ATLANTA, July 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lodgian, Inc. (NYSE Alternext US: LGN), one of the nation's largest independent hotel owners and operators, today announced that the company has obtained extensions on $71.6 million of its mortgage indebtedness previously scheduled to mature on July 1, 2009, and remains in negotiations on extension of $45.7 million of mortgage debt which matured on July 1, 2009. The mortgage indebtedness, which was originated in June 2004 by Merrill Lynch and securitized in the collateralized mortgage-backed securities market, has been divided into three pools of indebtedness referred to by the company as the Merrill Lynch Fixed Rate Pools #1, #3 and #4. (The company repaid the Merrill Lynch Fixed Rate Pool #2 in 2007.) In summary, the company has reached agreements with the special servicers of this mortgage indebtedness to provide the following:
Read more:
http://ir.lodgian.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=112638&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1304225&highlight=
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Guinness Peat objects to Thwaites’ board over plan to sell Stafford Hotel for £75m
Daniel Thwaites, the 200-year-old Lancashire brewer, faces a revolt from its biggest institutional shareholders over its plans to sell the Stafford Hotel in St James’s, Central London, for about £75 million.
Guinness Peat Group (GPG), which holds a more than 6 per cent stake in Thwaites, has written to the brewer’s board arguing that the mooted sale price for the historic hotel is tantamount to a “fire sale” and would cause “an immediate and material diminution in shareholder value”.
Read more:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6652700.ece
Guinness Peat Group (GPG), which holds a more than 6 per cent stake in Thwaites, has written to the brewer’s board arguing that the mooted sale price for the historic hotel is tantamount to a “fire sale” and would cause “an immediate and material diminution in shareholder value”.
Read more:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6652700.ece
Commission coming to regulate casinos in Jamaica
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- A Casino Gaming Commission is to be established under the Casino Gaming Bill, which has been tabled in Jamaica's House of Representatives by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw.
Read more:
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/jamaica/jamaica.php?news_id=17521&start=0&category_id=9
Read more:
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/jamaica/jamaica.php?news_id=17521&start=0&category_id=9
Oceanaire files for Ch. 11, closes 4 units
MINNEAPOLIS (July 6, 2009) The Oceanaire Seafood Room's parent company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and shuttered four of its 16 locations, the company said Monday.
Restaurants in Philadelphia; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; and Seattle were closed as part of a pre-arranged bankruptcy filing, which the Minneapolis-based company said it expects to exit by the end of October. The twelve remaining Oceanaire Seafood Rooms remain open and are operating without disruption.
Read more:
http://www.nrn.com/article.aspx?id=369376
Restaurants in Philadelphia; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; and Seattle were closed as part of a pre-arranged bankruptcy filing, which the Minneapolis-based company said it expects to exit by the end of October. The twelve remaining Oceanaire Seafood Rooms remain open and are operating without disruption.
Read more:
http://www.nrn.com/article.aspx?id=369376
Monday, July 6, 2009
Domino's Customers Can Follow Their Pizza's Progress
Domino's Pizza employees better beware. Screw up an order and your name is mud--digitally speaking, that is.
Last week the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based restaurant chain unveiled graphic-heavy online ordering system dubbed Pizza Tracker. Its highly customized software can identify by name the person making a customer's pizza.
Read more:
http://www.chainleader.com/article/ca6668914.html
Last week the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based restaurant chain unveiled graphic-heavy online ordering system dubbed Pizza Tracker. Its highly customized software can identify by name the person making a customer's pizza.
Read more:
http://www.chainleader.com/article/ca6668914.html
RAMSAY ACCOUNTS TELL ONLY HALF UK STORY
The mini-furore that accompanied last week’s filing of the accounts of Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) for the year to August 2008 was, it turns out, entirely misplaced. Newspaper coverage centred on the decline in profits year on year, and we concentrated on why sales were seemingly so much less than GRH had forecast. Now the actual GRH accounts are to hand, however, it is clear that all such commentary – while correct – was beside the point. It was implicit in all the coverage that GRH is the holding company of all Gordon’s UK restaurant interests. In short, everyone assumes GRH is shorthand for “Gordon UK Inc”.
Read more:
http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/06-07-09/ramsay-accounts-half-story-international-2008/
Read more:
http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/06-07-09/ramsay-accounts-half-story-international-2008/
Morton's steakhouse closes in Minneapolis
Morton’s, The Steakhouse has closed its restaurant in Minneapolis.
The Chicago-based restaurant chain cited the economy as its primary reason for closing its only Minnesota location.
“The Morton’s restaurant team in Minneapolis has been working diligently to improve operating results, but this restaurant has not been able to reach the base financial targets needed to support continued operation,” said Gary Young, a Minneapolis-based public relations consultant for Morton’s.
Read more:
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/07/06/daily1.html?ana=from_rss
The Chicago-based restaurant chain cited the economy as its primary reason for closing its only Minnesota location.
“The Morton’s restaurant team in Minneapolis has been working diligently to improve operating results, but this restaurant has not been able to reach the base financial targets needed to support continued operation,” said Gary Young, a Minneapolis-based public relations consultant for Morton’s.
Read more:
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/07/06/daily1.html?ana=from_rss
California Hotel Foreclosures Double in Last Three Months
From Watch List reader, Alan X. Reay, founder and president of Atlas Hospitality Group in Irvine, CA, comes this astounding statistic. The number of California hotels in default or foreclosed on has jumped 125% in the last 60 days. The state now has 31 hotels that have been foreclosed on and 175 in default.
Read more:
http://www.atlashospitality.com/index-4.html?id=1240492180
Read more:
http://www.atlashospitality.com/index-4.html?id=1240492180
Coffee Republic suspends share trading
It looks like it could be the end of the line for Coffee Republic, the chain of coffee shops founded in 1995 by brother and sister Bobby and Sahar Hashemi.
After the stock market closed the company announced it had asked for its Aim-listed shares to be suspended at 22p "pending clarification of the financial position of certain subsidiaries including Coffee Republic (UK) Limited, the principal UK operating company."
It said documents had been lodged in court in anticipation of the appointment of administrators to these subsidiaries.
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/03/coffee-republic-shares-suspension
After the stock market closed the company announced it had asked for its Aim-listed shares to be suspended at 22p "pending clarification of the financial position of certain subsidiaries including Coffee Republic (UK) Limited, the principal UK operating company."
It said documents had been lodged in court in anticipation of the appointment of administrators to these subsidiaries.
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/03/coffee-republic-shares-suspension
SPANISH HOTEL WORKERS THREATEN STRIKE
Half a million Britons are facing holiday misery this summer as Spanish hotel workers threaten to go on strike.
Unions representing 50,000 staff on the Costa Blanca say they will not work during August unless their demands for higher pay are met.
They claim wages for chambermaids in the region, which includes top resorts Benidorm and Alicante, are the lowest in the country
Read more:
http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=spanish-hotel-workers-threaten-strike-action%26method=full%26objectid=21495564%26siteid=93463-name_page.html
Unions representing 50,000 staff on the Costa Blanca say they will not work during August unless their demands for higher pay are met.
They claim wages for chambermaids in the region, which includes top resorts Benidorm and Alicante, are the lowest in the country
Read more:
http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=spanish-hotel-workers-threaten-strike-action%26method=full%26objectid=21495564%26siteid=93463-name_page.html
One-quarter of UK diners can only be tempted by discounts
One in four diners in the UK will only visit a restaurant if it offers a discount, market research has found.
A survey by price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, which questioned more than 5,000 consumers, showed that 26% of diners will choose an establishment offering discounted meals over one that has no special deals.
The research also found that more than 40% of Britons now use restaurant vouchers at least once a month, with high street chains including Pizza Express, Strada and Zizzi the most popular choices.
It further revealed that the corporate market has cut back on business spending during the recession, with traditional high earners such as bankers and lawyers having reduced the number of long lunches by as much as 70%.
Read more:
http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2009/07/06/328547/one-quarter-of-diners-can-only-be-tempted-by-discounts.html
A survey by price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, which questioned more than 5,000 consumers, showed that 26% of diners will choose an establishment offering discounted meals over one that has no special deals.
The research also found that more than 40% of Britons now use restaurant vouchers at least once a month, with high street chains including Pizza Express, Strada and Zizzi the most popular choices.
It further revealed that the corporate market has cut back on business spending during the recession, with traditional high earners such as bankers and lawyers having reduced the number of long lunches by as much as 70%.
Read more:
http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2009/07/06/328547/one-quarter-of-diners-can-only-be-tempted-by-discounts.html
GLOBAL HYATT CORPORATION CHANGES NAME TO HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION
CHICAGO (July 2, 2009) – Global Hyatt Corporation today announced that the company has changed its name to Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Hyatt Hotels Corporation is the parent entity of companies that own, operate, manage and franchise hotel, resort, residential and vacation ownership properties under the brand names Hyatt®, Park Hyatt®, Andaz™, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place®, Hyatt Summerfield Suites™ and Hyatt Vacation Club®.
Read more:
http://www.zibb.com/hospitality/search/newsblogs?q=&t=Hospitality&tmid=0&s=date&o=10&tf=1
Read more:
http://www.zibb.com/hospitality/search/newsblogs?q=&t=Hospitality&tmid=0&s=date&o=10&tf=1
Von Essen (hotels) looks to double estate as profits rise 24%
Von Essen chairman Andrew Davis says the company has the potential to double the number of hotels in its estate after seeing pre-tax profits rise by a quarter in the past year.
Speaking in the company’s annual report for 2008, Davis said there was ‘scope’ to double the 27-strong portfolio despite the challenging financial climate.
“For any property to be considered for acquisition it has to meet stringent criteria and fit with the brand identity of the hotels already in the collection,” he said.
Read more:
http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/item/3632
Speaking in the company’s annual report for 2008, Davis said there was ‘scope’ to double the 27-strong portfolio despite the challenging financial climate.
“For any property to be considered for acquisition it has to meet stringent criteria and fit with the brand identity of the hotels already in the collection,” he said.
Read more:
http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/item/3632
A weak year for hotel chain
Executives of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc hope an oversupply of rooms this year will quickly turn around and normalize in countries like China by 2011.
Miguel Ko, chair and president of the US-based hotel giant's Asia-Pacific division, told China Business Weekly that the global economic downturn is partly to blame for the lack of business and international travel.
Read more:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-07/06/content_8380834.htm
Miguel Ko, chair and president of the US-based hotel giant's Asia-Pacific division, told China Business Weekly that the global economic downturn is partly to blame for the lack of business and international travel.
Read more:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-07/06/content_8380834.htm
The owners of The Ritz-Carlton, Denver hotel are in default
The owners of The Ritz-Carlton, Denver hotel are in default on multimillion-dollar loans related to the downtown property, but are working to make good on the debt.
Transwestern Mezzanine Realty Partners III LLC of Chicago filed suit against the 202-room luxury hotel’s owner, CJS Hotel LLC and related entities, on June 28 in Denver federal court. The lawsuit says the owner hasn’t paid $9 million, plus interest and charges, due on a $20 million mezzanine loan.
Read more:
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/07/06/story1.html?ana=from_rss
Transwestern Mezzanine Realty Partners III LLC of Chicago filed suit against the 202-room luxury hotel’s owner, CJS Hotel LLC and related entities, on June 28 in Denver federal court. The lawsuit says the owner hasn’t paid $9 million, plus interest and charges, due on a $20 million mezzanine loan.
Read more:
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/07/06/story1.html?ana=from_rss
