freedom Trail and JFK Library were popular destinations on a recent rainy Saturday. To appeal to out-of-towners, the hotel offers the “Explore Everywhere” package, with a $20 food credit for breakfast at the on-site restaurant, Six\West, a map of Boston with landmarks noted, two round-trip tickets for the MBTA, plus water and snacks. (They also offer an “Experience Southie” package for those who want to get to know the immediate neighborhood better.)

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Dirt, dollars and development were in the spotlight during Hotel Management’s recent Executive Roundtable, sponsored exclusively by Choice Hotels International. The event, held in June at the Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel during the New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, brought together a varied group of hospitality leaders who examined aspects of the Executive Roundtable’s topic: “Trends and Challenges in Upscale New-Construction Development.”

With materials costs continuing to rise, labor shortages, parcel scarcity and high barriers to entry all in the mix, securing a great site with the best brand in the right market (emerging or otherwise) that will fulfill the industry mantra of location, location, location and also hold out the promise of a worthwhile and sustainable return on investment remains a key goal of owners and developers who go the new-build route in the upscale segment.

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BY HOTEL BUSINESS ON OCTOBER 2, 2019

DANBURY, CT—As 2019 nears its end, Meyer Jabara Hotels (MJH) is setting its sights to 2020 with an emphasis on the digital space. With the initiative, MJH is equipping all of its properties with digital marketing specialists. 

Justin Jabara, VP of development, Meyer Jabara Hotels, said that because of this shift toward digital, MJH finds an opportunity to grow within the marketing segment.

According to Jabara, at one time, its in-house call center took up a large portion of the office. Over the years, call volumes have dropped and the way customers book continues to change, along with the ever-evolving social media landscape.

“It is our plan to take this department from best-in-class to industry leading. In order to do that, there is risk but with risk come opportunity. We are finding that a lot of that opportunity can be learned from companies and services outside of our industry,” he said.

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[Danbury, Conn., October 2, 2019] — Meyer Jabara Hotels (MJH) has been selected by Benchmark Development of Lenox, Mass., to manage its owned and operated, new construction, Hampton Inn by Hilton in Verona, N.Y. Located adjacent to the award-winning Turning Stone Resort Casino, the hotel will be designed to mirror the tribal asset and it will feature 100 guest rooms, a fitness center, indoor pool, and other amenities. The modular construction project is expected to open in Summer 2020, offering tourists even more options when visiting the four-season destination region. 

 “Meyer Jabara Hotels came highly recommended as a management company with exceptional experience in destination planning,” said Brian Cohan, regional director of development for Benchmark Development. “The company’s familiarity with the New York hotel market and Hilton brands makes it uniquely qualified to draw to manage the day-to-day operations of the property once open. Hampton Inn by Hilton Verona will be a great addition to an area already accustomed to world-class amenities and award-winning guest service.”

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By Nathan Tavares - October 1, 2019

Officially dubbed the Cambria Hotel Boston, Downtown-South Boston, the 14-floor hotel designed by local RODE Architects sits at 6 West Broadway, across from the Broadway MBTA stop. Though Sillery describes the geometric exterior as slick and modern, the interior boasts a midcentury-modern-meets-luxe-library vibe. The lobby is a play of materials—walls of glass, white subway tile and gray fabric, with upholstered lounge seating and glints of gold. Dark concrete floors transition to wide oak planks on the way to the adjoining restaurant and bar, where you’ll find tomes tucked onto long shelves.

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The bottom line is, we are in business to support the community. The local fire departments drop off people whose homes were flooded. If we don’t have rooms available, we set up cots if needed. It’s during a time of crisis that our hotels become the biggest community asset. That’s the beauty of the business we are in. We need these plans, resources, talent and equipment to reopen quickly and help as many people as we can.

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Strategic objectives for hospitality technology in 2019 puts a hyper-focus on improving digital customer engagement. Delivering on the mobile-driven and constantly connected needs of today’s guests will require robust bandwidth and uninterrupted connectivity. In this executive round table, three executives from hotel and technology companies offer advice and predictions on what trends are shaping the network needs for hotels and restaurants. These plugged-in experts also discuss new technology and capabilities that were not available just a few years ago and what they believe is vital to providing a foundation for the digital economy.

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A recent refresh of rooms and public areas and an upgrade of technology at the Comfort Suites in Gastonia, managed by Meyer Jabara Hotels, is seeing a boost in satisfaction scores with guests saying they are likely to return and recommend the hotel to friends.

Since renovating its Comfort Suites in Gastonia, North Carolina, in February, hotel manager Meyer Jabara Hotels (MJH) is seeing a steady flow of new travelers booking rooms and writing positive guest reviews, many saying they will return on their next visit and also recommend this property to others. Located at 1874 Remount Rd., the all-suite hotel has refreshed its public spaces, guestrooms and guest baths, and installed new technologies that are keeping travelers connected.

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[Danbury, Conn., June 4, 2019] — When it comes to guest-facing technology, research shows that 42% of hoteliers are planning to upgrade their guest WiFi in 2019. Adding more broadband is a smart move considering that 41% of hotels will add smart TVs or upgrade their streaming capabilities this year, while others are making investments in guest-facing applications such as mobile payments, instant messaging, tablets at the front desk and in rooms, chatbots and even voice-enabled technologies.  The Hilton Wilmington/Christiana, owned and operated by Meyer Jabara Hotels, is leading the Northern Delaware lodging market in broadband capacity thanks to a recent investment in its infrastructure and high-speed Internet offering that will address guest and meeting planner needs 10 years into the future.

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Danbury, Conn. — In 1977, Mike Dolan, director of sales for the new Stamford (Conn.) Marriott Hotel, had an idea. To help increase business on a slow winter weekend, Dolan approached Will Shortz, then editing crossword puzzles for Penny Press magazines in Stamford, with the idea of hosting a crossword tournament. Shortz, who today is best known as the "Puzzlemaster" for NPR and crossword editor of The New York Times, jumped at the offer. The rest is history. 

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