Hotel per diems to decline in some large cities

The hotel industry’s recession woes will lead to lower hotel per diem rates in many popular federal travel destinations, beginning Oct. 1.

GSA said in a statement that rates overall will increase slightly over fiscal 2009 levels.
“With these new rates, federal employees on official travel can perform their duties on behalf of the American taxpayer while being fairly reimbursed for their travel expenses,” said Michael Robertson, associate administrator for GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy.

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http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=4248796

The Greenbrier resort takes a leap

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- Hard-charging, sleep-deprived coal baron Jim Justice claims to have never taken a vacation, has four phone lines running into his home to handle business -- he runs 47 companies -- and indeed seems too busy to exhale. But he says he has both the time and energy to save The Greenbrier resort

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http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/216497

The restaurant lame name shame game

Naming restaurants, like figure skating and sexing puff adders, is a tricky business. It requires that uneasy mix of craft and inspiration. The name must be easy to remember while also telling you all you need to know about what the restaurant is

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/aug/25/restaurant-names-best-worst

Atlantic City's Hilton casino defaults on mortgage

The Hilton Casino Resort disclosed in a financial statement filed with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission that it failed to make its monthly loan payment on July 9 due to the "severe impact of the current economic conditions."

Read more:
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/08/21/business-financial-impact-us-new-jersey-casinos-missed-payments_6804260.html

Hotwire Reveals Hotel Rate Report for August 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotwire.com®, a leading discount travel site, today announced the results of the August 2009 Hotwire® Hotel Rate Report. This monthly report features the top 10 cities in North America where hotel rates have dropped the most. When combined with Hotwire's already discounted prices, the Hotel Rate Report will help guide customers to the destinations that will maximize their travel dollars. New York City and Vancouver top the list with the largest reductions in hotel prices compared to the previous year, with Minneapolis placing in the top 10 for the first time.

Read more:
http://hotwire.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=202

Buy or sell a hotel recovery?

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- With its focus on luxury hotels brands like the St. Regis and Westin, Starwood Hotels has been especially hurt by the downturn. The third largest U.S. hotel operator recently cut its 2009 earnings estimate, and CEO Frits van Paasschen expects a slow recovery.
Revenue per available room, the metric that reflects occupancy and the room rates hotels can charge, fell 34% in the last quarter at Starwood's North American hotels. Meanwhile, the company is cutting costs to make up for reduced bookings and selling some properties to raise cash. Yet its stock is up 190% since its March low of $9.52.

Read more:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/21/pf/starwood_stock_analysts.fortune/index.htm?section=money_latest

STR reports US performance for July 2009

In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy fell 7.3 percent to 64.1 percent, ADR dropped 9.1 percent to US$97.18, and RevPAR decreased 15.7 percent to US$62.34.

Read more:
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/articles.aspx?ArticleId=1763

Want a $10 room in Orlando? Hotels slash rates

Not too long ago, most people didn't want to see the inside of a $10 hotel room.But with travel down noticeably this year because of the recession, even high-end hotels in Orlando are offering eye-opening specials in an increasingly desperate attempt to put more heads in beds.The Monumental Hotel — a former Crowne Plaza on International Drive south of Sea World — offered rooms for $10 one night last weekend. A couple of days later, the Red Roof Inn across the street from the Orange County Convention Center beat it out with a 1-cent promotion.

Read more:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/orl-travel-orlando-hotel-discounts-082209,0,7106891.story

HVS Publishes the 2009 U.S. Hotel Franchise Fee Guide: A Comparative Analysis of Hotel Brands

“The purpose of our guide is to provide a comparative analysis of various hotel brands, based on the fees they charge,” explains Rushmore, who co-authored the study with Teresa Lam and Kelly Fitzpatrick. “The selection of an appropriate franchise affiliation affects a property’s ability to compete in the local market, generate profits, achieve a certain image or market orientation, and benefit from referral business

Read more:
http://www.hvs.com/bookstore/2009FFGuide.pdf

Global Hotel Market Sentiment Survey

The second half of 2009 may be even bleaker for the hotel industry than the first according to the second Horwath HTL Global Sentiment Survey.
The sentiment scores of the survey, decreased to a global average of negative 40, compared to negative 34, recorded in the initial survey in January.

Read more:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/pdf8/horglobmarjul09.pdf

Demand for Hotel Day Rooms Surges

Booking hotel rooms for the day is proving to be the new trend as demonstrated by the success of the world's first website specialised in online day room bookings - www.between9and5.com. Despite only being launched last year, the website has already more than doubled the number of hotels participating in 2009 while the number of bookings has risen by more than 230 percent. This is part of an ongoing trend of more and more hotels selling "day rooms" with same day check-in and check-out to cater to travellers needing to book day rooms to rest and freshen up after a long haul flight or because of delay or long layover between flights

Read more:
http://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=P16964

UK: Punch Taverns downbeat on pub sector prospects

Punch Taverns, the UK's largest pub owner, has warned that it sees no upturn in trading in the near future.
Consumers are spending less money in the on-trade and there is unlikely to be an improvement in the short-term, Punch said in a full-year trading update today (25 August).

Read more:
http://www.just-drinks.com/article.aspx?id=98262

Luxury Hotel Chains Dropping Five-Star Ratings to Conserve Cash

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Luxury-hotel chains, the biggest losers in the lodging industry’s decline, are giving up some of their hard-won stars to save money.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the U.S. owner of luxury brands including St. Regis and W Hotels, will let some of its properties reduce their level of service -- and number of stars -- until the industry begins to recover, spokeswoman K.C. Kavanagh said. Hilton Hotels Corp. and InterContinental Hotels Group Plc have already cut the ratings for some locations.

Read more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a0Jx2BsWXajo

Burger King Holdings Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal 2009 Results

Fourth Quarter Highlights:
- Strong development growth continued with net restaurant count increasing by 115
- Worldwide comparable sales were negative 2.4 percent compared to positive 5.3 percent in the same period last year
- U.S. and Canada company restaurant margins improved 130 basis points to 13.5 percent from 12.2 percent in the same period last year
- Earnings per share were $0.43, including $0.03 per share of negative impact from currency translation, compared to $0.37 in the same period last year

Read more:
http://investor.bk.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=87140&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1323910&highlight=