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The American Hotel & Lodging Association has a full slate of events scheduled for 2012! AH&LA members are invited to attend the events – all WH&LA members with 51 or more rooms are automatically members of AH&LA. Questions about your AH&LA membership or joining AH&LA? Contact Jennifer in the WH&LA office via email or call 262/782-2851.

The complete 2012 schedule of events can be found here or get more details and register for events at ahla.com.

January 23-25, 2012
The Americas Lodging Investment Summit
JW Marriott & Nokia Theater at LA Live
Los Angeles, CA
The world’s leading hotel investment conference, this is a must-attend event for hotel buyers, sellers, and developers. You’ll also hear rare keynotes from hotel tycoons Donald Trump and Bill Marriott.

February 29-March 1, 2012
AH&LA Legislative Action Summit
JW Marriott
Washington, DC
Get the inside scoop on regulatory and legislative issues straight from lawmakers, members of the Administration, and industry CEOs, then have personal meetings with your Representatives to relay the industry’s message.

June 12-13, 2012
AH&LA Summer Summit
InterContinental Houston near the Galleria
Houston, TX

November 9-13, 2012
AH&LA Fall Conference & International Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Show
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
New York, NY

By: Jeremy D. Engle
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C.
Madison, WI|
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be interpreted as legal advice.

It’s a standard practice: post notice on the back of each guest room door, stating that the hotel has a safe for storing guests’ valuables and that the hotel isn’t liable for the loss of valuables not stored in the safe. By following these statutory requirements, the hotel is supposed to be protected from liability for guests’ lost valuables so long as the hotel’s negligence isn’t the reason for the loss. But merely complying with the statutory requirements may not offer the protection one presumes.

The problem is that some courts have limited the protection provided by the Wisconsin Hotelkeeper’s Liability Act, and similar statutes in other states, by ruling that the statute doesn’t apply in situations where the guest doesn’t have an opportunity to secure valuables with the hotel. Specifically, courts have ruled that the statutes don’t protect hotels around the check-in and check-out periods. That may not sound like a big deal, but consider the Wisconsin case where a guest sued a hotel, alleging that after checking in and entering his room, he was assaulted and the attackers stole more than a million dollars worth of diamonds from him. According to the court’s recitation of the facts, there was no dispute that the hotel had fully complied with the Wisconsin Hotelkeeper’s Liability Act – it provided a safe, had adequate locks, and posted sufficient notice on the bathroom doors. Yet the federal appeals court, which was applying Wisconsin law, decided that the statute did not protect the hotel because a guest who had just entered his room didn’t have the chance to review the notice and use the safe. Thus, the court allowed the million dollar lawsuit against the hotel to proceed.

To continue reading about protections of the Hotelkeeper’s Liability Act, click here.

Perhaps you heard it on the radio. Or maybe you saw the article at the Business Journal of Greater Milwaukee’s Web site. One thing is for certain… WH&LA’s new “Gas Card Getaways” campaign has been a hit in the media! An expert from the UW-Madison School of Business’ Center for Brand & Product Management called the campaign “brilliant” on the Wisconsin Public Radio broadcast this morning. WPR also interviewed WH&LA President/CEO Trisha Pugal about the program and summer travel. We’ll post more media mentions and stories when they become available.

If your property would like to participate in this program, we are accepting more registrations through Monday. Please contact Bill Elliott in the WH&LA office by email at bill@wisconsinlodging.org or call 262/782-2851.

To clear up common misconceptions some hoteliers may have surrounding the regulations for credit card imprinting, Heartland Payment Systems has released a Q&A piece on the subject.

You can read the short info sheet here.
Need help logging in? Contact the WH&LA office at 262/782-2851.

Heartland Payment Systems is WH&LA’s newest Gold Strategic Marketing Partner – welcome!

If you will be at the Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Tourism, make sure to look for the WH&LA booth in Monday’s marketplace! Trisha Pugal, Jennifer Church and Bill Elliott plan to be there to answer member questions and promote WH&LA services.

If you are in the Milwaukee area this weekend, watch for our ads running on Lamar billboards! Here are the properties that are participating on the current campaign:

Have you seen the price of cotton lately?

Standard Textile understands the price of cotton and has designed a compete line of products that reduces your total operational costs, while enhancing the guest experience. Imagine receiving products that arrive at your hotel Room Ready For You Laundered with Tide-from the box to the guestroom!

Standard Textile’s Decorative Products Division is your single source for Draperies, Bedding, and much more!

Contact: Jenny Mazanek
jmazanek@standardtextile.com
phone: 800/888-4000
fax: 513/679-8533

WH&LA would like to thank the following companies for investing in our Strategic Marketing Partnership program for the 2011 year.

Gold

Heartland Payment Systems
Dennis Carpenter
877/573-2255

Procter & Gamble
Joe Bishop
262/206-1794

Rural Mutual Insurance Company
Eric Wolf
608/828-5491

Society Insurance
Brad Korkow
888/576-2438

Silver

Sealy, Inc.
D.J. Turner
800/707-3259

Bronze

A-1 Textiles & Hospitality Products
Dawn Aguilera
800/351-1819

Thank you all for your support!

While WH&LA does not endorse any members, we form Strategic Marketing Partnerships with companies that have an interest in working with Wisconsin’s Lodging Industry.