The billionaire Barclay brothers sold their 10 percent stake in the U.K.’s InterContinental Hotels Group Plc for about 335 million pounds ($520 million) after the hotelier’s shares rose 88 percent in a year.
InterContinental fell as much as 8.4 percent in London trading after Barclays Capital sold almost 30 million shares on behalf of Ellerman Corp., a company controlled by David and Frederick Barclay, for 1,120 pence apiece, according to three people familiar with the transaction.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
SF's Worst Restaurants Needed For TV Show
SF is crazy about our restaurants, catapulting chefs into near celebrity status. But there's always going to be a few restaurants, that well, don't quite make the mark. Whether its a gourmet bistro with cardboard pizza crusts, or an pan-Asian cafe heavy handed with the salt-there is now hope for failing restaurant enterprises.
Here's the latest casting call to floundering owners from the producers of Chef Gordon Ramsay's one time BBC, now FOX show, Kitchen Nightmares. "Are you trying to make some green, but still running in the red? Is your food not the best it should be? Or maybe you have a great location, but it doesn't seem to bring in many customers?" They ask restaurateurs who might need a makeover from Ramsay and company.
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Here's the latest casting call to floundering owners from the producers of Chef Gordon Ramsay's one time BBC, now FOX show, Kitchen Nightmares. "Are you trying to make some green, but still running in the red? Is your food not the best it should be? Or maybe you have a great location, but it doesn't seem to bring in many customers?" They ask restaurateurs who might need a makeover from Ramsay and company.
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Restaurants Uncork More Wines by the Glass
Ordering wine by the glass used to mean scant choices and bland options. And only your tastebuds would tell you how long the wine had languished in an open bottle.
That's changed, with restaurants amping up the volume on what's available by the glass and making sure that the wines poured are at optimal freshness.
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That's changed, with restaurants amping up the volume on what's available by the glass and making sure that the wines poured are at optimal freshness.
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Starwood Adding Seven Hotels in NYC
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Unveiling an aggressive expansion plan for this year, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Inc. plans to double its New York City portfolio, adding seven hotels in a strategy that raises its flags on one out of every four new rooms slated to debut in 2010.
Starwood currently operates 12 hotels in the city, including the Brooklyn Sheraton which opened in May. The 2010 plan, totaling 1,712 rooms, includes the debut of the Aloft and Element brands in NYC. The openings will result in more than 500 jobs for Manhattan, Long Island City and Brooklyn. Worldwide, the White Plains, N.Y.-based Starwood will open more than 80 hotels in key markets this year.
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Starwood currently operates 12 hotels in the city, including the Brooklyn Sheraton which opened in May. The 2010 plan, totaling 1,712 rooms, includes the debut of the Aloft and Element brands in NYC. The openings will result in more than 500 jobs for Manhattan, Long Island City and Brooklyn. Worldwide, the White Plains, N.Y.-based Starwood will open more than 80 hotels in key markets this year.
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Revenue agents raid 5 hotels for back taxes
ATLANTA -- Georgia Department of Revenue agents seized five Augusta hotels at 8 a.m. today, citing a failure to pay sales taxes and withholding taxes for their employees’ income taxes.
Two of the five have repaid the more than $400,000 owed, according to Revenue Department spokesman Reg Lansberry. The remaining three haven’t as of 11:30 a.m.
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Two of the five have repaid the more than $400,000 owed, according to Revenue Department spokesman Reg Lansberry. The remaining three haven’t as of 11:30 a.m.
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Business Travel Picks Up, Lifting the Hotel Industry
So far the biggest beneficiary is New York, though other cities on the East Coast are starting to report gains as well. And the upscale, full-service hotels that have long been favored by business travelers have benefited more from the upturn in demand than the midlevel brands, industry analysts say.
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Sunday, July 25, 2010
Mario Batali sued by ex-employees
Mario Batali seems to make headlines as often over accusations of misdeeds as he does over his proficiency in the kitchen. Last January he was sued for failing to pay $45,000 in back rent to to the owners of the building that housed his now-defunct seafood restaurant, The John Dory. Then in April, he was accused of discriminatory hiring practices.
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Pig eyes among the wackiest hotel demands
The next time you forget to pack your toothbrush -- again -- hold your head high when requesting a spare from the hotel, confident in the knowledge that someone before you asked for 30 pig eyes on ice.
That's just one of more than 100 extraordinary guest requests documented in an internal Fairmont Hotels document obtained by Postmedia News.
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That's just one of more than 100 extraordinary guest requests documented in an internal Fairmont Hotels document obtained by Postmedia News.
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STR Global: Americas performance for June 2010
LONDON and HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—The Americas region recorded positive results in the three key performance metrics when reported in U.S. dollars for June 2010, according to data compiled by STR and STR Global.
The region’s occupancy rose 7.0 percent to 64.9 percent, average daily rate ended up 1.8 percent to US$100.31, and revenue per available room increased 8.9 percent to US$65.11.
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The region’s occupancy rose 7.0 percent to 64.9 percent, average daily rate ended up 1.8 percent to US$100.31, and revenue per available room increased 8.9 percent to US$65.11.
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STR Global: Asia/Pacific results for June 2010
LONDON—Hotels in the Asia/Pacific region experienced increases in all three key performance metrics for June 2010 when reported in U.S. dollars, according to data compiled by STR Global.
In year-over-year measurements, the Asia/Pacific region’s occupancy rose 14.5 percent to 63.9 percent, average daily rate increased 10.8 percent to US$121.83, and revenue per available room jumped 27.0 percent to US$77.83.
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In year-over-year measurements, the Asia/Pacific region’s occupancy rose 14.5 percent to 63.9 percent, average daily rate increased 10.8 percent to US$121.83, and revenue per available room jumped 27.0 percent to US$77.83.
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STR Global: Europe results for June 2010
“The first half of 2010 showed again a split across Europe in performance”, said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. “Hotels in Western and Northern Europe led the way in ADR improvements (in Euro-terms), whilst Southern and Eastern European hotels struggled to convert the occupancy gains into improved ADR.
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STR Global: MEA results for June 2010
LONDON—The Middle East/Africa region reported favourable results in the three key performance measurements for June 2010 when reported in U.S. dollars, according to data compiled by STR Global.
The region’s occupancy rose 1.7 percent to 59.2 percent, average daily rate increased 14.3 percent to US$151.00, and revenue per available room grew 16.3 percent to US$89.37.
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The region’s occupancy rose 1.7 percent to 59.2 percent, average daily rate increased 14.3 percent to US$151.00, and revenue per available room grew 16.3 percent to US$89.37.
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No dynamite required: Tropicana opts to remodel instead
Along the strip, rumors gallop faster than hot dice scatters on a summer night in July.
That's why guests and employees had been smelling dynamite in the lounges and pits at the Tropicana for years, certainly before the Stardust and the New Frontier got blasted earlier this year. Maybe longer than that; the smart money was saying the Trop, the sad old relic of '50s Vegas Strip action, would be the next to go.
But the smart money was wrong. The Trop will live well into the 21st century because of big remodeling plans.
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That's why guests and employees had been smelling dynamite in the lounges and pits at the Tropicana for years, certainly before the Stardust and the New Frontier got blasted earlier this year. Maybe longer than that; the smart money was saying the Trop, the sad old relic of '50s Vegas Strip action, would be the next to go.
But the smart money was wrong. The Trop will live well into the 21st century because of big remodeling plans.
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Pensacola hotels post gains despite oil spill
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Pensacola-area hotels posted some surprising increases in business last month despite the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Smith Travel Research Inc. says hotel occupancy was up 15.5 percent in June and lodging revenues were up 7 percent.
But tourism officials say those numbers are being fueled not by tourists, but by BP workers, government officials, media crews and a June 15 visit by President Obama.
Ed Schroeder (shray'DER) of the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau says restaurants, shops, night clubs and other retailers benefited little from the bump in room stays
Smith Travel Research Inc. says hotel occupancy was up 15.5 percent in June and lodging revenues were up 7 percent.
But tourism officials say those numbers are being fueled not by tourists, but by BP workers, government officials, media crews and a June 15 visit by President Obama.
Ed Schroeder (shray'DER) of the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau says restaurants, shops, night clubs and other retailers benefited little from the bump in room stays
Saturday, July 24, 2010
China's Chongqing cracks down on local mafia, arrests 46 people
CHONGQING, July 23 (Xinhua) - Police in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality arrested 46 people involved in a mafia-style gang, including a major shareholder of the local Hilton Hotel that was recently targeted by police because of its involvement in prostitution. Two government officials were also arrested.
Peng Zhimin, 47, owner of Qinglong Property Development Co., was arrested on multiple charges including allegedly managing a mafia-style organization, organizing prostitution, crimes of intentional injury, illegal occupation of farmland, and bribery, according to a statement emailed to Xinhua by the municipal public security bureau.
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Peng Zhimin, 47, owner of Qinglong Property Development Co., was arrested on multiple charges including allegedly managing a mafia-style organization, organizing prostitution, crimes of intentional injury, illegal occupation of farmland, and bribery, according to a statement emailed to Xinhua by the municipal public security bureau.
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