Monday, December 13, 2010
Ashford Hospitality Trust Announces Offering of 7.5 Million Shares of Common Stock
(Hospitality Business News) December 13, 2010 - Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) today announced that it commenced an underwritten public offering of 7.5 million shares of its common stock. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering. Ashford intends to use the net proceeds to repay a portion of its outstanding borrowings under its senior credit facility, although it may also use a portion of the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including, without limitation, financing future hotel-related investments, capital expenditures and working capital or repayment of other debt or maturing obligations as they become due. Ashford will grant the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.125 million shares to cover over-allotments, if any.
Moving Violations: In Chicago, Cooking and Driving Don't Mix
CHICAGO—Tiffany Kurtz was cruising the downtown streets here in her powder-blue van when a group of women flagged her down.
She punched her hazard lights on, pulled into a loading zone and began selling her wares. Within minutes, a police officer rolled up with his lights flashing.
"We're stopping the sale of cupcakes," she recalls him saying, before he handed her a ticket and shooed her away.
Food trucks—essentially restaurants on wheels—have taken off in cities such as Los Angeles and New York, spurred by the weak economy, trendy fare and the proliferation of social media, like Twitter. Food & Wine magazine voted an L.A. food-truck chef one of its "Best New Chefs" of 2010 and the Food Network has a show devoted to such vendors. But in Chicago, one of the nation's most progressive culinary cities, the trucks are held back by restrictive rules and operate in a legal twilight zone.
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She punched her hazard lights on, pulled into a loading zone and began selling her wares. Within minutes, a police officer rolled up with his lights flashing.
"We're stopping the sale of cupcakes," she recalls him saying, before he handed her a ticket and shooed her away.
Food trucks—essentially restaurants on wheels—have taken off in cities such as Los Angeles and New York, spurred by the weak economy, trendy fare and the proliferation of social media, like Twitter. Food & Wine magazine voted an L.A. food-truck chef one of its "Best New Chefs" of 2010 and the Food Network has a show devoted to such vendors. But in Chicago, one of the nation's most progressive culinary cities, the trucks are held back by restrictive rules and operate in a legal twilight zone.
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Blackstone hotels firm restructures $633mln debt
LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - A European hotel company owned by Blackstone (BX.N) property funds has restructured 480 million euros ($633 million) of its debt, extending the maturity by five years to ride out a rough patch for the hotel industry.
The restructuring includes a new 150 million-euro mezzanine loan, fully placed with Morgan Stanley (MS.N) Real Estate Fund (MSREF) VII Global, a statement from Blackstone and its bankers Citi (C.N) and ING Real Estate Finance (ING.AS) said on Monday.
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The restructuring includes a new 150 million-euro mezzanine loan, fully placed with Morgan Stanley (MS.N) Real Estate Fund (MSREF) VII Global, a statement from Blackstone and its bankers Citi (C.N) and ING Real Estate Finance (ING.AS) said on Monday.
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49ers legends Montana, Eddie DeBartolo plan luxury hotel
Former 49ers great Joe Montana and ex-owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. are two of the most storied names in franchise history. Now they're maneuvering to participate in the 49ers' most ambitious real estate venture ever: the $937 million stadium the team hopes to build in Santa Clara for the 2015 season.
Montana, DeBartolo and a third business partner, Connecticut developer Kurt Wittek, want to build a luxury hotel, sports bar and entertainment complex on two parcels of city-owned land adjacent to the site of the planned 68,500-seat stadium. The Hall of Fame quarterback and his partners capped a series of meetings with Santa Clara officials with a written request last week for an 18-month exclusive negotiating agreement to complete a deal.City officials said Sunday that the City Council won't take any action until after the new year. But the concept proposed by Montana and his partners has significant support on the council, and it appears to fit with Santa Clara's long-standing plan to develop land around the stadium site as an entertainment district.
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Chesapeake Lodging Trust Announces a DefinitiveAgreement to Acquire the Le Meridien San Francisco
(Hospitality Business News) December 13, 2010 - - Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE:CHSP) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the 360-room Le Meridien San Francisco located in San Francisco, California for a purchase price of $143 million, or approximately $397,000 per key. The Company intends to fund the acquisition with a $60 million term loan secured by the hotel that is expected to be funded at the closing of the acquisition, a $45 million borrowing under its revolving credit facility, and remaining proceeds from its recent equity offering. Completion of the proposed acquisition is expected before the end of 2010, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Company intends to enter into an agreement with a subsidiary of HEI Hotels and Resorts, the hotel's current operator, to manage the hotel under its current franchise flag.
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The Potential Effect of the Proposed Payroll Tax Reduction
(Hospitality Business News) December 13, 2010 - - By R. Mark Woodworth - - After suffering through the all-time worst year of performance in 2009, U.S.
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Hotel manager stole $5m to cover debt
A County Court has heard a central Victorian hotel manager was struggling with debt when he stole close to $5 million from the pub's betting agency. David John Keogh, 43, faced court today and admitted to 12 charges. The thefts happened throughout 2008 when Keogh was running the One Tree Hill Hotel in Spring Gully. He issued more than 1,000 betting vouchers without payment to help cover the hotel's bills, while the majority of the funds were then put back through the agency to settle the account. Defence lawyers told the court Keogh had treated the funds as an overdraft and had not used the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
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Sunday, December 12, 2010
Not all going well at Chavez's “Socialist McDonalds”
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has created a fast-food restaurant chain to promote his brand of Socialism, according to a top-secret diplomatic cable released from Wikileaks in the Cablegate scandal.
The January 19 cable, reprinted by The Atlantic, discusses the December 22 opening of Arepea Socialista, a sort of Socialist answer to Capitalist fast food chains. The restaurant serves arepeas, a thick type of tortilla sandwich, for about a quarter of the price of competing commercial enterprises, using ingredients and other products from government-owned companies. The diplomat who visited the place noted the fast service, and that customers only paid for what they ate after their meal. Staff said they served some 1,200 customers a day.
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The January 19 cable, reprinted by The Atlantic, discusses the December 22 opening of Arepea Socialista, a sort of Socialist answer to Capitalist fast food chains. The restaurant serves arepeas, a thick type of tortilla sandwich, for about a quarter of the price of competing commercial enterprises, using ingredients and other products from government-owned companies. The diplomat who visited the place noted the fast service, and that customers only paid for what they ate after their meal. Staff said they served some 1,200 customers a day.
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Hackers Steal McDonald's Customer Data
McDonald's is working with law enforcement authorities after malicious hackers broke into another company's databases and stole information about an undetermined number of the fast food chain's customers.
McDonald's has also alerted potentially affected customers via e-mail and through a message on its website.
"We have been informed by one of our long-time business partners, Arc Worldwide, that limited customer information collected in connection with certain McDonald's websites and promotions was obtained by an unauthorized third party," a McDonald's spokeswoman said via e-mail on Saturday.
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McDonald's has also alerted potentially affected customers via e-mail and through a message on its website.
"We have been informed by one of our long-time business partners, Arc Worldwide, that limited customer information collected in connection with certain McDonald's websites and promotions was obtained by an unauthorized third party," a McDonald's spokeswoman said via e-mail on Saturday.
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A new way to accept credit cards
(Hospitality Business News) December 12, 2010 - - Square is a new system that allows anyone to accept credit cards. Square works with any US-issued credit, debit, pre-paid, or gift card with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover logo. Perhaps the US only restriction will be a hindrance in some major cities so you should be aware of this.
Square's card processing fees are:
· 2.75% + 15¢ for swiped transactions
· 3.5% + 15¢ for keyed-in transactions
There are no activation, gateway, monthly, early termination, or hidden fees.
Square can currently be used with the following devises
Apple iOS
· iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4
· iPod touch (2nd generation or later)
· iPad
Google Android
· Motorola Droid, Droid X
· HTC Nexus One, Droid Incredible, Evo, Desire, Hero (With Android 2.X)
· Samsung Galaxy S Series, Intercept
· LG Ally
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Istithmar weighs up sell-off
A source at Dubai World, the parent company of Istithmar, confirmed talks had taken place but said no deal was imminent and added it would sell only at an attractive price. It said it would otherwise strive to hold on to the site, reckoned to be one of the country's most valuable.
The site could fetch as much as 10 billion rand (Dh5.36bn) with potential buyers including Growthpoint, a publicly traded South African property investment company, among those interested in the asset, according to a person familiar with the situation. "People are pushing to buy [the V&A Waterfront]," said a Dubai World source familiar with the discussions. "But we aren't pushing a sale. There is always a price difference … We are just looking at maximising returns," he said.
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Big market for low-cost hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Budget hotels in the Dubai and Abu Dhabi stand to be the big winners from the growth in stopover traffic and the rapidly expanding low-cost carrier business, analysts and hoteliers say.
As a result, there is room for much more budget accommodation in the UAE and the wider region, as the phenomenon of jumping on a cheap flight and taking several short breaks a year, which is now well-established in Europe, starts to take off in the region.
A number of budget properties have launched in Dubai this year, including an easyHotel, and new Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express lodgings next to Dubai International Airport.
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As a result, there is room for much more budget accommodation in the UAE and the wider region, as the phenomenon of jumping on a cheap flight and taking several short breaks a year, which is now well-established in Europe, starts to take off in the region.
A number of budget properties have launched in Dubai this year, including an easyHotel, and new Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express lodgings next to Dubai International Airport.
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Britain's top tax official enjoys £6,000 four-night stay at luxury hotel in India
Britain's top tax official Dave Hartnett has enjoyed a four-night stay in a luxury hotel in India – at a cost of thousands of pounds to the taxpayer – to attend a conference at which he delivered a speech lasting just half an hour.
Mr Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for Tax at Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, flew business class to Mumbai to participate in the low-key conference largely for Indian accountants and tax officials.
He was even joined on the trip by another senior executive, Melissa Tatton, who is the HMRC’s Deputy Director of Business International.
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Mr Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for Tax at Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, flew business class to Mumbai to participate in the low-key conference largely for Indian accountants and tax officials.
He was even joined on the trip by another senior executive, Melissa Tatton, who is the HMRC’s Deputy Director of Business International.
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Make way for the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino
Even before The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opens Wednesday, gaming industry analysts are saying that to succeed financially the hotel-casino will have to offer something different from what is found at other properties along the Strip.
The Cosmopolitan also needs to generate income for Deutsche Bank AG, which acquired the property out of foreclosure in 2008 and spent $3.9 billion to complete the 2,995-room hotel-casino.
The Cosmopolitan also needs to generate income for Deutsche Bank AG, which acquired the property out of foreclosure in 2008 and spent $3.9 billion to complete the 2,995-room hotel-casino.
"It's important for them to maximize the property's long-term financial potential, no question," said Edward King, managing director of Morgan Stanley's investment banking division.
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