Bank of America says it is entitled to a place in front of other creditors of The Cornhusker Marriott hotel because the hotel's owner has defaulted on a $30 million secured loan.
The bank's assertion of a secured position in front of other creditors is the latest in a series of financial maneuvers staking claims to The Cornhusker Marriott's revenue. It isn't clear how the owner's legal and financial issues will affect the hotel's operations, if at all, and how they will play out.
The court filings did little to clarify the financial condition of The Cornhusker Marriott's proprietor, Shubh Hotels Lincoln, and its owner, Atul Bisaria, who bought The Cornhusker Marriott in 2004, except to reveal his company is in default. That doesn't necessarily mean the secured creditor intends to force the immediate collection of what's owed nor to force liquidation or reorganization.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Hotel Guest murdered at Tbilisi Courtyard by Marriott hotel
(Hospitality Business News) January 28,2011 --- According to the Georgia News Agency, Police have detained a person suspected of murdering a French citizen in the Tbilisi (Georgia) Courtyard by Marriott hotel. According to the police, the suspect is a teenage boy and his identity has not been released. In video footage that was released by the Georgian Interior Ministry, the suspect confessed to having killed Stephan Cohen, a French citizen. The suspect said he killed Cohen due to a “dispute.” According to information obtained, Cohen died of multiple stab wounds.
According to the Police, the murder suspect took some of the belongings of Cohen, including a photo camera and a laptop and escaped from a balcony of the hotel. The head of Security at The Courtyard by Marriott Hotel told journalists that the murderer was an acquaintance of the murdered hotel guest.
“We confirm that the regretful incident happened between one of our guests and his private guest in one of the rooms of the hotel,” Security Service head, Zaza Kvaratskhelia said
“I would like to stress that according to our regulations, a stranger cannot enter the hotel room without permission of the hotel guest,” he added.
Hilton Valencia sold to Continental Property Investment
(Hospitality Business News) January 28, 2010 --- Acting as exclusive advisors to Eurohypo, and on behalf of Administrators, Christie + Co has sold the freehold of the 5-Star, 304-bedroom Hilton Hotel Valencia in Spain’s third largest city, to Continental Property Investment (CPI), the Paris-based, investment company, for an undisclosed sum.
This stylish, contemporary hotel, which was built in 2007 for a reported cost of €110 million, is the tallest building in Valencia and offers panoramic views over the city.
Situated next to Valencia's Congress Hall and only a 10-minute drive from Valencia International Airport, the hotel boasts some of the finest facilities in the city, with two high class restaurants and a luxury bar. The business also features a luxury spa and health club, which includes an indoor relaxation pool, gym and spa pool.
The hotel is well-equipped for business meetings, conferences and events, with 16 designated rooms of different sizes offering flexible working spaces that can hold up to 170 guests, plus Valencia’s largest ballroom, which can hold up to 800 guests.
CPI, which is led by Boutros El Khoury, has signed up Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts, the world’s largest resort hotel company and the largest hotel chain in Spain, to operate the hotel under a management agreement.
Chris Day, International Managing Director at Christie + Co, said: “This is a landmark transaction where we were able to generate significant interest from a range of buyers. This deal also highlights the advantages and the service to clients Christie + Co can provide through its pan-European network of offices — in this case bringing together a Spanish-based hotel, a German bank and a buyer based in France.
“As trading performances continue to improve across Spain the demand for such assets will continue to grow and by channelling this interest through a proper sales process successful outcomes such as this can be achieved.”
This stylish, contemporary hotel, which was built in 2007 for a reported cost of €110 million, is the tallest building in Valencia and offers panoramic views over the city.
Situated next to Valencia's Congress Hall and only a 10-minute drive from Valencia International Airport, the hotel boasts some of the finest facilities in the city, with two high class restaurants and a luxury bar. The business also features a luxury spa and health club, which includes an indoor relaxation pool, gym and spa pool.
The hotel is well-equipped for business meetings, conferences and events, with 16 designated rooms of different sizes offering flexible working spaces that can hold up to 170 guests, plus Valencia’s largest ballroom, which can hold up to 800 guests.
CPI, which is led by Boutros El Khoury, has signed up Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts, the world’s largest resort hotel company and the largest hotel chain in Spain, to operate the hotel under a management agreement.
Chris Day, International Managing Director at Christie + Co, said: “This is a landmark transaction where we were able to generate significant interest from a range of buyers. This deal also highlights the advantages and the service to clients Christie + Co can provide through its pan-European network of offices — in this case bringing together a Spanish-based hotel, a German bank and a buyer based in France.
“As trading performances continue to improve across Spain the demand for such assets will continue to grow and by channelling this interest through a proper sales process successful outcomes such as this can be achieved.”
Georgian Businessman to Construct $30 Million Hilton Hotel
According to Bloomberg, Georgian businessman Lasha Papashvili said he completed talks with Hilton Worldwide Inc. to construct a $30 million hotel in Tbilisi as a part of his $120 million plan to build hotels nationwide.
“We have plans to build several hotels in Georgia, while one of them will be a Hilton-managed hotel in the city center,” Papashvili said in a phone interview in Tbilisi. “Construction should be complete by 2013.”
Papashvili is a 10 percent shareholder of Bank Republic and manages real-estate company Redix in the Georgian capital.
“We have plans to build several hotels in Georgia, while one of them will be a Hilton-managed hotel in the city center,” Papashvili said in a phone interview in Tbilisi. “Construction should be complete by 2013.”
Papashvili is a 10 percent shareholder of Bank Republic and manages real-estate company Redix in the Georgian capital.
Angry employees at Central Park's Boathouse Restaurant secretly taping their bosses
Employees at the iconic Boathouse Restaurant in Central Park have been secretly taping their bosses.
Fed up with their treatment by management, dozens of waiters and dishwashers have been reporting to work for the past year armed with miniature cassette recorders and have taped hundreds of workplace conversations.
"These tapes and transcripts provide irrefutable proof that the Boathouse Restaurant has repeatedly violated federal labor laws," said Peter Ward, president of Local 6 of the hotel and restaurant workers union.
Restaurant owner Dean Poll can be heard on several of the tapes warning his employees that if they vote for a union he "will go out of business."
A dozen workers claimed Thursday in interviews with the Daily News that supervisors routinely threatened and retaliated against them for trying to organize a union.
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Fed up with their treatment by management, dozens of waiters and dishwashers have been reporting to work for the past year armed with miniature cassette recorders and have taped hundreds of workplace conversations.
"These tapes and transcripts provide irrefutable proof that the Boathouse Restaurant has repeatedly violated federal labor laws," said Peter Ward, president of Local 6 of the hotel and restaurant workers union.
Restaurant owner Dean Poll can be heard on several of the tapes warning his employees that if they vote for a union he "will go out of business."
A dozen workers claimed Thursday in interviews with the Daily News that supervisors routinely threatened and retaliated against them for trying to organize a union.
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Taco Bell fights back on beef lawsuit with ad push
Taco Bell is launching an advertising campaign Friday to fight back against a lawsuit charging its taco filling isn't beef.
The fast-food chain placed full-page print ads in Friday's editions of the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times and other papers as well as online ads to "set the record straight," company President Greg Creed told The Associated Press.
The print ads say, in huge letters, "Thank you for suing us. Here's the truth about our seasoned beef." They go on to outline the meat's ingredients. The chain did not say how much it is spending on the campaign, but such ads in national newspapers can cost more than $100,000.
The class-action lawsuit was filed late last week in federal court in California. It claimed Taco Bell falsely advertised its products as "beef." The suit alleges that the fast-food chain actually uses a meat mixture in its burritos and tacos that contains binders and extenders and does not meet requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled beef.
Taco Bell quickly denied the accusation. "The lawsuit is bogus and filled with completely inaccurate facts," Taco Bell President Creed said in an interview.
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The fast-food chain placed full-page print ads in Friday's editions of the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times and other papers as well as online ads to "set the record straight," company President Greg Creed told The Associated Press.
The print ads say, in huge letters, "Thank you for suing us. Here's the truth about our seasoned beef." They go on to outline the meat's ingredients. The chain did not say how much it is spending on the campaign, but such ads in national newspapers can cost more than $100,000.
The class-action lawsuit was filed late last week in federal court in California. It claimed Taco Bell falsely advertised its products as "beef." The suit alleges that the fast-food chain actually uses a meat mixture in its burritos and tacos that contains binders and extenders and does not meet requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled beef.
Taco Bell quickly denied the accusation. "The lawsuit is bogus and filled with completely inaccurate facts," Taco Bell President Creed said in an interview.
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Unite Here Local 2 Leader Mike Casey Feels Heat from Union Members After Recent Revelations of Union Misuse of Funds, Lack of Contract for 2 Years
This is year is off to a rocky start for Local 2 Unite Here and its leader Mike Casey. First, the union was forced by the federal government to replace money it had illegally taken from employee trust funds after it was cited for Unfair Labor Practices. Now other hotels are considering filing Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board on the same money transfer issue.
But the even bigger story is that Mike Casey may be losing his grip on his members. This week hotel employees who heard about the misuse of funds by Casey and Local 2 leaders started wearing buttons that said “Mike Casey’s Union NO!!! Union Yes.”
Local 2 union leaders demanded that members remove the anti-Casey buttons. Word in the hallways of some of the largest hotels in San Francisco is that employees are tired of Casey’s demonstrations and boycotts and want a settlement with hotel management.
Hotel union membership has dropped from 13,000 to 9,000, a 30 percent drop over the past three years. While the economy played a big role in job losses, many Local 2 members hold Casey’s boycott and labor actions responsible for their own economic hardship and loss of jobs.
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But the even bigger story is that Mike Casey may be losing his grip on his members. This week hotel employees who heard about the misuse of funds by Casey and Local 2 leaders started wearing buttons that said “Mike Casey’s Union NO!!! Union Yes.”
Local 2 union leaders demanded that members remove the anti-Casey buttons. Word in the hallways of some of the largest hotels in San Francisco is that employees are tired of Casey’s demonstrations and boycotts and want a settlement with hotel management.
Hotel union membership has dropped from 13,000 to 9,000, a 30 percent drop over the past three years. While the economy played a big role in job losses, many Local 2 members hold Casey’s boycott and labor actions responsible for their own economic hardship and loss of jobs.
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Union loses battle against Latham Holiday Inn Express
COLONIE -- The union trying to organize workers at the Holiday Inn Express in Latham has lost another legal battle against the hotel.
Last week, the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., once again dismissed a host of labor charges that Workers United Local 471 had made against the hotel claiming unfair labor practices.
The decision last week denied an appeal that the union made of a September decision by the NLRB to dismiss the case brought against the hotel by the union.
"Your appeal from the regional director's refusal to issue (a) complaint has been carefully considered," NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon wrote in a Jan. 21 letter. "The appeal is denied."
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Summit Hotel Sets IPO Terms At 23M Shares, $10.50-$12.50 Each
According to Dow Jones Summit Hotel Properties Inc. unveiled the terms of its planned initial public offering, saying it expects to offer 23 million shares at $10.50 to $12.50 each.
The company, which focuses on upscale and midscale hotels, also said it will sell up to $12.5 million in shares to an affiliate of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), equaling a 4.7% stake in the company.
Summit, which intends to qualify as a real-estate investment trust, plans to use the proceeds from the offering to repay existing debt, as well as to fund capital improvements at its hotels and for other general purposes, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Summit in August filed to sell up to an estimated $325.5 million of stock in the IPO.
It reported a 3.9% increase in occupancy during the fourth quarter. Full financial statements for the year haven't been released.
The company plans to apply to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol INN.
The company, which focuses on upscale and midscale hotels, also said it will sell up to $12.5 million in shares to an affiliate of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), equaling a 4.7% stake in the company.
Summit, which intends to qualify as a real-estate investment trust, plans to use the proceeds from the offering to repay existing debt, as well as to fund capital improvements at its hotels and for other general purposes, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Summit in August filed to sell up to an estimated $325.5 million of stock in the IPO.
It reported a 3.9% increase in occupancy during the fourth quarter. Full financial statements for the year haven't been released.
The company plans to apply to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol INN.
Idaho Cashier, Pleads Guilty to Stealing $100K From Dairy Queen Cash Register Over 20 Months
BURLEY — A former Dairy Queen employee recently pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $100,000 from the chain’s Burley burger joint.
Lisa Ann Fabela, 31, of Burley, agreed Friday to plead guilty to grand theft for taking $97,590 from a cash register at the Burley Dairy Queen from April 2007 to December 2009. She’ll be sentenced in Cassia County 5th District Court at 11 a.m. March 22.
The Cassia County Prosecutor’s Office recommends Fabela serve 1 1/2 years to 10 years in prison. She will also undergo a mental health evaluation before sentencing.
Under the plea agreement, Fabela will be ordered to pay an undetermined amount of restitution to her former employer and will retain the right to appeal her sentence.
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Lisa Ann Fabela, 31, of Burley, agreed Friday to plead guilty to grand theft for taking $97,590 from a cash register at the Burley Dairy Queen from April 2007 to December 2009. She’ll be sentenced in Cassia County 5th District Court at 11 a.m. March 22.
The Cassia County Prosecutor’s Office recommends Fabela serve 1 1/2 years to 10 years in prison. She will also undergo a mental health evaluation before sentencing.
Under the plea agreement, Fabela will be ordered to pay an undetermined amount of restitution to her former employer and will retain the right to appeal her sentence.
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