Kimberly Pierceall
First aLoft Hotel in Nation in Rancho Cucamonga?
The developers of an aLoft hotel in Rancho Cucamonga are still aiming to be the first in the nation to open their aLoft hotel. The much ballyhooed offshoot from Starwood Hotels aims to be a hip, trendy business hotel for the economical traveler who covets a reservation at the pricier, trendier W Hotel (also owned by Starwood).
Paul Novak, developer with the John Buck Co. building the Rancho Cucamonga aLoft said the hotel is scheduled to open in the latter part of May.
"The objective is to have it be the first one," he said.
Also vying for the "first to open" honors -- Lexington, MA.
Also, I can't believe I managed to miss this when it was first posted but below is a fake news video about the ground breaking in Rancho Cucamonga last year. Besides being a little disturbed by the fakeness especially the "quotes" from Starwood from their "sources", I apparently made an unwilling cameo at the 2:20 mark (chick in the grey slacks to the left of the fake reporter)
Comments
Kimberly:
The "newscast" may be a pseudo-version of a real reporter covering a story, but there is nothing fake about the event. The aloft Hotel is coming to Rancho Cucamonga and could very well be the first to open in the country. In fact, it is easy to spot the hotel — now under construction — when you drive by the Haven Park mixed-used project at Haven Avenue & Fourth Street.
As for the video, often companies have in-house video staff that film groundbreakings and grand openings and use them for internal purposes such as an in-house quarterly video magazine that goes out to all employees. This video may have been done for a similar purpose, and could have also been uploaded to YouTube to garner a little more publicity.
The City of Rancho Cucamonga does the same thing, using services like YouTube to post video content to further promote the attributes of the City (e.g., the Redevelopment Agency’s new quality of life video, Living the Dream in Rancho Cucamonga)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv0Me_FTioY
Also, the “Aloha” news moniker in the video is a takeoff from the company’s “Aloha” services, which refers to their efforts to create the perfect “on the road oasis” for their customers.
So, you see, it’s all about bringing more attention to what we believe will be one of the most unique hotel properties in the Inland Empire.
Just thought you would like to know...
Aloha!
Mike Nelson
Economic Development Manager
City of Rancho Cucamonga
Posted by: Mike Nelson | January 17, 2008 5:44 PM
Hi Mike,
You are correct -- and to be clear the ground breaking did indeed happen, I was there, wearing my grey slacks seen in the background of the video.
Real: The groundbreaking
Real: The hotel
Real: The developer's aspiration to finish the Rancho Cucamonga hotel before anyone else opens an aLoft hotel.
Not real: The video's "reporter" who was an actor hired by aLoft to act like a reporter.
So I hope I didn't make it seem as the hotel is fake. Not so.
No doubt the hotel is on its way to being finished.
Posted by: Kim Pierceall | January 18, 2008 3:40 PM