Viewpoints on Adoption of IFRS

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New York to shed more light on hotel tax for resellers

With questions remaining about New York’s recently passed hotel remarketer’s tax, the city said it will provide further guidance "on or shortly after Sept. 1," the day the law goes into effect.
The hotel remarketer tax will require any reseller of a New York hotel room to remit a tax based on the full amount paid by the customer, including service fees and charges.
A representative of the city’s finance department said a statement of audit procedure will provide more information about the law.

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Maryland hotelier to buy Resort at Singer Island from WCI

RIVIERA BEACH — The owner of the posh Resort at Singer Island said today it's selling the trophy property to a Maryland hotelier.
When Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities opened the $210 million oceanfront resort in 2007, it touted the property as a posh alternative to high-end hotels in Palm Beach.

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Questions spur quick policy switch on bedbug inspections at hotels

Lucio Serradas' first sign of trouble came when he and his family awoke during their Christmas vacation last year to discover smears of fresh blood, the size of small coins, on the sheets at their Daytona Beach motel.He suspected it was from bedbugs — a scourge once nearly eradicated that has re-emerged nationally in the past decade. After Serradas, his wife and their two children broke out in itchy rashes back home in Attleboro, Mass., he complained to Florida regulators. "I beg you," he wrote, "to please do something about this."

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Hotel boss in Bulgaria siphoned off 10 million leva (7.3M US$) in VAT

Arben Havalyov, who owns the Casa Domini hotel and is linked to Movements for Rights and Freedoms leader Ahmed Dogan, participated in a scheme to siphon off more than 10 million leva in value-added tax (VAT), Sofia’s deputy city prosecutor, Bozhidar Djambazov, said.

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Foulridge accountant (63) jailed for £30,000 fraud

A HIGHLY-trusted accountant from Foulridge who stole nearly £30,000 while working at a hotel near Chorley has been jailed for 20 months.
Norman Hetherington paid cash directly to himself or through suppliers' accounts while employed at the Pines Hotel, Clayton-le-Woods

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Bellagio: Indicted billionaire owes $258,480 gambling debt

One month before his financial empire was shut down by regulators, Texas billionaire Robert Allen Stanford was running up a quarter-million-dollar gambling debt in Las Vegas, a lawsuit filed by a casino shows.
The Bellagio resort on the Las Vegas Strip sued Stanford in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas on Tuesday, claiming he owes $258,480 in unpaid gambling markers.

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80 lose jobs at Sandals Royal Bahamian

Nine months after Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort sent home 150 employees, it has laid off another 80 workers.
Those workers have joined the unemployment line at a time when the hotel sector is entering its slowest period.
Confirming a Nassau Guardian article yesterday that job cuts are imminent, Sandals blamed low occupancy levels at the Cable Beach property on the latest round of layoffs.

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Does "End of the Recession" mean "Recovery"? Not for luxury hotels!

From some reactions, you might think that the likely "End Of The Recession" by the end of 2009 means that the "Recovery" is close behind.
Unfortunately, what follows next will not feel much better for many for a very long time. Nowhere is that more true than in the luxury hotel segment, where Smith Travel Research foresees a 27% drop in RevPAR for 2009 followed by another 9% in 2010!

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2 More months until Sausage Week Begins

Please do not forget that November 2 is the start of sausage week in the UK. Hotels are almost sold out. Book your room quickly!

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The Hotel Owner's and Hotel Lender's Dilemma: Sell now or sell later?

Hotel Lawyer. As a hotel owner or lender with a distressed property in the worst business environment for more than 70 years, you have a decision to make. Do you sell the hotel now at a deep discount, or do you hold on for things to get better? How long does it take to market a property in this environment?
Owners and lenders of thousands of hotels in the United States and abroad are confronted with this decision. Here are a few thoughts from the pros

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Financial Turmoil Continues to Haunt Hotel Industry

The hotel investment world was rocked last month with a high-profile Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of two hotels owned by Illinois-based Harp Group. The filing covers a three-year-old, 580-room Radisson Hotel at the Los Angeles Airport and the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare, a 556-room luxury property that’s only been open about a year. Both properties remain open while the filing winds its way through federal court. The two properties owe a combined $278 million to San Diego National Bank and Amalgamated Bank, a lender owned by hotel workers union Unite Here

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