NEW YORK— The third day of the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show ended abruptly on Monday, when the power at the Javits Center here went off at approximately 5:10 p.m. The cause of the black-out was not known at press time. As of 10:30 this morning, power was still not fully restored, but was being turned back on gradually, in order to not to tax the system, said an IH/M&RS spokesperson. Escalators, elevators and air conditioning immediately ceased to operate on Monday; however, since the show had technically already ended, most show attendees simply strolled out of the building to shuttle buses waiting outside. Prior to the outage, the show offered up its usual array of exhibits, seminars and events focusing on hotel room products and design. At the Gold Key Awards at the Starlight Roof of The Waldorf=Astoria, attendee Ken Jones, vp/hospitality sales division of Brown Jordan International, noted hotel room design has been taking on a more residential feel against the typical traditional hotel room. “Starwood has driven a tremendous change in the way hotels are designed, made them more homey looking, more comfortable, there are fancy duvets, and all the bedding they do. That’s probably the most significant change,” noting the Brown Jordan brand itself is geared more toward outdoor furniture. However, Darryl Rosser, president of Brown Jordan’s contract market division, stressed the company has a number of different companies that support the industry, from the traditional outdoor furniture group Pompeii to Charter which addresses the guestroom and public space furniture needs, and out to dining, side amenities and tabletop offerings. “So we have a lot of different brands within the Brown Jordan International umbrella,” said Rosser. “On the outdoor side, we’ve got a lot of new finishes and designs, but I don’t know if I could necessarily say there’s a design trend in the pool and patio furniture.” He did see the guestroom “task” chair taking on greater importance. “I think they’re [hoteliers]looking for a good, ergonomic swivel chair that makes working in a business environment a very comfortable situation. So we developed a brand, new line of task chairs to correspond to that market need,” adding response to the product has been “very good.” Rosser noted much of the midscale and upscale hotel segments have gone to the ergonomic swivels. “I think the lower end in the past may have considered trying to go with a more economical approach. I think that trend is now kind of going down the chains a little bit more to where they’re seeing they need to have that guest swivel chair as well.” Meanwhile, on the show floor, Ginger, a provider of bath amenities, is providing a complete set of finishings under the Ginger name at a reduced price according to Bill Barnhart, a vp of East Coast Sales for the company. As a result, Ginger’s new Motiv line being shown at the IH/M&RS represents a 30% cost reduction to their normal pricing. As far as the specs go, the Motiv line breaks out into four groups or styles, London Terrace, Quattro, Sine and CITY. Each group or style features sconce lights, mirrors, towel bars, toilet tissue holders, toiletry shelves, tumbler/toothbrush holders, trays, shower rods and hooks, all of which are made with tempered glass forged brass, polished chrome and satin nickel. “In creating this line we at Ginger wanted to bring a variety of complete finishings to the middle market,” said Sharon Anderson, a vp of East Coast sales at the company. “Designers are often working on a strict budget and this line allows them to get a uniform look, because each style has a complete array of finishings at a lower price point.” Ginger said it will make the Motiv line available starting in the winter of 2002. Meanwhile, technology exhibitors were also showing their wares on the floor. Avisit to the Daewoo booth revealed even larger plasma flat screen units then those reported on previously. The compa
Georgia Pacific had some fun showing off its wares.