Chinese build 15-Storey hotel in six days, rest on seventh

Six days. That's how long it took to build this level 9 Earthquake-resistant, sound-proofed, thermal-insulated 15-story hotel in Changsha, complete with everything, from the cabling to three-pane windows. The foundations were already built, but it's just impressive.

The wonders of prefabricated construction modules and modern construction techniques will never cease to amaze us.
Read More:

Londons St James Hotel and Club Sold

LONDON-The Pakistan billionaire Mian Muhammad Mansha has purchased the 60-unit luxury St. James Hotel & Club here for about $95 million. An unnamed local property company sold the hotel, through Savills and Gerald Nolan & Partners.
The property, set within a Victorian townhouse, is managed by Althoff Hotels at 8 Park Pl. The hotel includes many luxury amenities, including a chauffeur for guests and elaborate room settings. Rooms are available from $385 to $630 per night.

Read More:

Starbucks Sets Up Coffee Facilities in China’s Yunnan

Starbucks Corp., the world’s biggest coffee chain, will set up a farm and processing facilities in China’s southern Yunnan province, from which its coffee purchases have grown 20 fold in three years.

The farm and coffee-processing facilities will be built in Pu’er county, where the namesake tea is grown, Starbucks said in a statement today. It will also establish a farmers’ support center, its first in Asia and third globally, following Costa Rica and Rwanda.

Read More:

Starbucks to Double Rate of Store Openings as Economy Recovers

Starbucks Corp., the world’s biggest coffee chain, plans to more than double the rate at which it opens stores to an average of more than one a day during the next 12 months, as the global economy recovers.

“Our ability to navigate through the financial crisis and come out much stronger gives us reason to start growing the company again,” Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said in an interview in China’s Yunnan province today. He plans to open 500 stores in the fiscal year that began in October, with 400 outside the U.S., he said.

Read More:

Obama panel probes stimulus waste -- at Ritz Carlton

Members of a key panel created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus bill, have scheduled a meeting on November 22 to consider ways to prevent "fraud, waste, and abuse of Recovery Act funds." The meeting will be held at the super-luxe Ritz Carlton Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona.
The group is the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, a sub-committee of the larger Recovery Accountability and Transparency board (sometimes known as the RAT board). The stimulus bill set up the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, or RIAP, to make recommendations to identify and prevent waste of the bill's $814 billion in stimulus spending.

Read More:

Miami Beach Shore Club foreclosure lawsuit tossed

A Miami federal judge dismissed a foreclosure lawsuit against the Shore Club hotel in South Beach.
However, the victory could be short-lived, as the lender has vowed to continue its efforts to seize the iconic property.

In March, the representative of a commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) fund serviced by Miami Beach-based LNR Partners filed a $126 million foreclosure lawsuit against Philips South Beach, which owns the beachfront hotel at 1901 Collins Ave.

Read More:

Lightstone Sued Over $100 Million Extended Stay Deal

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Lightstone Group LLC, a real estate company, and its founder David Lichtenstein were sued over a $100 million guaranty that was triggered when hotel chain Extended Stay Inc. filed for bankruptcy last year.

Lightstone and Lichtenstein granted the guaranty in favor of lenders and are liable for losses stemming from the bankruptcy, U.S. Bancorp said in the lawsuit filed yesterday in New York state court. Lightstone acquired Extended Stay in 2007.

Read More:

Olympics Bonus for Home Renters May Rise as Hotel Squeeze Looms

Londoners are already seeking tenants to stay in their homes during the 2012 Olympic Games, asking as much as 70 percent more than typical apartment rents to capitalize on an expected shortage of hotel rooms.

About 320,000 foreigners will travel to London in the six weeks from the start of the Olympics to the end of the Paralympics, competing for about 120,000 hotel rooms available by then, the U.K. government’s VisitBritain estimates. About 40 percent of the rooms will be set aside for guests of the organizing committee, said market research company Rubicon.

Read More:

Turnover up 8% at the Restaurant Group

Please use the link to reference this article. Do not copy & paste articles which is a breach of FT.com's Ts&Cs (www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms) and is copyright infringement. Send a link for free or email ftsales.support@ft.com to purchase rights.
Restaurant Group, the UK’s biggest listed restaurant company by outlets, has reported a slight improvement in trading as the impact fades of this spring’s volcanic ash cloud and the summer’s World Cup.
The group which runs 380 venues including the Frankie & Benny’s and Garfunkel’s brands and numerous airport food outlets, said sales at sites open at least a year were a quarter of a percentage point higher in the 10 months to November 7 than in the same period last year.
Read More:

Angry Ramsay dumps two more from the family firm

Gordon Ramsay has added fuel to his fiery family dispute by suspending his wife’s brother and sacking her nephew from his company, it was revealed last night.
He acted against Adam Hutcheson, 39, and his son Christopher, 19, after firing father-in-law Chris Hutcheson from his post as chief executive of his firm.
Chris Hutcheson, 62, had been pivotal to the chef’s success, but this week the two engaged in public warfare after Ramsay wrote an open letter accusing his wife’s father of being a ‘dictator’.

Read More:

Florida Condo Hotels Sell at 76% Discount

Owners at The Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort and Spa filed suit against the hotel operator, Urgo Hotels, claiming high fees and lack of control over how association funds are spent. "A recent sale at the Resort closed for $105,000 or $141 per square foot and the original buyer paid $435,000, representing a 76% decline," said Dickenson. Urgo Hotels purchased the tower, formerly known as The Resort at Singer Island, from WCI Communities in October 2009 and paid $131 per square foot for 14 condo hotels as part of a $7.1M bulk condo purchase.


Read more:

New Luxury Hotel in Colorado Springs Will Join Wyndham Grand Collection

PARSIPPANY, NJ, Nov 11, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, LLC, a subsidiary of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation , today announced its expansion in Colorado and the continued growth of the prestigious Wyndham Grand(R) Collection in the United States with the signing of a new-construction, luxury hotel: the 119-room Mining Exchange, a Wyndham Grand Hotel in downtown Colorado Springs.

Read More:

Tim Hortons Inc. announces strong 2010 third quarter operating performance

 Highlights

    -   Strength of underlying operations reflected in continued sales and
        revenue momentum in Canada and the U.S.
    -   Same-store sales up 4.3% in Canada and 3.3% in the U.S.
    -   Total revenues up 9.8%
    -   Management to focus on its core growth markets in the Northeast and
        Midwest U.S.; Company takes $20.9 million asset impairment charge and
        will close its locations in two markets in the New England region
    -   Approximately $400 million in after-tax cash proceeds from sale of
        interest in Maidstone Bakeries planned to be deployed to repurchase
        shares and $30 million committed with the intent of helping
        franchisees to mitigate anticipated rising operating costs

Read More: