June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Three men went on trial in London accused of trying to sell the city’s landmark Ritz Hotel and Casino even though they didn’t own it.
Conn Farrell, 57, Patrick Dolan, 68, and Anthony Lee, 49, are accused of trying to sell the hotel, owned by billionaire British financiers David and Frederick Barclay, to a property development company for 250 million pounds ($359 million). That price was a “gross undervaluation” of the property, according to a prosecutor at the trial, which began today at Southwark Crown Court in London. The men have all pleaded not guilty.
Read More:
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Pebblebrook buys first hotel since going public
(Reuters) - Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (PEB.N) said it bought the Doubletree Bethesda Hotel and Executive Meeting Center for $67.1 million, the first deal for the company that was formed to take advantage of acquisition opportunities in the lodging space.
Pebblebrook said it funded the acquisition of the 269-room, upscale hotel located in downtown Bethesda, through its initial public offering.
Read More:
Pebblebrook said it funded the acquisition of the 269-room, upscale hotel located in downtown Bethesda, through its initial public offering.
Read More:
FelCor Repaying $177 Million of Debt at Substantial Discount
IRVING, Texas, Jun 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated /quotes/comstock/13*!fch/quotes/nls/fch (FCH 5.40, -0.18, -3.14%) today announced that it has agreed to repay $177 million of secured debt at a significant discount to the principal balance. The two loans bear interest at LIBOR plus 155 basis points and are scheduled to mature in May 2012. The loans will be settled for $130 million, plus accrued interest, representing a 27% discount to the principal balance. The two hotels that secure the loans have a combined 921 guest rooms and more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space. The payment, approximately $141,000 per room, will be funded with cash on hand and reflects a substantial discount to replacement cost.
Read More:
Read More:
Burger King says currency translation will hurt 4Q
Restaurant operator Burger King Holdings Inc. said Thursday current currency translation will hurt its revenue.
The company expects foreign exchange translation will cut its earnings per share by a penny to 2 cents per share in the fiscal fourth quarter. Previously, the company said currency translation would benefit earnings
Read More:
The company expects foreign exchange translation will cut its earnings per share by a penny to 2 cents per share in the fiscal fourth quarter. Previously, the company said currency translation would benefit earnings
Read More:
iPad replaces menu in hotel restaurant
Can iPads replace waiters and waitresses? We'll soon find out. A hotel restaurant in Australia last week ditched its printed menus and replaced them with iPads, giving us yet another peak at what the hotel of the future might look like.
Read More:
Read More:
Rome Plans Hotel Tax as Credit Rating Under Siege
June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Rome is considering a hotel tax on the 9 million visitors to the Eternal City each year, a revenue- raising measure that may hurt tourism in the Italian capital and put further pressure on its credit rating.
Read More:
Read More:
Hotel investor buys Dallas Le Meridien out of foreclosure
HEI Hotels & Resorts of Connecticut has bought the 258-room Le Meridien Dallas North Hotel near the Galleria shopping mall.
HEI gained title to the 9-year-old hotel at last week's foreclosure auction. Earlier, the investor had bought the debt on the property at 13402 Noel Road.
The Far North Dallas hotel acquisition is HEI's fourth hotel purchase in 2010.
Read More:
HEI gained title to the 9-year-old hotel at last week's foreclosure auction. Earlier, the investor had bought the debt on the property at 13402 Noel Road.
The Far North Dallas hotel acquisition is HEI's fourth hotel purchase in 2010.
Read More:
Big money, plans for Joie de Vivre hotels
At a time when "hotel" and "foreclosure" have become a fast word association, a string of Bay Area boutique hotels is getting tens of millions of dollars in new capital in order to expand.
San Francisco's Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the country, has entered a "strategic capital partnership" with Geolo Capital, the private equity investment arm of the John A. Pritzker family (yes, the Pritzkers of Hyatt Hotels fame), which will take a controlling interest in Joie de Vivre's 33 Bay Area-operated hotels, including the Galleria Park, Hotel Drisco and Hotel Vitale in San Francisco.
Read More:
San Francisco's Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the country, has entered a "strategic capital partnership" with Geolo Capital, the private equity investment arm of the John A. Pritzker family (yes, the Pritzkers of Hyatt Hotels fame), which will take a controlling interest in Joie de Vivre's 33 Bay Area-operated hotels, including the Galleria Park, Hotel Drisco and Hotel Vitale in San Francisco.
Read More:
Monday, June 7, 2010
Wyndham Hotel Group to Acquire Tryp Hotel Brand from Sol Meliá
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (June 7, 2010) –Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) today announced
that its Wyndham Hotel Group business unit has agreed to acquire the Tryp® hotel brand from
Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.
In addition, Wyndham will enter into a license agreement with the current 91 Tryp hotels located
throughout Europe and South America that will continue to be owned, operated, managed or
licensed by Sol Meliá. Wyndham Hotel Group and Sol Meliá will form a strategic alliance to
work together to develop the Tryp brand globally and market the hotels cooperatively through
their central reservations systems and loyalty programs
Read More:
that its Wyndham Hotel Group business unit has agreed to acquire the Tryp® hotel brand from
Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.
In addition, Wyndham will enter into a license agreement with the current 91 Tryp hotels located
throughout Europe and South America that will continue to be owned, operated, managed or
licensed by Sol Meliá. Wyndham Hotel Group and Sol Meliá will form a strategic alliance to
work together to develop the Tryp brand globally and market the hotels cooperatively through
their central reservations systems and loyalty programs
Read More:
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Hotels connecting dots to online reviewers
An increasing number of image-conscious properties have begun connecting the dots between unbylined write-ups that appear on such popular travel sites as TripAdvisor or Yelp, and your personal information, such as your loyalty program preferences.
If you write a positive review, you might expect a reward from the hotel -- a gift basket or a discount on your next stay. Pan a property, and you could get a concerned e-mail from the general manager asking you to reconsider your review. Or even a black mark against you in the chain's guest database.
Read More:
If you write a positive review, you might expect a reward from the hotel -- a gift basket or a discount on your next stay. Pan a property, and you could get a concerned e-mail from the general manager asking you to reconsider your review. Or even a black mark against you in the chain's guest database.
Read More:
USDA Olive Oil Standard Goes Into Effect October 25th
The USDA published a standard for olive oil in the Federal Register on April 28, 2010. The standard will take effect on October 25, 2010. The standard is the result of a petition filed by the California Olive Oil Council in August 2005. Patricia Darragh, executive director of the California Olive Oil Council told the L.A. Times that the new standard "will put an end to marketing terms that are confusing to the consumer, such as light, extra light — language that really doesn't meant too much."
Read More:
Read More:
Grill Concepts CEO Philip Gay steps down
LOS ANGELES (June 5, 2010) Grill Concepts Inc., parent company to 28 restaurants under the Daily Grill and Grill on the Alley brands, said Friday its president and chief executive Philip Gay has stepped down and has been replaced by company co-founder Robert Spivak.
The shift in leadership for the company was effective June 2. Gay’s departure was not explained in the brief statement from the company.
In a phone interview, Gay said he was looking for a new challenge, “something I can grow even more than I did Grill Concepts.” He said it was too soon to disclose his plans.
Read More:
The shift in leadership for the company was effective June 2. Gay’s departure was not explained in the brief statement from the company.
In a phone interview, Gay said he was looking for a new challenge, “something I can grow even more than I did Grill Concepts.” He said it was too soon to disclose his plans.
Read More:
Quinlan hotel empire hangs on debt deal
Six years ago Derek Quinlan, the former tax inspector from Dublin, outbid one of the richest men in the world, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Quinlan and his partners bought a clutch of London’s smartest hotels — the Savoy, Claridge’s, Berkeley and Connaught — for £750m, outflanking the Saudi billionaire. It was a deal that epitomised the era of easy money.
Read More:
Quinlan and his partners bought a clutch of London’s smartest hotels — the Savoy, Claridge’s, Berkeley and Connaught — for £750m, outflanking the Saudi billionaire. It was a deal that epitomised the era of easy money.
Read More:
Illegal hotels like 'Jazz on Times Square' raise red flags for City Hall
City Hall should be able to see that the building at 341 W. 51st St. is operating illegally: There are literally red flags all over it.
The flags call it "Jazz on Times Square," a cheap hotel for backpackers and foreign students. And there are plenty of other red flags inside the city's files.
Read More:
The flags call it "Jazz on Times Square," a cheap hotel for backpackers and foreign students. And there are plenty of other red flags inside the city's files.
Read More:
Hotel wars: Drama and intrigue behind the hospitality trade
Reporting from New York — — When Ross Klein arrived at Hilton Worldwide's Beverly Hills headquarters to create a new luxury chain, he was the "it" guy in the hottest segment of the lodging business.
A former retail marketing whiz, Klein had trained his fashion sense on the buttoned-down hotel industry, helping turn the W chain into a hip money-maker for its parent, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. Hilton lacked a product to compete. So it lured Klein away from Starwood in 2008 by offering him a chance to build a brand from scratch.
Read More:
A former retail marketing whiz, Klein had trained his fashion sense on the buttoned-down hotel industry, helping turn the W chain into a hip money-maker for its parent, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. Hilton lacked a product to compete. So it lured Klein away from Starwood in 2008 by offering him a chance to build a brand from scratch.
Read More:
