It's a classic David and Goliath story: A white-shoe law firm staffed with hundreds of D.C.'s most-powerful lawyers has moved to shutter a hamburger eatery on the grounds that the lawyers didn't like the aroma of cooking meat wafting into their offices.
So far, Goliath is winning.
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Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Morgan Hotel Group signes up for new hotel in Bahamas
Baha Mar announced last night that it has signed"a letter of intent"with Morgans Hotel Group to operate and manage the planned 300-room luxury lifestyle hotel to be included as part of the development.
Baha Mar said in a press release that,"The partnership with Morgans Hotel Group comes following a decision previously announced by Baha Mar to shift its strategy away from aligning with a single family of hotels, towards one that allows it to work with multiple, best-in-class brands".
Baha Mar said Morgans has a long history of revolutionizing the hospitality industry with innovative lodging concepts characterized by personalized service, design-centric ambiance and timeless elegance.
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Baha Mar said in a press release that,"The partnership with Morgans Hotel Group comes following a decision previously announced by Baha Mar to shift its strategy away from aligning with a single family of hotels, towards one that allows it to work with multiple, best-in-class brands".
Baha Mar said Morgans has a long history of revolutionizing the hospitality industry with innovative lodging concepts characterized by personalized service, design-centric ambiance and timeless elegance.
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Sandals all-inclusive model hurts Exuma
Sandals' purchase of the Emerald Bay Resort has not made the economic impact Exuma hoped for, the president of the island's Chamber of Commerce said yesterday, arguing that its all-inclusive nature meant that 'trickle down' and spin-off effects for Bahamian-owned businesses were limited.
Speaking at a press conference to promote the upcoming Exuma Business Outlook Conference, Floyd Armbrister said many Exumians had been "shocked into reality" since the Sandals property re-opened earlier this year, and now recognised that the growth years enjoyed when Emerald Bay was operated under the Four Seasons brand may not return.
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Speaking at a press conference to promote the upcoming Exuma Business Outlook Conference, Floyd Armbrister said many Exumians had been "shocked into reality" since the Sandals property re-opened earlier this year, and now recognised that the growth years enjoyed when Emerald Bay was operated under the Four Seasons brand may not return.
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Sandals eyes new resort purchase
Sandals is eyeing the purchase of another Exuma-based resort from receivership, this time the $110 million Grand Isle Villas Resort, Tribune Business can reveal, the situation having caused "immediate panic" and a "total sense of shock" on the island.
The all-inclusive resort chain would be an obvious purchaser of the 78-unit property, given that it sits at the heart of the Emerald Bay resort, which Sandals purchased from a different set of receivers in late 2009 for around $25 million.
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The all-inclusive resort chain would be an obvious purchaser of the 78-unit property, given that it sits at the heart of the Emerald Bay resort, which Sandals purchased from a different set of receivers in late 2009 for around $25 million.
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Detroit Hotel Owner owes State$1M+ in taxes
The state of Michigan has left a $1 million bill on the pillow of former Hotel Pontchartrain owner Atul Bisaria.
The hotelier, whose time in Detroit was marked by guest complaints and a trail of unpaid bills owed to contractors who renovated the aging landmark, was recently slapped with a $1 million lien by the state for unpaid taxes.
The hotel, renamed the Riverside Hotel, closed in August 2009 after the company, Shubh Hotels Detroit LLC, defaulted on a $30 million mortgage.
Located at 2 Washington Blvd., across the street from Cobo Center, it was downtown's first major hotel to close amid a national wave of distressed properties.
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Strike Begins at Hilton Hawaiian Village
Unionized Hilton Hawaiian Village workers went out on a five-day strike in Waikiki this morning.
The strike by UNITE HERE Local 5 began at 4 a.m. with about 40 picketers at the two main entrances to the hotel off Kalia Road and Ala Moana Boulevard.
More workers arrived later in the morning and put up picket lines at the service and bus entrances off Paoa Road.
BMB Says It Bid $4 Billion for Atlantis Resort Owner Kerzner
BMB Group, a firm representing Malaysian investors, offered to pay as much as $4 billion for Kerzner International Holdings Ltd., the hotel and casino company that built Atlantis in the Bahamas and Dubai, said BMB founder Rayo Withanage.
The firm’s BMB Advisors Malaysia Ltd. unit sent a letter on Oct. 11 to Sol Kerzner, founder of Kerzner International, offering to pay $3.4 billion to $4 billion for his Bahamas-based company, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg News.
BMB clients in Malaysia are putting up cash for the bid, Withanage said in a telephone interview from New York. They are attracted by the Atlantis properties, he said. Read More:
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Fairmont Hotel Drama Gets Happy Ending For College Students
Yesterday, we brought you the story of 128 Washington University students whose reservations at the Fairmont Millennium in downtown Chicago had been canceled and relocated 15 miles away to an airport Sheraton. We're happy to report that the situation appears to have been resolved, without much bloodshed.
After being told by Fairmont that their contract had been canceled because of overbooking and that the nearest available rooms to downtown would be out in O'Hare country (which, if you know Chicago, isn't exactly a quick jaunt to downtown), the students went about finding their own accommodations.Read More:
Supertel Hospitality, Inc. Announces Sale of Three Missouri Economy Hotels for $2.6 Million
NORFOLK, NE, Oct 13, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Supertel Hospitality, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!sppr/quotes/nls/sppr (SPPR 1.36, +0.04, +3.03%) , a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns 108 hotels in 23 states, announced that it closed on the sale of three hotels on October 12, 2010. The three economy hotels are the 45-room Booneslick Lodge in Jane, Missouri, the 47-room Booneslick Lodge in Neosho, Missouri and the 58-room Super 8 hotel in Neosho, Missouri. Combined gross proceeds from the sales totaled $2.6 million, the majority of which will be used to reduce company debt.
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Wyndham Continues Expansion With Three New Luxury Hotels in China
PARSIPPANY, NJ, Oct 13, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Following the recent opening of two luxury hotels in the cities of Shanghai and Chengdu, Wyndham Hotel Group /quotes/comstock/13*!wyn/quotes/nls/wyn (WYN 29.27, +0.06, +0.19%) , the world's largest hotel company with nearly 7,200 hotels and 13 brands, today announced its continued expansion in China with management agreements for three new Wyndham Hotels and Resorts(R) properties in Boao, located in south China's Hainan Island province.
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Workers begin 6 day strike at S.F. Hilton
About 850 workers at San Francisco's largest hotel made good on their strike vote last month and walked off the job today in a six-day protest of what they say are unfair contract proposals by management.
The Hilton Union Square workers are among about 9,000 San Francisco hotel employees who have been without new contracts since August 2009. The Hilton workers approved a temporary strike on Sept. 15.
Housekeepers, doormen, bellhops, and kitchen and front desk staff will be honoring the strike and picketing outside the hotel 24 hours a day until 4 a.m. Tuesday, union spokeswoman Riddhi Mehta-Neugebauer said.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Rates rise 11% in Nassau Bahamas
Hotels in Nassau/Paradise Island saw their average daily room rates increase by 11 per cent during the 2010 second quarter, but the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA) president warned not to read too much into those figures, pointing out that this had been matched by cost increases with the sector currently in the middle of its traditionally weakest period.
Robert Sands told Tribune Business that when it came to assessing Bahamian industry performance it was impossible to "look at just one side of the scale", pointing out that besides costs, indicators such as average occupancy and total revenues also needed to be factored in.
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Robert Sands told Tribune Business that when it came to assessing Bahamian industry performance it was impossible to "look at just one side of the scale", pointing out that besides costs, indicators such as average occupancy and total revenues also needed to be factored in.
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McRib sandwiches coming back
Before traveling to visit his parents in Nebraska last winter, Jeremy Duensing consulted what he always checks before a trip: the "McRib Locator" website.
To his delight, he found a McDonald's restaurant near Omaha that, unlike most of the burger chain's 14,000 U.S. restaurants, had the McRib on its menu. He bought six of the pork sandwiches, ate one right away at the restaurant, and carried the rest home to Burnsville, Minn., in an ice-packed cooler.
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To his delight, he found a McDonald's restaurant near Omaha that, unlike most of the burger chain's 14,000 U.S. restaurants, had the McRib on its menu. He bought six of the pork sandwiches, ate one right away at the restaurant, and carried the rest home to Burnsville, Minn., in an ice-packed cooler.
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NEWH The Hospitality Industry Network Announces 2011 NEWH Leadership Conference, January 13-16, 2011
(Hospitality Business News) Orlando, Florida—NEWH The Hospitality Industry Network, the not-for-profit business networking and education organization in hospitality, will host its biennial NEWH Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, January 13-16, 2011, at Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando®. Themed “Catch the Wave,” this international hospitality conference will focus on a positive message for leaders—how to capture new business, state-of-the-art hospitality developments and trends, and sustainable practices. For the first time, the NEWH Leadership Conference will colocate with NEWH Regional Trade Show Orlando, to also be held January 13 at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, offering conference attendees the opportunity to view products and services for hospitality design and operations, and network with international and Orlando-based attendees. Orlando is a market of globally renowned tourist destinations and more than 125,000 hotel rooms serving millions of domestic and international travelers each year.www.newh.org.
The NEWH Leadership Conference attracts hundreds of leading hospitality professionals from the U.S., Canada, and
the U.K. Attendees represent hospitality service professions including architecture, interior design, purchasing, supply,
contract manufacturing, development, and logistics, plus hotel and restaurant management, and brand leadership. The
conference aims to strengthen personal and professional leadership skills and industry knowledge among NEWH
leaders, members, and industry constituents by offering fresh business perspectives and strategies. Ultimately, the
conference serves to fulfill the NEWH mission of education, networking, and scholarship in hospitality.
“There will be brainstorming sessions, expert presentations, thoughtful discussions, mentoring, student and
professional recognition, exclusive industry knowledge, membership-building ideas, and plenty of opportunity for
strategic networking in a friendly relaxed business casual setting,” says Andy Schaidler, who serves as Director of
NEWH Leadership Conferences, a volunteer position. NEWH Leadership Conference keynote presentations and
education topics for 2011 include State of the Hospitality Industry, Sustainable Hospitality and Ecological Impact,
Social Media Networking/Marketing, Volunteerism and Leadership, plus an NEWH exclusive Owners Roundtable
sponsored by Hospitality Design Magazine on Friday January 14, 2011, featuring key executives from major
international hotel brands.
The conference opens on January 13, 2011, with NEWH Regional Trade Show, and continues with daily education,
networking, and hospitality events through January 16, 2011. The Saturday, January 15, 2011 NEWH Award of
Excellence dinner will honor individuals making significant contributions to the industry and to the organization.
Online registration for NEWH members and non-members is available at
San Diego County leads California in 3Q hotel foreclosures
SAN DIEGO ---- San Diego County led California in the number of hotels foreclosed in the third quarter with 13, followed by Riverside County with a dozen, according to a quarterly survey of distressed hotels in the state.
In California, the 2010 survey for the three-month period ended Sept. 30 showed 529 hotels in default or foreclosure, a 10.7 percent increase from the quarter ended June 30, and a 71.2 percent increase over the third quarter ended a year ago.
The survey was conducted by Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality, a brokerage that specializes in the sale of hotels.
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In California, the 2010 survey for the three-month period ended Sept. 30 showed 529 hotels in default or foreclosure, a 10.7 percent increase from the quarter ended June 30, and a 71.2 percent increase over the third quarter ended a year ago.
The survey was conducted by Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality, a brokerage that specializes in the sale of hotels.
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