Monday, October 25, 2010

Banks Market Hilton, Extended Stay Mortgage Debt

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are marketing bonds tied to debt left over from the 2007 buyout of Hilton Worldwide in the largest sale of commercial-mortgage bonds of 2010.
The $2.66 billion unrated offering matures in as soon as 2.86 years, according to a person familiar with the sale, who declined to be identified because terms aren’t public.

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Hotels Seek Clearer Guidelines for Online Reviews

The 35 million hotel reviews posted on TripAdvisor reveal everything from snooty staff to filthy toilets, and sometimes the reviewer’s overly picky standards.
But those comments can also cross the line between honest criticism and unsubstantiated, inflammatory claims, with potentially damaging consequences for some hotels

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InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Third Quarter Americas RevPAR Growth at annual conference for hotel owners

InterContinental Hotels Group's ("IHG") annual conference for hotel owners in the Americas region commences this week. Details of revenue per available room (RevPAR) for IHG's brands in the Americas for July, August and September 2010, for the third quarter 2010 and for the nine month period to 30 September 2010 will be disclosed at this conference and are tabled below.
RevPAR growth in the Americas region accelerated through the third quarter to 6.7% driven by occupancy growth of 3.8 percentage points and rate growth of 0.8% as business travellers continued to return in greater numbers. Rate growth improved through the quarter.
Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express RevPAR growth accelerated in the third quarter driven by the success of the relaunched hotels which are strongly outperforming those hotels that have not completed the relaunch. Third quarter RevPAR growth at hotels which completed the relaunch grew by 7.9% at Holiday Inn and 6.8% at Holiday Inn Express. In the US, these hotels now sit at a 36% and 20% RevPAR premium to their respective industry segments.
IHG's full third quarter results will be announced at 7am UK time on 9 November when further commentary will be provided.
 
Americas Comparable RevPAR Growth (constant currency)July 2010August 2010Sept 2010Third Quarter 2010Nine months to 30 Sept 2010
InterContinental13.8%9.7%11.7%11.8%8.1%
Crowne Plaza5.1%5.4%6.0%5.5%4.6%
Holiday Inn6.1%5.6%7.3%6.3%3.0%
 - relaunched (557 hotels)7.9%4.7%
- not relaunched (240 hotels)2.2%(1.1)%
Holiday Inn Express6.3%6.7%6.3%6.4%3.3%
- relaunched (1,347 hotels) 6.8%3.8%
 - not relaunched (244 hotels)3.9%0.0%
Staybridge Suites4.7%9.7%9.9%8.0%6.3%
Candlewood Suites4.6%6.5%7.6%6.2%1.8%
Hotel Indigo9.2%10.7%15.7%11.8%9.6%
Total Americas6.4%6.5%7.3%6.7%3.9%

Sunday, October 24, 2010

New Zelands Restaurant Brands Shares Gain after First-Half Profit Jumps

Restaurant Brands New Zealand Ltd., an owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks franchises, rose the most in a month in Wellington trading after it said first-half profit gained 52 percent.
Net income rose to NZ$13.5 million ($10 million) in the six months ended Sept. 13 from NZ$8.9 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. The stock rose 2.4 percent, the biggest gain since Sept. 21.
Restaurant Brands’ share price has jumped almost 54 percent since Jan. 1, becoming the best performer on the benchmark NZX 50 stock index. The company increased its first-half dividend to 7 cents a share from 4.5 cents and reaffirmed that full-year profit excluding non-trading items will rise to a range of NZ$24 million to NZ$26 million.

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Domino's Pizza Announces Third Quarter 2010 Financial Results

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ), the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, today announced strong results for the third quarter ended September 12, 2010. The Company's domestic same store sales rose 11.7% during the third quarter versus the year-ago period on sustained positive consumer response to its improved pizza and the effectiveness of its advertising. Robust sales volume also drove positive results in the Company's domestic supply chain business. The International division continued its strong performance with same store sales growth of 7.0% in the third quarter, marking the 67th consecutive quarter of positive same store sales growth for the division. The Company repurchased $20.0 million of its debt during the quarter, for a total of $289.6 million in repurchases of its fixed rate notes since the beginning of 2009.

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McDonald's Third Quarter Earnings Rise 12% on Strong Global Sales

OAK BROOK, Ill., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) today announced strong results for the third quarter driven by growth across all areas of the world.
"McDonald's customer focus, menu innovation and the ongoing modernization of our restaurants continue to drive our business momentum," said Chief Executive Officer Jim Skinner.   "For the third quarter, we grew comparable sales and customer visits around the world and delivered increased profitability.  As we continue to invest in our business and extend the McDonald's brand, I am confident that we will create even more ways to satisfy consumers looking for high quality, great tasting food that's convenient and affordable."

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Will Beer Succeed as the New Buzz at Starbucks?

Lately Starbucks (SBUX) has been trying to change things up. They finally got free Wi-Fi with free digital content, they are trying to slow down the process of making drinks (which seems to me about the equivalent of clipping a bird’s wings), and now they’re talking about adding booze to the menu. Irish coffee, anyone?

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When Alan Parker moved Whitbread from beer to hotels no-one got it, they do now

After defying his critics and reshaping former brewer Whitbread into a focused budget hotels and coffee shops group, is Alan Parker planning a quieter life after he retires on his 64th birthday next month? It doesn't look like it.
"The day after I retire, I fly to Dubai for two days of meetings," says the departing chief executive.

"I then fly back, fly to Paris for another board meeting, come back and drive to Devon, where I'm chairman of the board of governors at my old school. I hope it's not always going to be like that."

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Saturday, October 23, 2010

Fort Myers woman reports theft of thousands in cash while she was staying at motel

A 71-year-old Fort Myers woman reported that she left between $20,000 and $100,000 in cash behind in a hotel room.

The woman was staying at the Value Place motel in May while she and her husband were having their home remodeled.

She reported the missing cash to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.

According to the incident report, the woman said some of the cash was in a plastic Walmart bag and envelopes from Bank of America and Wachovia Bank.

The victim also told investigators that she kept the cash stored under blankets in the hotel room’s closet.

She didn’t realize she left the money in the room until after checking out and when she called management, they told her that her room had already been cleaned and that no money was found, the report states.

She also told investigators that she didn’t report the incident because she was embarrassed.

Hyatt pledges financial support for Bermuda resort

A Park Hyatt hotel in St. George’s has moved a step closer to becoming reality, with Hyatt throwing its financial weight behind the project.
The Park Hyatt group has agreed to invest heavily in the $300m scheme and become a stakeholder.
The move paves the way for developers Bazarian International to push ahead with the project, which will see a 100-room hotel, condominiums and villas built on the site of the old Club Med.

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Goldman selling 3 NYC hotels

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s real estate investment funds are marketing three hotels in New York City, according to sources who have been approached to purchase them.
The Whitehall Funds are trying to sell the Park Central New York Hotel, Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel and the Sofitel New York.

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European hotel chain heads to Manhattan

Wyndham-owned hotel chain TRYP is to open a property in New York, the firm confirmed October 21, marking its first expansion into North America.
TRYP, which is predominantly present in several European cities such as Paris, Lisbon, Frankfurt and Madrid, is the latest chain to announce a new property in Manhattan.

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Chaperone for sex addicts tops odd hotel requests list

London: Check out the travelling oddities! A list of strange requests that hotels get from their guests has revealed that asking for a chaperone for a group of sex addicts takes the cake.
Hotel chain Best Western revealed the list, which also included a group of animal-lovers requesting reiki classes for their pets, and another asking for twin rooms, so guests and their dogs could each have their own bed.

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Brothels Used as Hotels for Korean Grand Prix’s

Brothels are being used as hotels for F1 staff because the Korean Grand Prix does not have enough hotel rooms available. Although major F1 staff members such as drivers and team bosses have been able to secure normal rooms, the rest have not. They are forced to stay in $225 a night make-shift hotels which are really brothels.
Hot Wheels F1 Formula One Ferrari Felipe Massa 1/24The unfortunate F1 staff members are complaining about the condition of their rooms at the brothels. Some people say that the conditions go beyond unsanitary since there have been discoveries of “piles of used condoms beneath the beds.”

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Fort Lee celebrates construction start on 1,000-room hotel

FORT LEE - With heavy equipment rumbling in the background and a high-rise stairway looming above, Army and civilian leaders gathered to celebrate the formal kickoff of one of the biggest construction projects ever in the Tri-Cities.
About 80 people assembled Friday morning on the edge of the 26-acre parcel on Mahone Avenue near the new Army Logistics University to see the formal groundbreaking for a long-awaited 1,000-room Army Lodging facility. Actual construction began several weeks ago on the 530,000-square-foot, $120 million military hotel, which is expected to open sometime in 2012.

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