IN the late, lamented boom, waiters at luxury restaurants here could make $150,000 a year and more thanks to the electrifying arrival of high rollers renowned as “the whales.”
Robert Martinez, a 33-year-old waiter at Rao’s in Caesars Palace, said these heavyweights “had wads of $100 bills and gave them to everyone on the staff, and tipped generously on $12,000 to $15,000 checks.”
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15vegas.html?_r=1&hp
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Paws up: All-pet airline hits skies
NEW YORK (AP) - One trip for their Jack Russell terrier in a plane's cargo hold was enough to convince Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that owners needed a better option to get their pets from one city to another.
On Tuesday, the first flight for the husband-and-wife team's Pet Airways, the first-ever all-pet airline, took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y.
All commercial airlines allow a limited number of small pets to fly in the cabin. Others must travel as checked bags or in the cargo hold—a dark and sometimes dangerous place where temperatures can vary wildly
Read more;
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99ECQSG0&show_article=1
On Tuesday, the first flight for the husband-and-wife team's Pet Airways, the first-ever all-pet airline, took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y.
All commercial airlines allow a limited number of small pets to fly in the cabin. Others must travel as checked bags or in the cargo hold—a dark and sometimes dangerous place where temperatures can vary wildly
Read more;
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99ECQSG0&show_article=1
Hersha Hospitality Announces Sale of Non-Core Properties
Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE: HT), owner of select service and upscale hotels in major metropolitan markets, today announced the sale of three properties. The properties include a Mainstay Suites and a Comfort Inn in Frederick, MD and a Four Points in Revere, MA.On a trailing twelve month property-level earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“Hotel EBITDA”) basis, the Company sold the Frederick properties for 12.3 times and the Revere property for 12.4 times.
Read More:
http://www.pr-inside.com/hersha-hospitality-announces-sale-of-r1390369.htm
Read More:
http://www.pr-inside.com/hersha-hospitality-announces-sale-of-r1390369.htm
FBI probes PrankNET over thousands of dollars in damage caused to hotels and restaurants
Dex, the pseudonym for the group's purported leader, has claimed credit for various expensive scare calls, although others have been attributed to "copycats".
The former include one in February to a branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Manchester, New Hampshire, in which Dex pretended to be a company boss.
He convinced the staff to douse the restaurant with fire-suppressing chemicals, evacuate the building and strip off their clothes in the freezing cold .
Read more:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/technologynews/5829770/FBI-probes-PrankNET-over-thousands-of-dollars-in-damage-caused-to-hotels-and-restaurants.html
The former include one in February to a branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Manchester, New Hampshire, in which Dex pretended to be a company boss.
He convinced the staff to douse the restaurant with fire-suppressing chemicals, evacuate the building and strip off their clothes in the freezing cold .
Read more:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/technologynews/5829770/FBI-probes-PrankNET-over-thousands-of-dollars-in-damage-caused-to-hotels-and-restaurants.html
Hard-up Britain loses its appetite for eating out
It has been one of Britain’s most successful industries for the past four decades, but the recession has finally brought the phenomenal growth in informal dining to a halt.
A report published yesterday by Allegra Strategies, the analysts, revealed that the amount Britons spend on informal eating out — where a meal costs £15 or less — has fallen for the first time in 40 years.
Read more;
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6710949.ece
A report published yesterday by Allegra Strategies, the analysts, revealed that the amount Britons spend on informal eating out — where a meal costs £15 or less — has fallen for the first time in 40 years.
Read more;
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6710949.ece
Yum! Brands Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2009 EPS of $0.63
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• International development continued at a robust pace with 328 new restaurants including 118 new units in mainland China and 193 in Yum! Restaurants International (YRI).
• Worldwide system sales growth prior to foreign currency translation of +3% including +8% in
mainland China, +6% in YRI, and a 1% decline in the U.S.; after foreign currency translation,
worldwide system sales declined 4%.
• Worldwide restaurant margin improved 1.7 percentage points driven by the combination of prior year pricing, flat commodity costs and refranchising; all three divisions improved margins.
• Worldwide operating profit growth of 11%, excluding foreign currency translation, driven by new unit development, improved restaurant margins, and proactive cost management. Each of our divisions generated profit growth: +11% in China, +8% in the U.S. and +6% for YRI. Including foreign currency translation, worldwide growth was +4%, China increased +14% and YRI declined 15%.
• EPS growth was negatively impacted by foreign currency translation of approximately $0.03 per share partially offset by the benefit from last year’s substantial share repurchases which reduced average shares outstanding by 3%.
Earnings Release : http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MTAyMjJ8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
Restaurant Units Activity Summary: http://investors.yum.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=117941&p=irol-newsearnings
Yum! Brands Full-Year 2009 Detailed Guidance Update: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MTAyMjR8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
• International development continued at a robust pace with 328 new restaurants including 118 new units in mainland China and 193 in Yum! Restaurants International (YRI).
• Worldwide system sales growth prior to foreign currency translation of +3% including +8% in
mainland China, +6% in YRI, and a 1% decline in the U.S.; after foreign currency translation,
worldwide system sales declined 4%.
• Worldwide restaurant margin improved 1.7 percentage points driven by the combination of prior year pricing, flat commodity costs and refranchising; all three divisions improved margins.
• Worldwide operating profit growth of 11%, excluding foreign currency translation, driven by new unit development, improved restaurant margins, and proactive cost management. Each of our divisions generated profit growth: +11% in China, +8% in the U.S. and +6% for YRI. Including foreign currency translation, worldwide growth was +4%, China increased +14% and YRI declined 15%.
• EPS growth was negatively impacted by foreign currency translation of approximately $0.03 per share partially offset by the benefit from last year’s substantial share repurchases which reduced average shares outstanding by 3%.
Earnings Release : http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MTAyMjJ8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
Restaurant Units Activity Summary: http://investors.yum.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=117941&p=irol-newsearnings
Yum! Brands Full-Year 2009 Detailed Guidance Update: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MTAyMjR8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
Son of Fontainebleau Creator Found Dead
Ben Novack, Jr., son of the storied developer and long-time owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, was found dead over the weekend in a suburban New York hotel room. According to press reports, Novack’s wife found the body in their Rye Town Hilton guestroom when she returned from breakfast on Monday morning.Police suspect foul play but so far have released no details regarding motive or suspects in the death.
Read more:
http://lhonline.com/realestate/Fontainebleau_Novack_Miami_Beach_0714/
Read more:
http://lhonline.com/realestate/Fontainebleau_Novack_Miami_Beach_0714/
Wynn Resorts files suit over 'XS' trademark
Wynn Resorts Holdings LLC filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court against Atlanta-based NYLO Hotels, an operator of boutique hotels, after NYLO asserted rights to the trademark "XS" and offered to let Wynn pay a licensing fee to use the name for the club at Encore.
Read more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/14/state/n154804D67.DTL&type=business
Read more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/14/state/n154804D67.DTL&type=business
Interstate Hotels & Resorts Extends Senior Credit Facility to March 2012
ARLINGTON, Va., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interstate Hotels & Resorts (OTC Bulletin Board: IHRI), a leading hotel real estate investor and the nation's largest independent management company, today announced that it has extended the maturity of its senior credit facility to March 2012 by converting the facility's outstanding balance of $161.2 million to a new term loan. The agreement also provides the company with an $8 million revolving credit line. The revised facility carries an interest rate of LIBOR plus 550 bps, with a 2.0 percent LIBOR floor plus additional PIK interest (payment-in-kind) of 2.0 percent through March 2011 and 3.0 percent thereafter. The accrued PIK interest is payable at maturity.
Read more:
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/07-14-2009/0005059899&EDATE=
Read more:
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/07-14-2009/0005059899&EDATE=
