InternContinental reports 2009 results

Trump Hotel Collection expands into SOHO & Panama.

Continued aggressive growth includes recent opening of Trump International Hotel Waikiki Beach Walk with renovation NYC flagship; Toronto to Open in 2011.

Trump Hotel Collection will add two new properties to its growing portfolio this year, on the heels of its successful opening in Waikiki and in the midst of a $30 million refurbishment of its flagship New York City property.

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Buyout for Benihana?

After months of enduring the stock-price equivalent of ground chuck, investors in Japanese steakhouse Benihana are being offered prime rib in the form of a buyout offer from a disciple of billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn.

Russell Glass, a former executive with Icahn Associates who's now the founder and head of New York investment firm RDG Capital, has offered to buy the Miami-based chain for $7 a share, a 20 percent premium over the current stock price, The Post has learned.

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Hotwire Hotel Rate Report - February

Hotel rates in the U.S. and Canadian cities change quickly, especially in this economy. The Hotwire Hotel Rate Report pinpoints cities where rates have dropped, making it easier for you to see where to find the best values. To compile the report we look at rates from a wide range of the top markets, compare pricing trends from the previous year, and factor in month-by-month price fluctuations. The report shows the destinations that have the biggest hotel price drops each month.

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Why ordering room-service breakfast in hotels can be dangerous

The next time you pick up a pen in your hotel room to select coffee, eggs and whole wheat toast on the room-service-breakfast order form, think again.

Hotel lawyer Stephen Barth, writing on on his HospitalityLawyer.org blog, cautions hoteliers from letting guests order their breakfasts by using those old-fashioned, door-hanger forms - and his argument has nothing to do with wasting paper. Here's why his advice raises red flags for travelers...

Celebrity to end cruise out of Charleston early as outbreak continues

Celebrity Cruises is ending the current voyage of the Celebrity Mercury early as it continues to grapple with an outbreak of stomach illness that now has marred three voyages in a row.

Several travel agents with customers on board the 1,870-passenger vessel tell USA TODAY it is skipping today's port call in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, and sailing straight for it's home port of Charleston due to another flare-up of a stomach bug marked by diarrhea and vomiting -- presumably the same one that plagued the last two voyages of the ship

Papa Bello to launch fast casual Indian concept

Papa Bello Enterprises Inc. has announced that the company has closed its acquisition of Royal India Express, a San Diego-based fast casual Indian restaurant concept located in the Horton Plaza Shopping Mall in the Gas Lamp Quarter of downtown San Diego.

Royal India Express is another successful restaurant concept from the Kambo Brothers, which also created and manages The Kebab Cafe, one of Papa Bello Enterprises restaurant concepts. RIE offers a competitive business model, taking full advantage of fast casual restaurant dining as well as catering, allowing the restaurant to bring its products out of the restaurant and into the home or business.

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Starwood Capital makes bid for Extended Stay

NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - An investor group led by Starwood Capital is saying its plan to take U.S. mid-priced hotel chain Extended Stay America Inc [ESAIN.UL] out of bankruptcy would be a better option than the company's plan, which is backed by rival private equity firms.

Starwood said in court papers filed on Saturday that it had submitted a "binding offer" to sponsor Extended Stay's plan of reorganization on Friday. Starwood said that it believes its offer would provide "substantially greater" value for the company's creditors, and more access to new cash for the company.

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Hard Rock Hotel narrows loss, searches for president

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino said it narrowed its losses by about 34 percent last year, according to a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The property trimmed its loss of $299 million in 2008 to $197 million in 2009.

Net revenue for the year fell to $161.6 million in 2009 from $164.3 million in 2008. The hotel-casino said the $2.8 million drop was primarily attributed to an 18.3 percent decrease in casino revenue and a 10 percent decrease in lodging revenue.

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Human Head Found In Hamburger

Hold the dog, please. China's proposed ban on sale of dog and cat meat

Most people will agree that dog is man's best friend. In parts of Asia, however, it's also what's for dinner. The consumption of dog and cat meat by humans is practiced in parts of China, Vietnam, Korea, and the Philippines. Cat is eaten in parts of China and South America. The times they are a-changin', however, because the Chinese government is considering legislation that would make eating dogs and cats illegal there, in part because of how the practice negatively impacts overseas tourism.

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Restaurant Bans Customer For Not Tipping Enough

The menu of a restaurant in Winston-Salem, NC, says a gratuity of 15% will be added to parties of six or more. A former customer says she was in a party of three and saw that an 18% gratuity had been added, which she complained about but paid. She said the next time she showed up, she was met at the door by staff and told that she had to agree up front to pay 18% or she couldn't eat there.

That sounds pretty outrageous, but the restaurant's manager told local news station WXII that she's a repeat offender when it comes to undertipping, and that nobody in the kitchen or on the floor wants to serve her anymore.

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Contractor to seek $492M from owners of Las Vegas CityCenter

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The primary contractor for the newly completed $8.5 billion CityCenter complex told the joint venture's owners that it intends to file mechanic's liens to collect on $492 million in construction bills, casino operator MGM Mirage said Friday.

MGM Mirage told federal regulators that it believes it and co-owner Dubai World owe contractor Perini Building Co., which was not directly named in the filing, far less.

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Admiral Taverns set to sell up to 200 pubs

Admiral Taverns, the 2,000-strong pub company bailed out by its bank late last year, is understood to be looking to sell up to 200 of its pubs.

Licensees were told of the planned disposal of their businesses by letter today.

Sources would not confirm the exact number of sites, but The Publican understands it is between 150 and 200 pubs.

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Yum Brands to repurchase up to $300M in stock

The Yum Brands Inc. board of directors Friday authorized the company to repurchase as much as $300 million of the company’s common stock over the next 12 months.

The authorization is in addition to a $300 million repurchase the board approved in September 2009. To date, Yum Brands has repurchased about $130 million under that repurchase plan, according to a news release from Louisville-based Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM).

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