Bellagio: Indicted billionaire owes $258,480 gambling debt

One month before his financial empire was shut down by regulators, Texas billionaire Robert Allen Stanford was running up a quarter-million-dollar gambling debt in Las Vegas, a lawsuit filed by a casino shows.
The Bellagio resort on the Las Vegas Strip sued Stanford in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas on Tuesday, claiming he owes $258,480 in unpaid gambling markers.

Read more:

80 lose jobs at Sandals Royal Bahamian

Nine months after Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort sent home 150 employees, it has laid off another 80 workers.
Those workers have joined the unemployment line at a time when the hotel sector is entering its slowest period.
Confirming a Nassau Guardian article yesterday that job cuts are imminent, Sandals blamed low occupancy levels at the Cable Beach property on the latest round of layoffs.

Read more:

Does "End of the Recession" mean "Recovery"? Not for luxury hotels!

From some reactions, you might think that the likely "End Of The Recession" by the end of 2009 means that the "Recovery" is close behind.
Unfortunately, what follows next will not feel much better for many for a very long time. Nowhere is that more true than in the luxury hotel segment, where Smith Travel Research foresees a 27% drop in RevPAR for 2009 followed by another 9% in 2010!

Read more:

2 More months until Sausage Week Begins

Please do not forget that November 2 is the start of sausage week in the UK. Hotels are almost sold out. Book your room quickly!

Read More:

The Hotel Owner's and Hotel Lender's Dilemma: Sell now or sell later?

Hotel Lawyer. As a hotel owner or lender with a distressed property in the worst business environment for more than 70 years, you have a decision to make. Do you sell the hotel now at a deep discount, or do you hold on for things to get better? How long does it take to market a property in this environment?
Owners and lenders of thousands of hotels in the United States and abroad are confronted with this decision. Here are a few thoughts from the pros

Read more:

Financial Turmoil Continues to Haunt Hotel Industry

The hotel investment world was rocked last month with a high-profile Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of two hotels owned by Illinois-based Harp Group. The filing covers a three-year-old, 580-room Radisson Hotel at the Los Angeles Airport and the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare, a 556-room luxury property that’s only been open about a year. Both properties remain open while the filing winds its way through federal court. The two properties owe a combined $278 million to San Diego National Bank and Amalgamated Bank, a lender owned by hotel workers union Unite Here

Read more:

Scam alert! St Lucians being targeted in hospitality job fraud

CASTRIES, St Lucia, August 31, 2009 - St Lucians are being warned of an Internet scam in which job opportunities are being offered in the hospitality industry in the United States and Canada. According to the Ministry of Labour, Information and Broadcasting, the offers being made in widely circulated emails not legit.

Read more:

Business Travelers Give Up Amenities to Cut Costs

As the recession unfolds, a growing number of budget-minded business travelers are shifting to lower-price hotels, whether by choice or because their bosses are telling them to.
The biggest beneficiaries of the shift, travel experts say, are the hotels that keep prices down by not offering amenities like restaurants or meeting rooms.

Read more:

Humpty's Restaurants International Inc. (HMP-TSX) Today Released Financial Results for the 6-Month Period Ending June 30, 2009

We are pleased to present the Second Quarter Report for Humpty’s Restaurants International Inc. (H.R.I.I.) for the six months ended June 30, 2009. Net income for the period decreased significantly by 57.1% ($100,332 vs. $233,684) from the same fiscal period that ended June 30, 2008. With these negative results from the Second Quarter the net income for the six-month period that ended June 30, 2009 decreased by 5.0% ($311,636 vs. net income $327,964 in fiscal 2008)

Read more:

Iberostar closes Jamaican propertyv

Forced to temporarily close the doors to one of his three Montego Bay resorts, Iberostar Rose Hall's Managing Director Philipp Hofer said he had no option but to take the difficult decision to send 320 of his employees home.Hofer, who heads Iberostar's Rose Hall Beach & Spa Resort complex, said yesterday that as of next Tuesday, the positions all the staff who were employed to Rose Hall Beach Hotel One would be made redundant as a result of the worldwide economic challenges affecting his operation.

Read more:

Hotels' charges for Internet irk some

Frequent business traveler Randall Blinn refuses to stay at hotels that charge for Internet access.
"It really irritates me that the more expensive hotels charge for Internet access when the inexpensive hotels provide it for free," says Blinn, a computer consultant in Louisville.

Read more:

Chicago Hotels, union far apart as contract expires

A contract covering 6,000 workers at 30 downtown hotels expired at midnight Monday, and labor and management remain far apart, according to Unite-Here Local 1.
The talks come in the wake of industry layoffs here and as the hotels continue to face a sickly economy.

Read more:

Benihana Inc. Reports Fiscal First Quarter 2010 Results

For the fiscal first quarter 2010, Company-wide comparable restaurant sales were (10.1%), comprised of (13.1%) at Benihana Teppanyaki, 3.5% at RA Sushi, and (14.8%) at Haru. During the period, Benihana Teppanyaki represented approximately 66.2% of consolidated restaurant sales, while RA Sushi and Haru accounted for 23.2% and 10.6% of consolidated restaurant sales, respectively. There were a total of 1,532 store-operating weeks in the fiscal first quarter 2010 compared to 1,348 store-operating weeks in the fiscal first quarter 2009.

Read more:

Top iPhone Travel Apps

The mobile platform is reshaping the way consumers plan, book and consume travel. In particular, the impact of the iPhone on the travel experience is and will continue to be highly disruptive and progressive. Apple's iPhone is a new breed of mobile device with distinct features that differentiate it from competitors' products. The major difference is that, despite its name, the iPhone is much more than a phone

Read more: (it's the second posting down)

MGM MIRAGE TAPS NAME POWER IN GLOBAL PUSH

Hotel and casino giant MGM Mirage is looking to expand its global empire -- with other companies footing the bill.
As the economy gouges gambling profits and cuts casinos' borrowing capacity, MGM Mirage has cut 10 new franchising deals to manage hotels abroad without spending on land or development

Read more: