“The Great Royal Wedding Lodging Rush: Hotels and Sublets Skyrocket” plus 1 more |
| The Great Royal Wedding Lodging Rush: Hotels and Sublets Skyrocket Posted: 02 Feb 2011 06:58 AM PST  A souvenir place mat for the royal wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton Carl Court / AFP / Getty Images Will you travel to London for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton? Be prepared to pay royally for the privilege. When the royal couple set the date for their big day in late November, hotel-comparison websites noticed a bizarre phenomenon in their bookings and searches. "Hotels.com reports that searches for rooms on and around April 29 have jumped 60% year on year, and discount-hotel website LateRooms.com says hotel bookings for the week of April 29 are three times higher than for the week before," TIME's William Lee Adams reported in December. (More on TIME.com: See NewsFeed's complete coverage of the royal wedding.) Now, with 1.1 million people expected to travel to the capital to attend a wedding they're not even invited to, Londoners are preparing to get the most out of their international visitors. The Waldorf Hilton, located a mere 15-minute walk away from Westminster Abbey, will fetch $560 per night during the wedding weekend, compared with the $430 it's charging during the previous week. Hilton Worldwide Inc.'s Trafalgar Square and Green Park hotels are already fully booked. "Whenever there's a huge surge in demand, which this will be, there will always be pressure," says Miles Quest, spokesman for the British Hospitality Association. (More on TIME.com: See how to turn Kate Middleton into a princess.) Some Londoners will become part-time landlords, as they have put up rooms for rent on websites such as London Rent My House and Gumtree, the U.K. equivalent of Craigslist. One such wanna-be landlord has set the price for a week's rent at $2,835. That's more than double the average rent for a two-bed apartment in the same area. Cashing in on the royal wedding will certainly bring big bucks to London. (Via Bloomberg) 51.506169 -0.127145 This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Choice Hotels & Rebuilding Together Team Up to Help Rebuild Posted: 02 Feb 2011 05:57 AM PST Press Release Source: Choice Hotels International, Inc. On Wednesday February 2, 2011, 8:57 am EST SILVER SPRING, Md., Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Worldwide lodging franchisor Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH - News) is once again joining Rebuilding Together, the nation's leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities, to bring together hundreds of volunteers to help rebuild a dozen homes in Arlington, Texas. This year's Kickoff to Rebuild will take place February 3, 2011 and will serve the Drummond Drive area of Arlington with Choice Hotels participating as the official Hospitality Sponsor of the event, offering encouragement and nourishment for the day's volunteers. With its involvement at this year's Kickoff to Rebuild event, Choice Hotels and its brands, including the flagship Comfort Inn brand, are proud to give back to this predominantly Hispanic community by volunteering to rehabilitate homes and a local elementary school in the neighborhood. "True hospitality should extend far past the front doors of our hotels, into the communities where we live and work, and so we're proud to play this role at this year's Kickoff to Rebuild event," said Stephen P. Joyce, president and chief executive officer for Choice Hotels. "Our involvement with Rebuilding Together at this event is reflective of the work we've been able to accomplish with our larger commitment with them in giving back to help families in need across the country." The morning's rebuilding efforts will culminate in a special community celebration to mark the area's revitalization, including food and festivities as well as an official ribbon cutting and awards ceremony with Arlington community leaders, well-known national celebrities, and other local and national sponsors. Choice Hotels commitment to Rebuilding Together is part of the company's Room to Rebuild initiative. Launched in 2009, the company has completed almost 40 Rebuilding projects nationwide to date, representing over 25,000 volunteer hours with restoration efforts coming in at an estimated market value of nearly $1.7 million.* For more information on Choice Hotels and its work with Rebuilding Together and general corporate social responsibility program, visit choicehotels.com/responsibility. *Source: Rebuilding Together Internal Data. The estimated market value is calculated as the aggregate value of the grant amount, materials and supplies donated and discounted, and volunteer hours worked. About Choice Hotels Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises more than 6,000 hotels, representing more than 490,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 35 other countries and territories. As of September 30, 2010, more than 540 hotels were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States, representing more than 44,000 rooms, and approximately 90 hotels, representing approximately 8,000 rooms, were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in 20 other countries and territories. The company's Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands serve guests worldwide. In addition, via its Ascend Collection membership program, travelers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean have upscale lodging options at historic, boutique and unique hotels. Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels International, Inc. Web site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com. About Rebuilding Together Rebuilding Together is the nation's leading nonprofit organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providing critical home repair and modification services to those in need at no cost to homeowners. With the help of everyday citizen volunteers, skilled trades people, the support of local business and major corporate partners, Rebuilding Together affiliates in America's largest cities and smallest towns make life considerably better for thousands of low-income homeowners and the communities in which they live by completing 10,000 projects per year. In addition to its core home repair work, Rebuilding Together also rehabilitates community centers and conducts home modification and repair programs that focus on aging in place. Rebuilding Together has programs dedicated to ageing in place, energy efficiency, veteran's housing, and disaster recovery and reconstruction. For more information, visit www.RebuildingTogether.org. Choice Hotels, Choice Hotels International, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and Ascend Collectionare proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International. (C) 2011 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved. Follow Yahoo! Finance on ; become a fan on Facebook. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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