CHLA Lodging News July/August 2021

2 CALIFORNIA LODGING NEWS 414 29th Street Sacramento, CA 95816 916-444-5780 www.calodging.com EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR Bijal Patel, CHA Coast Redwood Hospitality VICE CHAIR Tom Patton, CHA Ramada Santa Barbara IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Michael Pace InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel SECRETARY/TREASURER Hee-Won Lim Pacific Palms Hotel GOVERNMENT & LEGAL RELATIONS CHAIR Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE AUDIT & INVESTMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. 2021 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bhupen Amin Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE Vipul Dayal Days Inn San Francisco Airport West Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. Jeff Durham Redwood Fortuna Riverwalk Hotel Paul Gibbs, CHA Sonesta Redondo Beach and Marina Ross Gimpel Encore Terri Haack Terranea Resort Jon Handlery, CHA Handlery Union Square Hotel Niles Harris InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Wendy Heineke Pebblebrook Hotel Trusts Todd Hersperger Sunstone Hotel Investors Nic Hockman Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel Daniel Kuperschmid Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Elvin Lai Ocean Park Inn Mark LeBlanc Aimbridge Hospitality Hee-Won Lim Pacific Palms Resort RJ Mayer The Mayer Corporation Michelle Millar University of San Francisco Michael Pace InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel Bijal Patel, CHA Coast Redwood Hospitality Bimal Patel, CHA Hotel Zico Dhruv Patel Ridgemont Hospitality Pragna Patel-Mueller Samata Management Tom Patton, CHA Ramada Santa Barbara Joe Piantedosi Park Hotels & Resorts Chip Rogers American Hotel and Lodging Assn. Pam Ryan The Inn at the Mission John Spear Hotel Drisco Jeffrey Thurrell Fisher Phillips Wes Tyler, CHA Chancellor Hotel on Union Square Bobby Walia Hyatt Hotels Corporation ADVERTISING & DESIGN LLM Publications 503.445.2220 | 800.647.1511 www.llmpubs.com Design & Layout Sales Representative Stephanie Pendell Grandt Mansfield grandt@llmpubs.com Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved That’s the Olympic motto and it’s inspiring athletes around the world to push themselves this summer at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. But “Faster, Higher, Stronger” also summarizes the work of your CHLA during the past two years—and especially during the first half of 2021. “Faster” is how your staff and volunteer leaders have responded on your behalf to the challenges of the new, ever-changing pandemic marketplace. “Higher” is where we have taken our member services—so you can take your profitability higher. “Stronger” is what we are—both collectively as an association and individually as members. Repeatedly in recent months, CHLA has achieved bold and creative “industry firsts” for our members. For example, we were the first hotel association to launch sanitation standards for re-opening. We are also the first—and only—hospitality association to offer legal assistance in the fight against frivolous, or “drive-by,” lawsuits related to the American Disabilities Act (ADA). If a CHLA member wants to fight an undeserved ADA lawsuit, we provide the mechanism and the money—beyond a flat $2,500 payment by the hotelier. This initiative, developed by CHLA’s Executive Committee, allows hoteliers to tell plaintiffs, “We have counsel and we’re going to fight you in court.” Suddenly, the expected quick and easy cash settlement is not so quick and not so easy. Since 2019 when we launched this unique new member benefit, CHLA has been involved in over 120 cases—and our achievements have been impressive. As a result of this program, over 70 lawsuits have been dismissed and many others have been settled at greatly reduced costs. Not surprisingly, lawsuit activity dropped significantly during the pandemic year. However, now ADA lawsuits are gaining momentum again—and so is CHLA’s legal assistance program. Please enjoy this issue of California Lodging News as you learn the details and the results of our major ADA legal aid initiative. I am confident you will agree that thanks to CHLA, frivolous lawsuits are less of a nuisance. We know that members like you are sophisticated hoteliers who carefully evaluate your expenditures for ROI—“return on investment.” That is why in these complex post-pandemic times, our mission at CHLA remains simple: to make your association membership more valuable. Yes, we can all be justifiably proud about CHLA’s progress in California and in the hotel industry—as demonstrated by our aggressive battle against these frivolous ADA lawsuits. But we are not satisfied—because CHLA’s journey to go “Faster, Higher, Stronger” never ends. Be ever so healthy, and resilient.  “Faster, Higher, Stronger” MESSAGE FROM CHAIR Bijal Patel CHLA Chair