Saturday, August 7, 2010

Value of Las Vegas City Center project plummets

MGM Resorts International's CityCenter, which was built at a cost of $8.5 billion, now has an equity value of $2.65 billion, company officials said Tuesday.

The Las Vegas-based casino giant announced the new valuation during a conference call Tuesday when it blamed much of its second quarter loss on a $1.12 billion pretax, noncash impairment charge related to its investment in CityCenter.

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Sunstone wants to take over San Diego Hyatt

Orange County-based Sunstone Hotel Investors, which last year walked away from the tony W Hotel downtown, is now looking to take over the 1,625-room Manchester Grand Hyatt on San Diego’s bayfront.

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Marriott Wants Brand Name Off Innkeepers' Hotel

Marriott International Inc. says hotel operator Innkeepers USA Trust, which is in bankruptcy, is dragging its feet on a pledge to take the hotel giant's Residence Inn brand name off a Detroit-area hotel.

In papers filed Wednesday in Innkeepers' bankruptcy case, lawyers for Marriott said Innkeepers has indicated it will not change the name on the Residence Inn in Troy, Mich., by the end of August.

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Moscow Has Most Expensive Hotel Rates in World

Moscow retained its ranking as the city with the most expensive average hotel room rate in the world, a survey by business travel agency Hogg Robinson Group Plc showed.

The average rate in the city in the first half was 256.83 pounds ($407), Hogg Robinson said in a report on its website today. Geneva followed as the second-most expensive city at 199.11 pounds and Hong Kong at 197.61 pounds

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E-Brands Restaurants files for Ch. 11

Orlando, Fla.-based E-Brands operates four Timpano Italian Chophouse & Martini Bar locations, three Samba Rooms, two Aquaknox Global Water Cuisine operations, one Canoñita Express, one Taqueria Canoñita and Timpano Tavern, formerly the David Burke Restaurant. Restaurants are located in Florida, Maryland, Colorado and Las Vegas.

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Lender wants to force Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort into receivership

ATLANTIC CITY — The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort’s chief lender is seeking court permission to force the troubled gaming hall into receivership and sell it.

The Hilton, Atlantic City’s smallest casino, has failed to make payments on its mortgage since July 2009, according to papers filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Camden.

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325 workers affected in call center closure

There have been rumors about it in the past, but they have proven false.

Not this time.

One of the San Jacinto Valley’s largest employers, Hilton Hotels’ reservation call center on the west end of Hemet, will close in October. Only it is not moving to the Philippines as the rumor had it. The closure will put 325 people out of work unless they agree to move to one of the two remaining call centers, one in Texas and one in Florida.

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Hilton can still use name in India?

NEW DELHI: In reaction to a report in TOI on July 29, Hilton Hotels has said that its appeal against an injunction on the use of the Hilton brand name by a trial court in Mount Abu has been admitted by the Rajasthan High Court.
Hilton Hotel’s global head Dave Horton has said that the single-judge bench of the High Court "only declined the application of interim stay", but the company has not been restrained from using its brand name.

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JAL: Agree To Sell 79.6% Stake In JAL Hotel Unit To Hotel Okura

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japan Airlines Corp. said Friday that it will sell a 79.6% stake in its hotel business subsidiary by the end of September to Hotel Okura Co. as it is pushes ahead with its restructuring to focus on its airline business.

JAL, which currently holds a 90.7% stake in JAL Hotels Co through its wholly-owned subsidiary Japan Airlines International Co., declined to disclose the value of the share sale.

The carrier, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, will retain its remaining 11.1% stake in JAL Hotels which operates 40 hotels in Japan and 18 hotels overseas.

The deal comes as JAL is drafting its latest restructuring plan that it plans to submit to the Tokyo District Court by the end of August.

SUNSTONE HOTEL INVESTORS REPORTS RESULTS FOR SECOND QUARTER 2010

Second Quarter 2010 Operational Results:
• Total revenue was $181.0 million.
• Pro forma RevPAR was $111.91.
• Loss attributable to common stockholders was $4.9 million.
• Loss attributable to common stockholders per diluted share was $0.05.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $43.2 million.
• Pro forma Adjusted EBITDA for the 30 hotel portfolio was $39.9 million.
• Adjusted FFO available to common stockholders was $17.8 million.
• Adjusted FFO available to common stockholders per diluted share was $0.18.
• Pro forma Adjusted FFO available to common stockholders per diluted share was $0.18.
• Pro forma hotel EBITDA margin was 26.9%.
Art Buser, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated,

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Morgans Hotel Group Reports Second Quarter 2010 Results

Adjusted EBITDAfor the second quarter was $14.0 million, a $2.3 million or 19.7% increase from the second quarter of 2009. On a comparable basis, Adjusted EBITDA increased by 25%.
Revenue per available room ("RevPAR") for System-Wide Comparable Hotels increased by 13.3%, or 14.0% in constant dollars, in the second quarter of 2010 from the comparable period in 2009 led by a 23.1% increase at MHG's New York hotels.

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Hotels spring up as Colombia grows safer for tourists

Reporting from Bogota, Colombia — If you seek a monument to the security gains Colombia has made under President Alvaro Uribe's eight-year administration, the newly inaugurated JW Marriott Hotel here is a good place to look.

Improved security, the dynamic economy and some tax breaks are attracting the major international hotel chains that for decades shied away from Colombia. Uribe, who leaves office Saturday, officiated at the 264-room Marriott's ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.

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South Beach Hotels see rates drop

Some of South Beach's trendiest hotels saw their rates fall in the second quarter of the year compared to 2009 -- though they would hardly qualify as bargains.

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