Unity House bids $8.5M for former W hotel

A nonprofit organization that serves union workers was the high bidder at a foreclosure auction Tuesday for the Lotus at Diamond Head hotel.
Unity House Inc. bid $8.5 million for the former W Honolulu hotel, outbidding lenders First Hawaiian Bank and Central Pacific Bank at the public auction outside 1st Circuit Court in Honolulu.

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http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/08/17/daily27.html

London restaurants ride out recession

The economic downturn has not dimmed Londoners’ appetite for eating out with fewer restaurants closing in the past year than at any time since 2000 according to the latest edition of Harden’s London Restaurants.
Only 64 London restaurants have closed over the past year which is slightly below the normal annual level while the average price of dining out rose 1.6 per cent to £40.73.

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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6804384.ece

That order taker may be at home

Instead of getting the usual greeting from a restaurant worker shouting over the din of a noisy kitchen, customers who drive through the McDonald's in Sellersburg, Ind., might have their orders taken by a stay-at-home mom in North Dakota.

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http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009908150334

Host Hotels to sell up to $400 mln shares

NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Host Hotels & Resorts (HST.N) plans to sell up to $400 million of shares, which it expects to use for future acquisitions, repaying debt and general purposes, the hotel owner said in a filing on Thursday.
Based on its Wednesday closing price of $9.67, Host, which owns 113 luxury and upper-upscale properties, could sell slightly more than 41 million shares.

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN2051204720090820?rpc=401&

Militants behind Indonesia hotel bombs plotted to shoot Barack Obama

Militants behind the hotel bombings in Jakarta also planned to use snipers to attack Barack Obama’s convoy, according to an intelligence expert.
A link between the suicide bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17, which killed nine people and wounded 53, and funding from a group linked to al-Qaeda is also being investigated, Dynno Chressbon, from the Centre for Intelligence and National Security, said.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6804565.ece

Rotherham seeks minimum price for pubs

Rotherham licensees are being asked to sign up to a “voluntary” code of conduct that includes a form of minimum pricing at £1 per drink.

The code, drawn up by the police and local council with the help of licensees, will also outlaw all-inclusive deals and ensure door prices aren’t connected to the sale of alcohol. It also commits venues to abide by Challenge 21, mirroring “contracts” signed by hosts in Bexley, Kent

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http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/84136

New Issue-Yum Brands sells $500 mln in two parts

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) on Thursday sold$500 million of senior notes in two parts, said IFR, a ThomsonReuters service.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN2055059820090820?rpc=44

Egypt's Travco buys German hotel firm Steigenberger

CAIRO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Egyptian tourist company Travco said on Thursday it had acquired Germany's Steigenberger Hotels as part of efforts to expand its international operations.
Travco, which values its assets in excess of 1.25 billion euros ($1.78 billion), did not disclose a value for the deal, citing an agreement between the two family-owned firms.

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http://in.reuters.com/article/consumerproducts-SP/idINLK69273620090820

Sandals Resorts International Purchases Four Seasons In Great Exuma, Bahamas

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Sandals Resorts International (SRI), parent company of Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts, The Royal Plantation Collection and Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts, today announced the purchase of the recently shuttered Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma at Emerald Bay for an undisclosed sum. According to Sandals Resorts Founder and Chairman, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, the 500-acre property, which features a championship Greg Norman golf course and world-class marina, is set to become a Sandals Resort and will be called Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas. Following certain enhancements customary to the Sandals Resorts brand, including an expansive new pool complex and additional dining establishments, the resort will open January 22, 2010.

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http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-20-2009/0005081017&EDATE=

California's $19 luxury hotel room without a bed

Destination California is not its usual robust self. Hotel foreclosures are up, room occupancy is down, and according to a report released by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAECD), "tourist activity literally fell off the table" at the end of last year. The picture is notably bleak in San Diego, where the average daily room rate fell by 13.1% in the first half of 2009.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/aug/20/19-dollar-hotel-without-bed

Glenview hotel loan set to sell at big discount

(Crain’s) — A Georgia hotel investor has agreed to buy a loan on a Wyndham hotel in Glenview at a 60% discount as the property’s lender moves forward with a foreclosure suit.
Douglas Artusio, whose Chicago-area investments include a stalled River North hotel development, plans to buy the note on the Wyndham Glenview Suites, a transaction that ultimately would allow him to take control of the 253-room hotel, which was slapped with a foreclosure suit in February.

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http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=35180

Hotel Burnham misses interest payments

(Crain’s) — The owner of the Hotel Burnham in the Loop has stopped making interest payments on a $36-million loan, joining a growing list of local hotels that have run into loan trouble.
The drop-off in business and leisure travel this year has sent occupancies and room rates plunging at Chicago-area hotels, leaving many with little cash flow to cover loan payments.
The victims now include the Burnham, a historic 122-room hotel at 1 W. Washington St. owned by a joint venture between Chicago developers Dan McCaffery and E. Barry Mansur.

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http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=35178

Stanley Ho Shows He Makes Macau Money Vegas Men Can’t Replicate

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- On a sultry June morning in Macau, casino billionaire Stanley Ho strode into the Venetian, the gambling palace of American archrival Sheldon Adelson, and reflected on life, death and how not to succeed in the world’s biggest gaming market.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601205&sid=atoSngbDQRzI

AFC Reports Financial Results for Second Quarter 2009; Announces Amendment to Credit Facility

ATLANTA Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AFC Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFCE), the franchisor and operator of Popeyes , today reported results for its second fiscal quarter of 2009 which ended July 12, 2009, and announced an amendment to its current credit facility. The Company also updated earnings guidance for fiscal 2009 and provided an update on its strategic plan.

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http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=125194&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1322513&highlight=

Suit claims MGM Mirage misled shareholders

Multiple law firms announced Wednesday they are taking MGM Mirage to court on behalf of shareholders they say were damaged by misleading information about the gaming company's financial prospects.
At least one shareholder lawsuit against MGM Mirage was filed. It wasn't immediately clear if the law firms were participating in the same suit, or if they had filed separate suits.

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/aug/19/suit-claims-mgm-mirage-misled-shareholders/