Company Celebrates By Letting Groups Propose Their Own Nightly Rate Through December 28, 2009, Just as Harris Rosen Did in 1974

 

For more information, contact:

Mary Deatrick,DPR

(407) 332-5212, mary@deatrickpr.com

For photography, visit http://www.rosenshinglecreek.com/photoGallery.asp

 

ORLANDO (June 24, 2009) – After 35 years in business, Florida’s largest independent hotelier, Harris Rosen, hasn’t forgotten the days of doing business “when a handshake was a handshake” and a signed cocktail napkin signified a business contract.

 

Now, as the hotel group commemorates its 35th Anniversary, Rosen is celebrating his company’s old-fashioned business values by bringing back the days of “cocktail napkin contracts” and “gentlemen’s agreements.” As promoted in newspaper ads in USA Today, groups booking new business at any of Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ three convention properties — Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre or Rosen Shingle Creek — for fulfillment between now and Dec. 28, 2009, may visit a special website, www.rosenhotels.com/35 to fill out a virtual “cocktail napkin contract” and propose their own nightly rate.  A throwback to Harris Rosen’s earlier and more informal days of doing business, the “virtual cocktail napkin contract” is a simple online form with only five fields to fill in — name, phone number, date of travel, group size and proposed rate. The hotels will make every effort to honor reasonable rate proposals; however, the offer is based on availability and is subject to certain blackout dates; and is not valid for previously booked groups or in conjunction with other discounts.

 

“After 35 years in business, I still believe in the integrity of a handshake and the honor of a person’s word,” said Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts. “While our tremendous growth over the years has made it necessary to formalize our business practices in some ways, in spirit, we’ve never strayed from our old-fashioned values. That’s why I’m excited to bring back the concept of ‘cocktail napkin contracts’ to celebrate our roots and demonstrate our continued sense of trust and goodwill to our meetings clients.”

 

The “Cocktail Napkin” Story
When Harris Rosen purchased his first hotel in Orlando in 1974, a bankrupt Quality Inn on International Drive, the oil embargo was at its height and many Orlando hotels were bankrupt or closed.  To book business for the hotel on which he’d spent his entire $20,000 life savings, Rosen had to hitchhike to the Northeast to meet with motor coach companies. Once there, he met prospective clients in bars and pubs often negotiating contracts on cocktail napkins.

 

“I would ask ‘What rate do they want to stay with us?’ and they would say “9 dollars, or 8 or 7.  I would write that rate down and the name of the company on a cocktail napkin, sign my name, and that was the contract.  We shook hands and that was it,” recalled Rosen.

 

Often, his new clients felt so sorry for him, having no money and no transportation, they would drive him to their competitors for his next appointment. After seeing much of New England --securing new contracts all along the way-- Rosen returned home five days later thrilled and excited to have completed his mission with enough business to sustain the hotel for the first year. 

 

“I started this company with the simple philosophy of doing the right thing, and that philosophy has allowed us to celebrate 35 terrific years in business,” said Harris Rosen. “I am proud to celebrate that milestone with old friends and new friends, returning guests and newcomers.”

 

Together, the three Rosen convention hotels offer the most rooms, most meeting space and closest proximity to the Orange County Convention Center of any Orlando convention hotels. Combined, they offer more than 3,600 rooms and more than 611,000 gross square feet of flexible meeting space and one of the nation’s largest column-free ballrooms. An award-winning championship 18-hole golf course and golf academy, world-class spas, nearly two dozen dining, entertainment and lounging options, state-of-the-art fitness centers, a variety of tennis and sport courts, provide meetings attendees and leisure guest’s unparalleled convenience and amenities.

 

Earlier this year, Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek became the first and currently only hotels in Central Florida to achieve Two Palm status in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Lodging Program.  Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek also have introduced an eco-friendly meeting website called Rosen Green Meetings®, outlined at www.rosengreenmeetings.com.  For more information about Rosen Hotels & Resorts, visit www.rosenhotels.com.

 

For more information, contact: Mary Deatrick
(407) 332-5212, E-mail:mdeatrick@cfl.rr.com
Photography available at our Photo Gallery page