How Profitable Will Your RevPAR Be In 2011?

(Hospitality Business News) As 2010 comes to a close, hotel owners and operators start to focus on the upcoming year and ask the question, “How much money will we make in 2011?”  Based on the December 2010 edition of Hotel Horizons®, Colliers PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR) is forecasting occupancy for the overall U.S. lodging industry to grow 2.2 percent in 2011, along with a 3.9 percent gain in average daily rate (ADR).  The net result is a 6.2 percent increase in RevPAR that should yield an 11.1 percent lift in the net operating income[1] (NOI) of the average U.S. hotel.

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NFS Launches New iPhone App for Aloha Point of Sale

(Hospitality Business News) HERTFORD, UK - 23 December, 2010: NFS, provider of the world-class Aloha point of sale software suite, announced the launch of TIM - an exciting new iPhone app for the Aloha Point of Sale solution.

TIM allows the user to do everything the Aloha Point of Sale system can do - and more. Unlike other mobile solutions, a server using TIM can work an entire shift without having to resort to an actual Point of Sale terminal, meaning more time on the floor serving guests.

This no-nonsense application will run on any iPhone / iPad and has a user interface designed to allow servers to work quickly and efficiently, optimising customer service. All a restaurant needs to gain the full benefits from the TIM app is a good Wi-Fi infrastructure with the correct security measurements in place. There is no need for additional storage and no training is required.

This revolutionary new app has many unique features, all designed to help a hospitality operation give the best customer service they can, at minimal cost, and in the least time.
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Morgans Hotel Extends CEO Tenure

Morgans Hotel Group Co. is extending the period of service of its chief executive officer (CEO) Fred Kleisner by 3 months. Kleisner was supposed to resign upon the completion of his tenure on December 31.
The New York-based company began the hunt for its new CEO in late summer or early fall. The company also appointed the executive search firm Spencer Stuart to speed up the pursuit. Although Morgans Hotel has not yet been able to find an appropriate candidate, management expects to find the replacement by March 2011.
We believe it will be quite challenging for the company to find a suitable replacement for Fred Kleisner, as he boasts four decades of experience in the hotel industry. Moreover, his dedicated service has helped the company scale new heights.

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Atlantic City Hilton foreclosure hearing off until Jan. 19

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - A hearing on whether a bank can foreclose on the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort has been postponed until Jan. 19.
Both sides agreed to cancel a hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday in Atlantic City while they try to negotiate a settlement.
Gilbert Brooks, a lawyer for the Hilton, says he's optimistic a deal can be worked out.
The Hilton stopped paying its bank loans in July 2009 and has been trying to work out a deal with its lenders since then. As of the end of September, the casino had skipped $39.3 million worth of payments, including interest.
U.S. Bank National Association has filed a motion seeking permission to foreclose on the struggling casino.

Robbing a restaurant? There isn't an app for that

NEW LONDON, Conn. — An accused would-be restaurant robber had a change of heart Wednesday, after cooks at the establishment grabbed knives to defend themselves.

Police said Jerome Taylor, 20, wore a mask as he entered the Northern Indian restaurant on State Street Wednesday afternoon.

He pulled what the cooks thought was a gun and demanded money, according to police. But the cooks grabbed knives and said they weren't handing anything over.

At that point, Taylor became apologetic and told the cooks he was only kidding and that he needed money for his child, police said.

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Kathmandu Govt still seeking Rs 193 million from five casinos

KATHMANDU: The government still has to recover Rs 193.59 million from five casinos.

Finance minister Surendra Pandey at the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) today informed that the government still has to recover revenue from Casino Anna‚ Casino Royal‚ Casino Shangrilla‚ Casino Nepal and Casino Fulbari.

“The government has been able to recover Rs 77.36 million from the casinos recently‚” Pandey informed‚ adding that the government is in the process to recover the remaining sum.

“If the casnos don’t pay‚ the hotels are laible to pay tax as the casino license is issued to the hotels only‚” he added.

Nepal’s casino industry is considered the oldest in South Asia but lately it has been in news for all the wrong reasons like tax evasion and entertaining Nepalis.

When Casino Nepal — the first casino in Asia — was started in 1968‚ it was open only to foreigners but the casinos lately are blamed of entertaining the Nepalis against the law.

See previous story -
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Famous Sussex hotel up for sale following administration

An East Sussex-based country house hotel with a famous past is on the market following its administration.
The Shelleys in Lewes, which was once owned by the family of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, was placed into administration due to a downturn in trade. The 4-star, 16th Century, grade II listed country house hotel, which also boasts a one AA rosette-ranked restaurant, is currently still trading despite its administration.
Partners at insolvency specialists FRP Advisory have been appointed as joint administrators of The Shelleys and are currently carrying out 'extensive marketing' in a bid to find a buyer for the property.

Jason Baker and Chris Stevens of FRP Advisory, confirmed, "Trading is on-going and the ho
tel and restaurant are continuing to welcome guests as usual. Meanwhile, a purchaser is being sought for the business."

Baker and Stevens said that The Shelleys had been affected by the fact that several of its key corporate clients had moved away and no longer needed hotel accommodation in Lewes.
The hotel, which can sleep 37 guests, boasts 10 bedrooms, a large dining room, bar and two conference rooms, plus traditional English country garden and parking.
Its current owners, Carlo Fernando and John Rudich Fernando, bought the hotel in 2007 when it had a guide price of £2.5 million attached. The hotel had also been previously sold earlier that year.

Irish Weather results in 70% drop in Christmas week trade for hotels

HOTELS IN snow-affected parts of the country have lost up to 70 per cent of their Christmas week business, according to the Irish Hotels Federation – even though thousands of people trapped by weather booked hotel rooms in the past week.

The IHF says the ground-floor business of hotels – such as bars and restaurants – has “gone” this week and any uplift from cancelled flights and disrupted travel plans has been slight.

Christmas week is normally a bonanza for the hotel sector, with turnover up to three times that of a normal week. However, because of the big freeze, many establishments have lost out on the cash flow that normally sustained them through January, according to IHF president, Paul Gallagher.

“Ireland effectively shut down because of the weather and, as a result, business was devastated on three of the busiest weekends in the year,” he said.

Mr Gallagher acknowledged that some hotels, particularly those near airports, had picked up business because of the air travel turmoil caused by snow in Ireland and throughout northern Europe.

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Sale pending for Edmonton Sutton Place

Downtown Edmonton's iconic Sutton Place Hotel is about to be sold, with a deal near completion.
"I am hoping whoever buys us realizes the value of this hotel, in terms of people and the contributions we have made over the past seven years," general manager Richard Wong said.
The 313-room luxury hotel has been a supporter of many events, and Wong, who is president of the Downtown Farmers' Market, board chair of the Pilgrims Hospice Society and president of the Hong Kong Business Association (Edmonton), said he hopes the hotel will continue to play a role in the community.

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Investor wants to foreclose on two Baltimore hotel sites

A private investment group is looking to foreclose on and sell two historic downtown Baltimore buildings, both of which were being converted into hotels when their owner halted the projects.
A group calling itself RL BB Financial LLC asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Dec. 13 for permission to sell the buildings — 207 E. Redwood St. and 101 N. Charles St. — to collect on about $28.7 million in unpaid mortgage debt.
RL BB Financial claims selling the properties is the only solution since neither structure is generating income.

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Investors flip two S.F. hotels

Newly arrived hotel investor Haiyi has snapped up two more San Francisco inns after a frenetic 14 days that saw the properties change hands twice.
The hotels were two of Personality Hotels’ three foreclosed properties in San Francisco, the Hotel Metropolis and Hotel Vertigo. They were sold, along with Personality’s Hotel Frank, to Aspen Capital Management and its capital partner, AEW Capital Management, for an undisclosed price on Dec. 1.
On Dec. 15, just before San Francisco’s transfer tax increased, Aspen sold the Metropolis and Vertigo to Haiyi, a San Francisco-based hotel division of Portland, Ore.’s American Pacific International Capital.

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Jamaica - New hotels pop up from Kingston to Montego Bay

The Spanish Court Hotel is the first new resort to open in

Jamaica's capital city of Kingston in three decades.

The Jamaica tourist board’s slogan slyly suggests a reason to visit:  “Once you go, you know.”
But with all the new hotel developments on the Caribbean island this season, even those who regularly go may not be in the know anymore. The offerings run the gamut: from boutique properties to colossal chain hotels, noteworthy upgrades to grand-scale developments poised to change the face of the island.
In Kingston, the opening of the 107-room Spanish Court Hotel marked the capital city’s first new resort in 30 years. Constructed wholly by Jamaican artisans, it’s an ultramodern, boutique-style property that owner Christopher Issa says will “put Kingston on the map as a tourist destination.”
The Spanish Court’s SoHo-style lobby, by local designer Alison Antrobus, eschews Caribbean-style wicker and florals in favor of bean-shaped white leather sofas, Martin Fluss chandeliers, animal-print accents and jatobá wood floors. Chic, minimalist rooms feature flat-screen TVs and iPod docks.

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Former Trump hotel in Fort Lauderdale still mired in litigation

More than a year after it was set to open, only maintenance crews and real estate types appear to be making regular use of the former Trump International Hotel & Tower on Fort Lauderdale’s beach.

The 298-unit condo-hotel is beset by litigation, including two class action lawsuits from buyers and a foreclosure by a government-chosen successor to the original lender, Corus Bank.

During a Dec. 21 hearing, attorneys for the lender, Donald J. Trump and two of his companies argued that claims against them in one of the class action cases should be dismissed. A decision by U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan was pending at deadline.

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