The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Aloft is opening in September I believe.

Downtown Tulsa boasts five existing hotels, with one under construction, one to start and one more planned for a total of eight.
Downtown Fort Worth for comparison's sake has 17 hotels.

I remember but cannot find the hotel study on downtown wanting a minimum of some 3,000 rooms

In my estimation the Courtyard has been a huge boon for the CBD/Deco district. I see people on Boston Ave every night now looking for places to eat and for things to do. The Mayo has had a big impact on downtown as well, bringing lots of people downtown for weddings and other events. We need more, what is the catalyst to get more interest in downtown as a place that can support different types of hotels?

Demand.  The single most important thing we need to do is have more and bigger conventions.  Unfortunately, without sufficient number of hotel rooms, it is hard to land larger conventions.  We also need more employers downtown to draw business travelers.  We need destination sites downtown to draw tourists - such as the Oklahoma Pop Museum, etc.  We need more events like Mayfest and Tulsa Tough (something like a new D-Fest, etc.).  In short, we need more of what we already have, but we really need to focus on growing the convention/trade show business.

My problem with the Hotels downtown is the cost per room. I wanted to book one for the Roger Waters concert. And I checked the prices three months before the show and decided to just go back home after the show.
They are priced like Las Vegas rooms. I'm sorry but this is Tulsa "fricking" Oklahoma. Not the Bahamas.
I am not cheap by any means. 75 to 150 would have been just fine. But 249 and up is just crazy.
We have stayed in Dallas, Kansas City, O.K.C. and Hot Springs for the price I mentioned and all was fantastic accommodations.
It has to be because we are not a tourist destination per se.

My problem with the Hotels downtown is the cost per room. I wanted to book one for the Roger Waters concert. And I checked the prices three months before the show and decided to just go back home after the show.
They are priced like Las Vegas rooms. I'm sorry but this is Tulsa "fricking" Oklahoma. Not the Bahamas.
I am not cheap by any means. 75 to 150 would have been just fine. But 249 and up is just crazy.
We have stayed in Dallas, Kansas City, O.K.C. and Hot Springs for the price I mentioned and all was fantastic accommodations.
It has to be because we are not a tourist destination per se.

And in defense of high priced downtown hotel rooms, there is a limited amount of space downtown and they tend to be some of the nicer hotels in any town, for that very reason. They need higher rents to stay in business, because the cost is higher.

Hmm lets see. I checked Courtyards, Doubletree and The Mayo. I really wanted to stay at the Mayo just because of the History. And I have stayed at the Doubletree several years back at a Christmas party but of course that price was reflective of a lot of rooms being occupied by the hosting company so that low price doesn't count.
Who knows. May 5th(A Saturday)of this year may have just been a bad Hotel night in good ol T-Town.

They should come up with a local resident rewards card. Lower rates for non tourist, just to drum up local business and not rely on all out of town gouging price rates.
What a concept. Fill empty rooms with locals at a reasonable price. Sounds like some kind of Kramer idea.

Hmm lets see. I checked Courtyards, Doubletree and The Mayo. I really wanted to stay at the Mayo just because of the History. And I have stayed at the Doubletree several years back at a Christmas party but of course that price was reflective of a lot of rooms being occupied by the hosting company so that low price doesn't count.
Who knows. May 5th(A Saturday)of this year may have just been a bad Hotel night in good ol T-Town.

They should come up with a local resident rewards card. Lower rates for non tourist, just to drum up local business and not rely on all out of town gouging price rates.
What a concept. Fill empty rooms with locals at a reasonable price. Sounds like some kind of Kramer idea.

So... Cinco de Mayo [roughly translates to "drink a metric f-ton"] in Downtown Tulsa (where they shut down roads) was a bad hotel night?  Next you are going to tell me that March 17 is also a bad hotel night.

What were they charging on those nights?

Oh I'm sorry. I wasn't clear enough. This was a non "Holiday" day. Just a concert day. That's why I was surprised at the high prices.

You said your Concert was on May 5th which is Cinco de Mayo. People rent rooms so they don't have to drive from the Bars.

The new Made Market fast-casual restaurant at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown is a marked departure from the building's old formal dining room, and that's by design, said John Greenleaf, global head of the Hilton chain.

Doubletree opened the new Made Market concept two weeks ago, the first of the fast-casual concept sites for Hilton. The company plans to offer the concept to other hotels in its chain, hoping the less formal and trendy format helps capture more customers off the street and from lodgers.

"We're creating a different kind of destination," Greenleaf said. "What we're looking at is more flexibility."

The company spent $2 million on the 6,000-square-foot space, where the restaurant will serve made-to-order sandwiches, hamburgers and pizzas, as well as some grab-and-go options. A coffee bar and a refrigerator case with drinks and other goods also is offered.

Greenleaf said the concept of the hotel restaurant is changing because hotel guests are looking for more affordable options as well as convenience.

Most entree items at the restaurant range from $7 to $9.

Greenleaf said the new restaurant already is getting more outside guests on nights when there are concerts and other events at the nearby BOK Center - up from an average of 50 checks to more than 600.

He said the company plans to market the concept to other hotel groups that are considering new restaurant options.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=53&articleid=20130208_53_E6_CUTLIN488857

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=53&articleid=20130208_53_E6_CUTLIN488857 (http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=53&articleid=20130208_53_E6_CUTLIN488857)

Is that John Wall's doppelganger?

weird repeat post

I went to OKC this weekend, stayed at the Colcord hotel. http://www.colcordhotel.com/

The downtown Tulsa Hotels have nothing on OKC in terms of quality staff, (I have also stayed and ate at the Mayo) restaurants and energy. Tulsa has a long way to go, while people that do not travel out of Tulsa might think that the Mayo is "a 5 star stay) let me tell you after a simple stay in OKC at a number of hotels that match the size of the Mayo they would change their minds. Hopefully aloft will be another story. The FLINT resturant that is also in the hotel of the colcord would wipe their shoes on Trula any day..

PS: I paid around 130 for a room vs. the Mayo's now rate of: $275-$319 which is absurd for Tulsa.

the same group that owns the Ambassador in Tulsa.

The Colcord is a wonderful hotel and is owned by the same group that owns the Ambassador in Tulsa.

The Coury Collection (led by Paul Coury) does not actually own the Colcord.  Devon purchased it from their investor group in 2008 to ensure it stayed open during the construction of their tower.  However, they do continue to manage the property for Devon.  In my opinion, this shows what a great corporate citizen and company Devon is for OKC.

Coury now has an Ambassador in a former bank on Grand Blvd in KC.  They are currently working on another Ambassador in Wichita.

They know hospitality and are doing very well.

I believe Devon is managing Colcord itself - Coury hasn't managed it in a couple of years. Wichita Ambassador has been open about six weeks. Both new properties are gorgeous. Go visit!

I went to OKC this weekend, stayed at the Colcord hotel. http://www.colcordhotel.com/

The downtown Tulsa Hotels have nothing on OKC in terms of quality staff, (I have also stayed and ate at the Mayo) restaurants and energy. Tulsa has a long way to go, while people that do not travel out of Tulsa might think that the Mayo is "a 5 star stay) let me tell you after a simple stay in OKC at a number of hotels that match the size of the Mayo they would change their minds. Hopefully aloft will be another story. The FLINT resturant that is also in the hotel of the colcord would wipe their shoes on Trula any day..

PS: I paid around 130 for a room vs. the Mayo's now rate of: $275-$319 which is absurd for Tulsa.

The sad reality is Heir, even in a $1000 a night room, there's still a lot of strange people's, um, DNA all over the place.  GHACK!

Yes heir, just like the last rental car, the last airline seat you sat in, and the pocket in the seat in front of you. Or the pillow or blanket on the flight, the last restaurant that you ate in and sat in, and the table you had, the plate that you ate off of, and the glass you had your drink out of, and the silverware you used. The cup that you got at QT, the counter where you paid for it, the gas pump you got fuel from, the door at the mall or store and any other public place that you have been to. Want to talk about theaters? How about amusement parks you took your kids to?

Yes heir, just like the last rental car, the last airline seat you sat in, and the pocket in the seat in front of you. Or the pillow or blanket on the flight, the last restaurant that you ate in and sat in, and the table you had, the plate that you ate off of, and the glass you had your drink out of, and the silverware you used. The cup that you got at QT, the counter where you paid for it, the gas pump you got fuel from, the door at the mall or store and any other public place that you have been to. Want to talk about theaters? How about amusement parks you took your kids to?

Yes heir, just like the last rental car, the last airline seat you sat in, and the pocket in the seat in front of you. Or the pillow or blanket on the flight, the last restaurant that you ate in and sat in, and the table you had, the plate that you ate off of, and the glass you had your drink out of, and the silverware you used. The cup that you got at QT, the counter where you paid for it, the gas pump you got fuel from, the door at the mall or store and any other public place that you have been to. Want to talk about theaters? How about amusement parks you took your kids to?

Absolutely.  The difference is the exposure time.  In a hotel/motel you have a much longer "soak" time.  Intensity and duration is what makes a disease event.  More germs for shorter time is similar to fewer germs for longer time.  (Just like in your house!)

And you can wash your hands with most of those events and move away from it....in the motel, even the walls are out to get you - you are bathing in a sauna of germs.  It is one large 'stew' of various bugs with a fan on the wall (air cond/heater) to stir the pot so you have even distribution and constant inundation with the ongoing, "building every day", next layer of germs.

Anyone totally freaked out yet?? 

Not me...I worked for several years in a job where there were visits to food processing plants as well as sewage treatment plants.  Developed immunities that have lasted a lifetime!  And the food processing plants were far and away the worst smelling of the batch!!

Is that supposed to be like the five second rule?  Sorry, but time in contact does not matter, it just takes contact period.  Once you make contact, it's there. 

It's an "area under the curve" over time thing...if you are exposed to 1 germ in 10 hours, it is different than 10 germs in 1 hour.

But there is no real difference between 10 germs in 1 hour and 10 germs in 10 hours.  Once you are exposed to the germ, you are exposed, regardless of how long the exposure is.  We aren't film, after all.

The odds of becoming ill from the exposure is what changes.

Depends on the "germ" and your immune system.  "Germ" is a rather useless term for a very broad and diverse category of organisms.

A robust immune system is far more important than a clean environment.  In fact, a fastidiously clean environment can lead to much poorer health, especially in children.

We aren't meant to be divorced from nature.  It's not healthy.

Yes, but I'm pretty certain it's not necessary to sit down on a bedspread with 150 or so different "DNA samples".  Ghack!  That's why it's the first thing to hit the floor when I check into a room.

That's why it's the first thing to hit the floor when I check into a room.

Yes, but I'm pretty certain it's not necessary to sit down on a bedspread with 150 or so different "DNA samples".  Ghack!  That's why it's the first thing to hit the floor when I check into a room.

That might be effective for you if you were the only one to do that.

The thing with the bed spread is that because they are so bulky and they go over the sheets that people are supposed to be sleeping between, they don't get washed as often as they should (you know, like between every check-in).  The sheets tend to get replaced between every check in (if it's a decent hotel).  So yeah, I do the whole yank the bedspread off too.

I like to think that the sheets are changed every day.

I can't help but remember the episode of Monk (TV show) where he was shown the abundant amount of DNA all over the room and he had it cleaned to be spotless.  The plot was actually about the maids murdering one of their own.

Guess that I'm not as paranoid or germophobic, or that the places I stay in, I have only had two bad experiences. One was a room booked by an employer where I was bitten by a spider, the other was a recommendation by my ex sister-in-law. So two in 40 some years is a good average.

I like to think that the sheets are changed every day.

I can't help but remember the episode of Monk (TV show) where he was shown the abundant amount of DNA all over the room and he had it cleaned to be spotless.  The plot was actually about the maids murdering one of their own.

The thing with the bed spread is that because they are so bulky and they go over the sheets that people are supposed to be sleeping between, they don't get washed as often as they should (you know, like between every check-in).  The sheets tend to get replaced between every check in (if it's a decent hotel).  So yeah, I do the whole yank the bedspread off too.

Guess that I'm not as paranoid or germophobic, or that the places I stay in, I have only had two bad experiences. One was a room booked by an employer where I was bitten by a spider, the other was a recommendation by my ex sister-in-law. So two in 40 some years is a good average.

I mark the sheets every time.  And I can guarantee you that they do not.  Based on literally thousands of hotel stays over the last 40 years.  As I mentioned, the Hyatt's even try to suck you into their little game by asking if you would like to help them conserve energy and water.  And you get to do that, no matter what you answer....

ex sister-in-law.  Any significance regarding the motel?  Or maybe we don't want to know.

Have you looked at yourself under a black light lately?  ;D

How do you mark them????????  :-[

Small spot with a fine point ball point pen.  Tiny little dot that is extremely not obvious.  And move the position around.

Wow.  I just get up in the morning and pull the sheets off the bed, wad them up and throw them in the corner.

Problem solved!

I just realized there is one thing in a hotel room that I don't use anymore, the remote for the TV. I have an app for that on my Galaxy.

I just realized there is one thing in a hotel room that I don't use anymore, the remote for the TV. I have an app for that on my Galaxy.

Small spot with a fine point ball point pen.  Tiny little dot that is extremely not obvious.  And move the position around.

If you are the one that slept in them, why are you so worried about it?  If they were clean sheets when you checked in, unless you stay for more than a just a few days, is it a problem?

Stayed at Fairfield Inn (Marriott family of hotels) last night in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana. 

You stayed in three states simultaneously?

Yep.  Well, not actually all 3...just 2...back and forth from one block to the next, going between Texas and Arkansas.  They just like to do a mind game association with Louisiana....

Nice old downtown area with a lot of older buildings in various stages of decay and restoration.  Many more have been lost.  One free "atta-boy" to you if you tell me the name of the city/town.  Should be trivial....

Texarkana.

Texarkana.

Always makes me think of Smokey and the Bandit

That, and also the movie "The Town That Dreaded Sundown"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Town_That_Dreaded_Sundown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Town_That_Dreaded_Sundown)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075342/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075342/)

Small spot with a fine point ball point pen.  Tiny little dot that is extremely not obvious.  And move the position around.

At $125 a night, I don't think clean sheets every day is too much to ask for.  If I want to sleep in "used" sheets, I can do that cheaply at home or in an RV.  I could live with that for several days, typically.... besides, I want to get used to the kind of lifestyle I can have when I get to the 1% stage of life.  Fresh sheets every night!  Merry Maids cleaning every day.  Private chef....well, I guess that would actually be me....   Maybe a chauffeur??  Oh, yeah...I need a gardener, too!!

That's a lot of water and energy being used every day to wash hotels linens that probably doesn't need to be spent.
A lot of hotels (even nicer ones) are starting to post a policy that they will not change your sheets or towels unless you loss them on the floor.
You know, for the environment.

You may be right...I know that I am so clean as to be OCD about it...there would never be a need to change sheets after I stay somewhere...that right there would save a lot of energy!!   For the environment...!


Based on home water and energy usage - I would estimate that it costs me less than 30 cents to wash a set of bed sheets - counting my time as worth $15.00 an hour.  If they can't do the same or better in volume (purchase of supplies, labor, etc), then I suggest they start looking for another business, 'cause they ain't gonna make it in that one....

They always change sheets between guests!
http://www.ahla.com/Green.aspx?id=24954
http://www.greensuites.com/Environmentally-Friendly-Hotel-Programs/Project-Planet-Program
http://greenhotels.com/index.php