In connection with our article "Travelodge finds room for complaint in Premier Inn’s adverts for bargain rates" , we received the following Email
Hi Eric
Hope this finds you well. Following your article ‘Travelodge finds room for complaint in Premier Inn’s adverts for bargain rates’, please see statement from a spokesperson from Premier Inn below:
“The UK's biggest hotel chain Premier Inn is confident that it is geared up to offer guests outstanding value. The Premier Inn website homepage has a distinctive banner which clearly indicates where customers should book value offers and Premier Inn's busy call centre has taken hundreds of thousands of bookings for the £29 Premier Offer.”
Please let me know if you require more info.
Best
Gee
Gee Wong
FRANK PR
3rd Floor, Centro 4, 20-23 Mandela Street, London, NW1 0DU
Direct: 020 7693 6971
Office: 020 7693 6999
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wyndham extends contract with CEO for 3 years
NEW YORK —
Hotel chain Wyndham Worldwide Corp. has extended its contract with CEO and Chairman Stephen P. Holmes for another three years.
In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, the company said Holmes' current contract is for July 31, 2010 through July 31, 2013. The contract amendment was made Nov. 19, the company said.
The amendment also states that Holmes will be entitled to a lump-sum payment equal to nearly three times his base salary at the time if he is terminated without cause. He would also receive a sum equal to his highest annual bonus in the three years preceding his termination.
Hotel chain Wyndham Worldwide Corp. has extended its contract with CEO and Chairman Stephen P. Holmes for another three years.
In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, the company said Holmes' current contract is for July 31, 2010 through July 31, 2013. The contract amendment was made Nov. 19, the company said.
The amendment also states that Holmes will be entitled to a lump-sum payment equal to nearly three times his base salary at the time if he is terminated without cause. He would also receive a sum equal to his highest annual bonus in the three years preceding his termination.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Nassau Airport in hotel talks
Airport bosses are in talks with an operator about the opening of a hotel at the $409.5 million redeveloped Lynden Pindling International Airport.
The prospect of the new hotel was just one of the possible future ventures revealed by the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) at its first public annual general meeting at The College of the Bahamas this week.
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The prospect of the new hotel was just one of the possible future ventures revealed by the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) at its first public annual general meeting at The College of the Bahamas this week.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Premier Inn to sell and leaseback five hotels
Whitbread is to market five Premier Inn hotels on a sale and leaseback basis, raising around £30m to further the group’s development plans.
Operating its 584 UK hotels on a predominantly freehold basis, Premier Inn will initially trial the concept with just five hotels as it explores alternative ways to raise development funds
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Operating its 584 UK hotels on a predominantly freehold basis, Premier Inn will initially trial the concept with just five hotels as it explores alternative ways to raise development funds
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Is Wendy's/Arby's thinking donuts?
Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. has been looking for a third brand to bring into the fold, and it may have found it in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. Business news service Briefing.com said Monday that the the donut brand was "the subject of chatter about a potential takeover by Wendy's/Arby's Group," as reported by Barron's.
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Taco Bell, 50 Cent settle lawsuit
Rapper 50 Cent will cost you more than a taco.
The rapper, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, yesterday settled the lawsuit he filed against Yum! Brands' Taco Bell, claiming the fast-food chain used his name to promote its tacos and burritos without his permission.
The terms of the deal were confidential, but he was asking for $4 million in damages.
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The rapper, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, yesterday settled the lawsuit he filed against Yum! Brands' Taco Bell, claiming the fast-food chain used his name to promote its tacos and burritos without his permission.
The terms of the deal were confidential, but he was asking for $4 million in damages.
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Cracker Barrel Reports 37% Increase in First-Quarter EPS
LEBANON, Tenn., Nov 24, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRL):
•Fully diluted net income per share of $0.78 for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, an increase of 37% compared with the prior-year quarter
•Revenue for the first quarter increased 1.3% to $581.2 million
•Comparable store restaurant sales increased 0.6%
•Comparable store retail sales decreased 4.8%
•Operating income margin in the first quarter was 6.5% compared with 5.7% in the prior-year quarter
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. ("Cracker Barrel," or the "Company") (Nasdaq: CBRL) today reported net income per diluted share of $0.78 for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with $0.57 per diluted share in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, an increase of 36.8%. Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 was $18.0 million compared with $12.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, which reflects a 16.7% increase in operating income and lower interest expense.
Read more:http://investor.crackerbarrel.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=426219
•Fully diluted net income per share of $0.78 for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, an increase of 37% compared with the prior-year quarter
•Revenue for the first quarter increased 1.3% to $581.2 million
•Comparable store restaurant sales increased 0.6%
•Comparable store retail sales decreased 4.8%
•Operating income margin in the first quarter was 6.5% compared with 5.7% in the prior-year quarter
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. ("Cracker Barrel," or the "Company") (Nasdaq: CBRL) today reported net income per diluted share of $0.78 for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with $0.57 per diluted share in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, an increase of 36.8%. Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 was $18.0 million compared with $12.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, which reflects a 16.7% increase in operating income and lower interest expense.
Read more:http://investor.crackerbarrel.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=426219
Icahn outbids Penn Nat’l to open Fontainebleau auction
LAS VEGAS - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has offered a higher sum than Penn National Gaming Inc. to open bidding at a bankruptcy auction for the unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas casino-resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
A clerk in Miami for U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge A. Jay Cristol says Icahn offered $105 million Monday to buy the project from debtors plus $51.5 million in funding to resume construction, which already has cost more than $2 billion.
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A clerk in Miami for U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge A. Jay Cristol says Icahn offered $105 million Monday to buy the project from debtors plus $51.5 million in funding to resume construction, which already has cost more than $2 billion.
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Travelodge finds room for complaint in Premier Inn’s adverts for bargain rates
They are the titans of the British hotel industry, locked in a bitter price war amid the toughest economic conditions in living memory. In one corner sits Premier Inn, owned by Whitbread, with 582 budget hotels and more than 40,000 rooms across Britain. In the other corner is Travelodge, its private equity-controlled rival, with 377 UK hotels with 27,500 rooms.
And, after years of harmless pillow fighting, the gloves have come off in the battle for the budget traveller’s pound. Travelodge has lodged a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the £29-a-room Christmas promotional campaign fronted by the actor and comedian Lenny Henry
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And, after years of harmless pillow fighting, the gloves have come off in the battle for the budget traveller’s pound. Travelodge has lodged a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the £29-a-room Christmas promotional campaign fronted by the actor and comedian Lenny Henry
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Benihana Inc. Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2010 Results
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 24, 2009-- Benihana Inc. (NASDAQ: BNHNA; BNHN), operator of the nation’s largest chain of Japanese theme and sushi restaurants, today reported results for its 12-week fiscal second quarter ended October 11, 2009.
Richard C. Stockinger, Chief Executive Officer, said, "In the fiscal second quarter, we experienced a lower than expected comparable sales trend which pressured our operating margins. Additionally, we launched our Benihana Teppanyaki Renewal Program, which is focused on improving guest perceptions as they relate to image, quality, consistency, and lack-of-Japan. The decline in sales, its impact on operating margins, and incremental cost increases associated with the Renewal Program negatively impacted our results, and we failed to meet the leverage ratio required under our credit agreement with Wachovia. That agreement has now been amended.”
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Richard C. Stockinger, Chief Executive Officer, said, "In the fiscal second quarter, we experienced a lower than expected comparable sales trend which pressured our operating margins. Additionally, we launched our Benihana Teppanyaki Renewal Program, which is focused on improving guest perceptions as they relate to image, quality, consistency, and lack-of-Japan. The decline in sales, its impact on operating margins, and incremental cost increases associated with the Renewal Program negatively impacted our results, and we failed to meet the leverage ratio required under our credit agreement with Wachovia. That agreement has now been amended.”
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Cheap Boutique Hotels Gain as U.S. Travelers Skip $500 a Night
Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The world’s largest hotel companies, stung by the industry’s biggest declines since the Great Depression, are trying to do for lodging what Ikea did for furniture: Offer fashionable products at low prices.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the third- biggest U.S. lodging company, is developing boutique hotels for frugal travelers that cost about $119 a night. That’s a far cry from the $399 to $639 at the company’s upscale W Hotels. InterContinental Hotels Group Plc is following a similar strategy with its boutique chain Hotel Indigo.
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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the third- biggest U.S. lodging company, is developing boutique hotels for frugal travelers that cost about $119 a night. That’s a far cry from the $399 to $639 at the company’s upscale W Hotels. InterContinental Hotels Group Plc is following a similar strategy with its boutique chain Hotel Indigo.
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Quiznos and Franchisees Reach Settlement of Multiple Class Action Lawsuits
CHICAGO, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer has preliminarily approved a settlement of four franchisee class action lawsuits filed against the Quiznos Franchise Company and others. The cases in Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois, the earliest of which has been pending since 2006, allege violations of various state and federal laws in connection with the sale and operation of Quiznos franchises. Quiznos denied all claims, and the settlement agreement involves no finding or admission of liability.
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Monday, November 23, 2009
Largest BK franchisee staying loyal to the King
The Syracuse-based company that is the largest single owner of Burger King franchises is standing by the chain’s promotion of a cut-rate double cheeseburger, and is not participating in an uprising being mounted by many other franchisees.
The National Franchisees Association, on behalf of 850 other Burger King operators around the country, has filed a lawsuit against the Miami-based Burger King Holdings Inc., protesting the corporation’s insistence that its franchisees offer double cheeseburgers for $1.
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The National Franchisees Association, on behalf of 850 other Burger King operators around the country, has filed a lawsuit against the Miami-based Burger King Holdings Inc., protesting the corporation’s insistence that its franchisees offer double cheeseburgers for $1.
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Culinary Union sides with Station Casino’s creditors
The Culinary Union heightened the drama in its fight with Station Casinos last week, blaming a management-led buyout for the company’s bankruptcy filing and aligning itself with the company’s creditors.
The union issued a detailed report on the company’s financial woes, arguing that Station could have avoided bankruptcy had it not pursued a $5.7 billion deal to take the company private in 2007. It concluded with a call for creditors to demand that Station’s owners reinvest a significant part of the profits from the deal to help the company recover.
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The union issued a detailed report on the company’s financial woes, arguing that Station could have avoided bankruptcy had it not pursued a $5.7 billion deal to take the company private in 2007. It concluded with a call for creditors to demand that Station’s owners reinvest a significant part of the profits from the deal to help the company recover.
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Upper-upscale branded hotels’ operating expense trends
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—Hotels have been cutting back on operating expenses because of the current economic conditions, but how have the past years’ expenses trended versus revenue growth? This article explores the past three years’ upper-upscale branded hotels’ operating revenues and expenses. (Upper-upscale brands include such brands as Hilton, Marriott, Westin and Hyatt.)
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