Three Brazilian Hotel Companies join forces to create Allia Hotels

(Hospitality Business News)

Bristol, Plaza Inn and Solare merge to create the largest Brazilian hotel group

Three regional hotel groups in Brazil have announced the formation of Allia Hotels, the largest 100% Brazilian hotel chain in the country. As a result of this alliance between Bristol Hotels, based in Minas Gerais; Plaza Inn Hotels, based in São Paulo and Solare Hotel Group, based in Maranhão, Allia Hotels has a combined 40 hotels in operation and more than 3,000 rooms with approximately 1,600 employees.

Allia becomes the third largest hotel chain in Brazil, based on the number of properties, and will have a presence in six states and total revenues of approximately R$ 150 million in 2010.

 
The company already has a commitment of R$450M for the development of 30 new hotels.

 "This alliance will give us more ability to grow and invest in expansion, at a time when the prospects are very favorable for the hospitality industry and tourism, besides increasing the management capacity of our enterprises," said André Monegaglia,CEO.

Keep Track of Bad Guests



from http://www.hotelchatter.com/


(Hospitality Business News - Oct 16 2010) Recently we posted a story about a UK web site that tracks "unwanted" guests. ( http://www.hospitalitybusinessnews.com/2010/09/guestscan-allows-hotel-owners-to-share.html ) The purpose is to help Hotel Operators determine whether or not they should accept a reservation from certain people or, simply pass. To say that this a new concept would not be true. What's new is the trend to organize and distribute this data among hotels and, perhaps in the future, restaurants. Many hotels now refuse guests based on their perceived or real behaviour. For example many hotels in Florida and the Caribbean will not accept reservations for "Spring Break" groups. In Europe hotels shy away from groups of British Soccer fans.

In the United States a similar web sites exists called Guest Checker . This site currently charges an annual fee of $40. According to the site they are "tracking" 1326 guests and have 687 members. GuestChecker is a member managed database of short term renters. To apply for membership, the following criteria must be verified by their staff

1) You are an accommodations provider to renters such as a hotel, motel, vacation rental, apartment, etc.

2) You agree to notify renters via email or postal mail when you post their information on this website and allow them the chance to offer rebuttal if they choose.

3) The rental policies and/or privacy policies on your website must state the following: "At any time during, before, or after your stay with us, your information may be shared with www.guestchecker.com" (this website address must be a live link back to our site)

4) You must agree to our terms and conditions

Most Hotel people seem to like this concept. Others complain about "privacy" laws. The question seems to be is there a difference between hotels putting together a list such as this and hotel guests writing TripAdvisor reports? Some TripAdvisor reports mention staff by position or name. Wouldn't privacy rules apply here too, if you believe that there is a privacy issue.

From comments that we have seen it appears that the big concern is the degree of the offence. At what point do you submit a guests name? This is a difficult question to answer. I had a guest in a hotel that I worked at once who left the hotel and submitted a chargeback to his credit card company. He stated in his letter to the company that he had paid cash at checkout and he enclosed a copy of his folio showing what purported to be a cash payment. I looked to see if a cash payment had been received and there were none that day that matched the payment that his folio showed. I checked everything and there were no postings in our system. I checked the copy of the folio that was sent to us by the Credit Card company and it lined up and matched the folio on our system , other than the cash payment. Ours showed that he paid by credit card. Finally I looked at a cash paid folio and saw that our cash folios show "Cash Payment" and not simply "Cash" like the folio we received stated. So I got the chargeback reversed. I should have had the "guest"charged with attempted fraud. I do not think that any hotel would want to accommodate this guy. But let's say that a guest simply complains a lot. Is this a valid reason? You may think that your hotel is great and the guest does not agree.

There is a lot to consider here. This could turn out to be a valuable service, if it is used properly.

Comments from Guest Checker
The idea of a guest tracking system is not new. However, we have added a few key features that some of the other sites seem to lack. The first is a "guest dispute" procedure. A guest is notified when their information is added to the database. They are also given the chance to offer their side of the story. Someone who accidentally knocks over a lamp and  offers to pay for it should not be placed in the same category as someone who purposefully trashes a hotel room. The guest should have the right to address their accuser.

Secondly, we only allow one person within the company to report a guest for an offense. That 'reporting agent' must be in a senior management position. This stops any malicious reporting by the night watchman, for example.

Privacy advocates and consumers alike are concerned about their personal information. I would like to take a moment to share with the general public how their information will be handled.
1)Guests are made aware, in advance, that they will be staying at a facility who uses GuestChecker.
2)Our members have the opportunity to add guests compliments, as well as concerns. Some of these compliments include: "Excellent repeat customer", "very courteous and polite", etc.
3)Only a guest's name, address, and phone number are tracked. The same information is already publicly available in any phone book.
4)These personal details are kept in a database with bank-level security and is not available to the public.
5)Our members cannot scroll through a list of names and offenses. They can only search for a specific person and receive a "Match" or "NoMatch" result.
6)At no time are details such as credit card information, date of birth, race, religion, etc. stored or used in our database.
7) At no time is anyone ever "blacklisted". Our members do not have the ability to advise other accommodation providers to refuse service for a guest. Rather, we allow them to report on the facts of a guests' stay so that the next hotel can make an informed decision on how to best prepare for that guests arrival.

Hilton Worldwide expands its Business Immersion Program

CEO Chris Nassetta from his immersion program

Hospitality Business News - MCLEAN, Va. -- Hilton Worldwide has expanded its Business Immersion Program for its senior leadership group, which includes senior vice presidents and above. The program is designed to involve executives in the day-to-day operations of the company’s properties, build engagement with team members and ultimately result in findings that can enhance the guest experience.


Each executive will spend three days at one of Hilton Worldwide’s properties working alongside team members across several property-level functions including Catering and Events, Front Office Services, Engineering and Property Operations, Housekeeping, In-Room Dining, Laundry and Security.

The Business Immersion Program initially began as pilot program with the company’s Executive Committee and proved to be such an invaluable experience that it is now expanding across the entire Senior Leadership Group. Over the next three months, approximately 60 senior leaders will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the day-to-day operations of the hotel of their choice.

Is it a no smoking law or simply a way for hotels to charge another fee

By: Eric Hertha, Hospitality Business News

The Wisconsin Legislature, in the 2009-10 Legislative Session, enacted 2009 Wisconsin Act 12, which prohibits smoking in Restaurants and Hotels. The law became effective on July 11, 2010.

In a September 2, 2010 article that appeared in USA Today, (by Barbara De Lollis) entitled Wisconsin law bans smoking in all hotel guestrooms, the writer quotes Trisha Pugal, CEO of Wisconsin Hotel and Lodging Association on various aspects of the new law and its enforcement in hotels.

Ms Pugal stated in the interview that their biggest challenge with the smoking ban is convincing guests that it truly is the law - and that there are real consequences if they smoke in their room. "People tend not to believe," she says.

According to Act 12 the law requires that persons in charge of places where smoking is prohibited enforce the prohibitions by taking certain steps to ensure compliance, such as not providing ashtrays and matches; posting “no smoking” signs; asking a person to stop smoking; asking a person who is smoking to leave; refusing to serve the person if the place is a restaurant, tavern, or private club; and notifying law enforcement if the person does not leave after being requested to do so. Local police and sheriff’s departments have the power and duty to enforce the smoking ban and the Act goes on to establish a forfeiture for violation of the smoking prohibition of not less than $100 nor more than $250 for each violation.

According to the USA Today article, Wisconsin's roughly 2,000 hotels post signs declaring their building a non-smoking facility. They're also requiring guests to initial a statement promising to comply or face paying a fee. Hotels are charging penalty fees anywhere from $100 to $300. "Unfortunately, there are people choosing to smoke anyway, even with all the signage and initialing things saying they know there will be a penalty," Pugal said.

Hospitality Business News asked Pugel about the law and the authority that hotels have to fine guests. Her response was “the lodging property, with proper notification, has the right to charge an additional fee for special cleaning or damages, such as is necessary when a guest smokes in a non-smoking room. This should not be confused with a citation that law enforcement may impose to uphold the law.”

Smoking in “non-smoking” rooms has always been an issue. But it appear that in this case the Wisconsin Hotel Association, and other Associations around the Country, are taking advantage new laws in order to charge a fee. Many guests will assume that the charge is a “legal fine” as opposed to an arbitrary charge by the hotel. The Hotel Association in Wisconsin should indicate on their signage that the fee is not being imposed by the government and in fact has nothing to do with any smoking legislation.

Most NY hotels refuse to host Ahmadinejad - Hilton does

By: Eric Hertha, Hospitality Business News
September 19,2010

According to the Foreign Affairs Committe of The National Council of Resistance of Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has found it almost impossible to reserve a room at any of the normal New York hotels that usually accomodate world leaders. According to the article, Ahmadinejad is scheduled to attend a UN General Assembly meeting next week in New York.


Weary of facing the same level of difficulty in reserving hotels as last year, the clerical regime had ordered its permanent representative at the UN since July to start searching for hotels and use all necessary means to reserve rooms. But, despite the extensive efforts and investments by Ahmadinejad’s deputy chief of ceremonies, prominent hotels in New York have refused to host the clerical regime’s president, the article said.

Mohammad Torshizi, the regime’s permanent representative at the UN has told Tehran in a report, “In view of some political issues, it is very difficult to find hotels for the Islamic Republic. The permanent UN representative office has with extreme difficulty succeeded in reserving rooms at Hilton in Manhattan, but we cannot count on it until the day we are actually there because pressures can lead to cancellation. Of course, the hotel has limited space and is small. It is not meant for the presidency.”

The article states that the regime’s UN envoy is reportedly working even harder to keep the reservation in the small Manhattan hotel a secret, fearing a backlash by New York residents against the hotel’s management as there is widespread anger in the city against Ahmadinejad’s visit.

Couple thrown out of Hotel for writing online hotel review



from The Gazette



A man, who is suffering from Cancer, is very upset after he and a companion were thrown out of a Blackpool UK hotel, because the manager accused them of writing an online hotel review on TripAdvisor

According to an article in The Gazette, Mr Healey and Sherrie Andrews said they were in day two of a three night stay when they were asked to leave.

Mr Healey, who was due to check out on September 4, was forced to drive back 280 miles the evening before. He said: "I couldn't believe it when we were asked to leave.

"We had been there a day when they said we couldn't get back in our rooms because they were re carpeting, and we didn't complain – all we asked was if we could have an extra towel.

"Then, on our second evening, the Manager banged on the door and told us to get out, accusing us of writing a review on Trip Advisor, and said he would call the police."

Mr Healey has only just returned to work as a Tesco manager after sick leave to receive chemotherapy for testicular cancer according to the article.

He added: "I was shocked when the police arrived, and we just agreed to leave. We asked for a refund but the hotel refused.

"I think it is shocking and people need to know about this."

A spokesman said: "Police officers were called to the Golden Beach Hotel just before 8pm on Thursday.

"No offence had been committed by the couple, but the manager had requested them to leave the property. We advised the couple how to go about getting a refund. This is a civil matter."

No smoking

So here is a normal washroom. Above the urinal is a no smoking sign, but what you may not be able to see is that underneath the no smoking label its written out in Braille.

Now I would think that any blind person using this facility would have a hard enough time hitting the target, let a lone searching to see if there is a no smoking sign.









picture from http://www.hertha.com/

Kinseth Hospitality Companies Assumes Management of Two Minnesota

North Liberty, IA., September 2, 2010 – Kinseth Hospitality Companies (KHC), an Iowa based hotel development and management company, announced they began managing the Cambria Suites in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and the Country Inn & Suites and attached Green Mill Restaurant in Woodbury, Minnesota, during the month of August, 2010. In both instances, KHC was selected as a Court Appointed Receiver to operate the properties.


Bruce Kinseth, Senior Vice President of Kinseth Hospitality Companies said, “KHC’s past experience, now managing over 4,700 hotel rooms throughout the Midwest, and our operation of high volume, casual themed restaurants gives us a unique background to bring our hospitality vision to both of the properties we assumed management of in August. We intend to use our hospitality sales and marketing experience to maximize the revenues for both of the properties in the short term.”

Bruce Kinseth comments further, “Given the past success that KHC has as a Court Appointed Receiver and our ability to safe-guard hotel assets for lenders, we have continued to increase the number of hotel management contracts within our portfolio during 2010. We are currently in discussion with other hotel financiers who are in need of an experienced hotel management company.”

Kinseth Hospitality Corporation now owns and/or operates forty-seven hotels and ten chain-affiliated restaurants in ten Midwestern states

Burger King Sold, now here come the Lawyers

September 2, 2010

Today a buyout deal for Burger King Holdings Inc by investment firm 3G Capital, at a value of $24 per share, or about $4 billion, was announced at 9:22AM

Shares of Burger King, the No. 2 U.S. hamburger chain, surged 23 percent to $23.20 after the report. They had gained nearly 15 percent on Wednesday after news of a potential deal first emerged. So Burger King went from around $15 on Wednesday to over $23 today. An increase of around 52%

At 10:38AM Tripp Levy PLLC sent out their press release stating:

“The investigation concerns, among other things, whether the consideration to be paid to Burger King shareholders is grossly unfair, inadequate, and substantially below the fair or inherent value of Burger King. The investigation further concerns whether the directors of Burger King may have breached their fiduciary duties by not acting in Burger King shareholders' best interests in connection with the sale process of Burger King.”

At 11:18AM today the firm of Levi & Korsinsky, LLP sent out their press release stating:

“For the quarter ending June 30, 2010, Burger King reported total revenue of $623 million and net income of $49 million as compared to total revenue and net income of $596.90 million and $41 million, respectively, for the prior quarter. The investigation concerns whether the Burger King Board of Directors breached their fiduciary duties to Burger King stockholders by failing to adequately shop the Company before entering into this transaction and whether 3G is underpaying for Burger King shares, thus unlawfully harming Burger King stockholders.”

At 11:20AM today the firm of Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. sends out their press release stating that

“The investigation concerns whether Burger Kings’s board of directors failed to adequately shop the Company and obtain the best price possible for Burger Kings’s shareholders before entering into the agreement with 3G Capital. Moreover, Burger King Chairman and CEO, John Chidsey, will remain through the transition period in his current capacity and subsequently assume a newly created position of Co-Chairman of the Board.”

All three of the above firms are trying to solicit plaintiffs so that they can collect huge fees while the plaintiffs walk off with a Burger King Breakfast Sandwich Coupon massive amounts of cash for their major loss .

As part of the agreement with 3G Capital Burger King said “the Company may solicit superior proposals from third parties for a period of 40 calendar days continuing through October 12, 2010. It is not anticipated that any developments will be disclosed with regard to this process unless the Company’s Board of Directors makes a decision with respect to a potential superior proposal. There are no guarantees that this process will result in a superior proposal.”

So if you are a shareholder what do you do? You need to pick one of the firms above so that you can get the money you need to build your retirement fund. After all, it’s the American Way! Obviously #3 took from 9:22 AM to 11:20 , almost 2 hours to get out their release. Do you want to deal with a “number 3” company? Number 2 didn’t do much better. So there is only one pick left. Obviously Tripp Levy must have a “jack rabbit” staff that can fire out Press Releases at a moments notice. Helping the stockholders recoup millions, perhaps billions, of dollars that has been illegally withheld from them is a high priority, I am sure.

So hold the pickles, hold the lettuce all we ask is that you don't forget us, all we want is that you sue them our way. . . .

One question.How much does this cost the company and the shareholders?

She wasn’t suspended, she was just taken off the schedule

By: Eric Hertha
Hospitality Business News

In the ongoing battle between Disney and Imane Boudlal, a Muslim woman who is fighting for the right to wear her religious scarf, it was revealed today that Ms Boudlal has been taken off the schedule.

The hotel workers union has cried foul and said that Disney has in fact suspended the employee without pay. According to Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown the suspension claim is not true. According to Disney the employee has not been suspended, she simply is not being scheduled.

We look forward to the verdict.

Huddle House, Inc. Announces the Resignation of CEO

By: Eric Hertha
August 23 2010

Huddle House, an Atlanta-based 400-plus-unit family diner chain, has announced the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Phil Greifeld.


Greifeld joined Huddle House in 1995 and spent nearly 12 years leading the Huddle House brand as its CEO. Greifeld stepped down from his role as President and CEO to pursue other opportunities.

Ken Keymer, current Huddle House Board Director and former CEO of VICORP Restaurants, Inc. (parent company of Village Inn and Baker's Square) and former CEO of AFC Enterprises, (parent company of Popeyes' Famous Fried Chicken) will take over as interim CEO.

"We are thankful for Phil Greifeld's commitment to the Huddle House brand throughout his long tenure and we wish him success in his new endeavor," Keymer said.

"Summer Of Terror" For Hotels and Restaurants

By: Eric Hertha
Hospitality Business News - Bahamas Desk
August 21, 2010

While looking for stories over the past few months one thing that has jumped out at me is the number of reported robberies, both at hotels and at restaurants. In one recent incident a Florida thief (of course) called back to the restaurant to complain that they did not have enough money when he robbed them and that there better be more the next time. In another outlandish event, thieves stole an ATM out of a Hotel Lobby (http://www.hospitalitybusinessnews.com/2010/04/thieves-wheel-atm-out-of-hotel-lobby.html ) back in April. A search for hotel and restaurant robberies brings up more than 250 stories.

I think an article that sums up the outbreak is one from Joscelyn Moes at 69 News in Pennsylvania http://www.wfmz.com/lehighvalleynews/24700404/detail.html  , at least 6 hotels have been robbed in the past three months. According to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission the estimated population of the area in 2010 is 644,000. Not a huge place.

The latest hold-up happened early Friday at the Homewood Suites in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Population – under 2,000 residents.

According to the article by Moes, since the end of May or early June, police said that there have been numerous hotel robberies around the Lehigh Valley, including two at the Best Western on Tilghman Street, two at the Holiday Inn Express across from Dorney Park, one at the Holiday Inn in downtown Allentown, and one at the Econo Lodge in Allentown.

Florida Inmate scams Hotel Guests out of Credit Card information

By: Eric Hertha

Hospitality Business News – Bahamas Desk
August 21, 2010

Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Department of Corrections announced Friday the arrest of five Orlando residents on charges of fraud. Those arrested include Daimion Goldsmith, 40, Kendra Hodge, 22, Lavonda Goldsmith, 45, Geneva Legrier, 18, and Levell Jones, 64. One additional suspect, Edison Filer, 48, is currently at large.

Damion Goldsmith who was previously convicted of credit card fraud, fraud and grand theft is an inmate at the Suwannee Correctional Institution in Live Oak Florida. According to arrest documents Goldsmith had friends help him call hotels and ask room-service employees for the numbers of rooms they had just delivered to. When speaking to room service employees he claimed to be a hotel employee from security and the room service workers would routinely supply the guest room information.

Once Goldsmith obtained the guest room number he or one of his accomplices would contact the guest and pretend to be a hotel employee. They would claim that the computer system was down and that they needed the guest’s credit card information. Although many guests did not supply the information the FDLE has identified eight victims who agents said lost more than $10,000.

Orlando hotel guests were not the only ones targeted. Tourists in Alabama, North Carolina and other states also were victimized in incidents going back to August 2009, the FDLE said.

Prior to this incident Goldsmith was scheduled to be released in April 2015. Not that his incarceration makes Florida, or any other state, safer.

Kerzner takes control of Reef Condo Hotel

By Eric Hertha


Kerzner International has bought out its’ JV partner in the Reef condo-hotel project at Atlantis, Paradise Island. Kerzner’s partner in the $200 million project was Turnberry Associates.

Turnberry Associates, of south Florida, is a real estate firm involved in shopping centers and hotels. See related stories (http://www.hospitalitybusinessnews.com/search/label/Fontainebleau) . Turnberry’s 2 Fontainebleau sites have been under financial pressure of late with the Fontainebleu Las Vegas filing for bankruptcy protection in 2009.

Both Kerzner and Turnberry have used investments from Dubai World to fund projects. It is not known if Dubai’s financial problems have lead to this or if it is a result of the down real estate market in Florida and Las Vegas.

Ed Fields, Kerzner International (Bahamas) spokesman said “ I can confirm we have purchased Turnberry’s share of the joint venture at the reef. The reason we did it is because we see it as an excellent investment opportunity.”

Restuarnt Stock Performance - Update

Updated stock performance as of Friday August 21, 2009

http://workspace.office.live.com/?id=pACQ1ZDcxYzM1MS01ZTc1LTRjMmMtYTEwOC1kNmE1NDYyMWM5YmMAe-ErNRhlSFNIk3-1-lgw21x9ACdlcmljLmhlcnRoYUBob3NwaXRhbGl0eWJ1c2luZXNzbmV3cy5jb20AABQ6jNJEgtTOoo12_fkSnyhkfWMtOAAA&cid=40

Restaurant Stock Performance for the week ending August 7, 2009

Restaurant Stock Performance for the week ending August 7, 2009

By Eric Hertha
(August 8, 2009 – Hospitality Business News) For the week ending August 7 our list of restaurant stocks increased by 0.9%, bringing the year to date change to 67.3%. The top 10 stocks for the week increased in value by an average of 11.6% led buy a 33% increase in Morton’s.

During the week Morton’s announced quarterly earnings of $0.04 per share vs. the Analysts estimate of $0.03. Prior to this increase Morton’s had been up 36.2% for the year. This compares to an increase of 161.6%, year to date, at Ruth’s Chris. For the week Ruth’s was down by 7.9% on signs that July sales are still weak and comments by Analysts.

Caribou Coffee Company, which has 522 stores, posted earnings per share of $0.06 vs. the Analysts estimate of $0.00. The stock increased by 19.1% for the week and is up 408.8% for the year. Continuing with coffee, the number 4 stock for the week, Tim Horton’s, increased by 9.1% due to a good performance in the second quarter. Sales increased by 5% (constant dollars) while EPS rose by 5.6%. and Starbucks added 7.5% based on good earnings and recent news.

Number 3 for the week with a 14.8% increase was Wendys/Arbys Group. Up until this week the stock had been down on a year to date basis but the earnings for the second quarter sparked some interest. Wendy’s same store sales were flat but margins improved. While at Arbys the decline seems to have slowed somewhat from the first quarter.

On the other end of the list the bottom 10 stocks decreased by 8.7% for the week led by Good Times Restaurants with a decline of 12.5%.Other than the March 31 results, which were not encouraging, I have not seen any other news stories.

Number nine was O’Charley’s with a decrease of 11.9% for the week The company reported their second quarter results and same-store sales for the second quarter of 2009 declined 6.9 percent at O'Charley's company-operated restaurants, 10.0 percent at Ninety Nine Restaurants, and 20.4 percent at Stoney River Legendary Steaks. Add to this that operating margins increased from 15% to 16.4%.

Number 8 was Brinkers with a decline of 11.2% for the week. There earnings were released during the week. An excerpt states
Brinker reported revenues for the 13-week period of $829.4 million, a decrease of 22.7 percent compared with $1,073.6 million reported for the same period of fiscal 2008. The company experienced a 9.0 percent decrease in comparable restaurant sales (see Table 1) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 due to decreases across all brands. Revenues were also negatively impacted by a net decline in capacity of 18.2 percent due to 55 restaurant closures (five of which were Macaroni Grills) and the sale of 198 restaurants since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 (189 of which were Macaroni Grills).

In summary it’s the old story: Companies that are beating estimates are doing well while the ones that fall behind are being rewarded with lower stock prices.
To see the entire list click here

Restaurant Stock Performance - 7/31/2009

For the year, our list of 55 Restaurant stocks have increased in value by an average of 67%. The top 10 have increased in value by 219%.

From their 12 month lows these stocks have increased by 462% and even so they are still 20% under their 12 month highs.

You can see the whole list at this link
http://app4.websitetonight.com/projects/1/0/5/0/1050254/uploads/Restaurant_Performance_7-31-2009.xls

Hospitality Financial Consulting Group releases their report on Flow-Through Analysis

This link will take you to an article I wrote dealing with Flow-Through analysis. This is the first article in a series dealing with Hospitality Operations Finance.

http://www.hfcgllc.com/uploads/Flow-Through_-_Eric_Hertha.pdf