Annual Celebration of Military Community
Is Set for October
Interim funding for the $50 million Del Mar Marriott will come from New York City-based InterBank Capital Partners.
The hotel, which is owned by San Diego-based JMI Realty, held groundbreaking ceremonies in August. Expected to open next summer, the 284-room hotel will have 12,600 square feet of banquet and meeting space. It will be part of a mixed-use project that will include an eight-story, 170,000-square-foot office building and a shared 900-car parking structure.
InterBank’s funding went toward pre-development and land closing costs, according to the company.
The firm’s hospitality division is advising the project, and helped to secure other loans for the project.
Robert Rauch, managing director for InterBank Brener Hospitality in San Diego, has been excited about the project from its start. “It carries a great brand and is located on one of the best hotel sites in the country,” Rauch said in a company statement.
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Fleet Week Moves To October: Look for San Diego’s annual celebration of military personnel and history to take place in October rather than August.
The event will take place Oct.12-22 and will incorporate the Miramar Air Show and the Chrysler Jeep Classic Speed Festival, according to chairperson Patti Roscoe.
Look for this year’s event to kick off with the 225th Navy Birthday Salute and culminate with the speed festival.
Needs To Know: More than ever, business travelers are using their hotel rooms as offices, according to a New York City-based E-business company.
Hotel Interactive recently conducted a survey of the needs of business travelers when they stay in hotels.
The top five amenities, in order, were: voice mail, Internet access, coffee makers, adequate workspace and good lighting.
The survey was compiled from the responses of 200 general managers from a variety of hotels throughout the country. The managers were asked to report on the feedback they received.
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Checking In: Yellow Cab of San Diego, Inc. has launched a bilingual taxi service, which will begin with a fleet of 20 bilingual drivers. A trans-Pacific regatta planned to start in the summer of 2002 now has a name. Organizers recently held a contest, and the judges’ choice was “Gateway to Hawaii.” Putnam Grill, located inside The Grand Colonial in La Jolla, is now featuring a Southwestern menu. The restaurant, which was recently redecorated, also has a new chef, Robert Vasquez. Vasquez has worked for Marriott Suites in San Diego, Coronado, and Scottsdale, Ariz., and had chef de cuisine positions at the Westin Hotel in Singapore and the Sara Hotel in Beijing.
New Enclosure: San Diego Zoo recently opened a new enclosure for the douc langurs, which are rare primates from Vietnam and Cambodia.
The new enclosure represents a forest environment, according to zoo representatives.
According to Karen Killmar, associate curator of mammals, the space was needed to house the zoo’s population of the endangered species, which is growing slowly. The zoo owns 14 of the primates, and two are on loan to the Philadelphia Zoo.
The deadline for the next tourism & hospitality column is Sept. 14. Rodrigues can be reached via E-mail at trodrigues@sdbj.com.
