WASHINGTON (AFP) – A Florida couple pleaded guilty to conspiring to hold 39 Filipino employees against their will working in country clubs and hotels, the US Justice Department said Friday.
Sophia Manuel, 41, and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., 45, were owners of a labor contracting service based in the Florida city of Boca Raton.
Manuel and Baldonado "conspired to obtain a cheap, compliant and readily available labor pool, by making false promises to entice the victims to incur debts," read a Department of Justice statement, quoting court documents.
Read More:
Saturday, September 18, 2010
$400 Million of Sour Hotel Loans on Block
LNR Partners and two other special servicers are jointly shopping more than $400 million of nonperforming hotel mortgages - the largest offering of distressed loans on a single property type since the market collapse.
LNR is supplying most of the roughly 60 securitized loans, with C-III Asset Management and J.E. Roberts Cos. kicking in the others.
A two-day online auction will start Nov. 1, run by a partnership between Jones Lang LaSalle and REDC. Bidders can make offers on individual loans. Unlike with sealed-bid auctions, offers will be posted live and seen by all participants, although the bidders' identities remain anonymous. Investors can then increase their bids, akin to public-outcry auctions.
Read More:
LNR is supplying most of the roughly 60 securitized loans, with C-III Asset Management and J.E. Roberts Cos. kicking in the others.
A two-day online auction will start Nov. 1, run by a partnership between Jones Lang LaSalle and REDC. Bidders can make offers on individual loans. Unlike with sealed-bid auctions, offers will be posted live and seen by all participants, although the bidders' identities remain anonymous. Investors can then increase their bids, akin to public-outcry auctions.
Read More:
Lawmakers push to extend federal financing programs to save Palm Beach Florida convention hotel project
Plans to build a hotel next to Palm Beach County's downtown convention center could hinge on the extension of two federal programs that officials say are critically needed to help finance the $110 million project.
Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Burt Aaronson teamed Friday with U.S. Reps. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, and Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, to urge federal lawmakers to extend the programs, both of which set to expire at the end of the year.
Read More:
Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Burt Aaronson teamed Friday with U.S. Reps. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, and Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, to urge federal lawmakers to extend the programs, both of which set to expire at the end of the year.
Read More:
NY's Upscale Hotel Market Shows Life
Despite growing concerns that the economy is pulling back once again -- the dreaded double-dip recession -- the New York hotel market is on a roll. There are 44 new hotels to set to open this year, and the Big Apple will see the addition of 7,561 new rooms to its inventory.
Read More:
Read More:
Rotating Hotel Strikes Continue Friday in Toronto
Hotel strikes continue as the Toronto International Film Festival winds down this week.
Workers at the Toronto Hilton on Richmond Street West and the airport Hilton hit the bricks Friday due to a lack of movement in the bargaining process.
Hotel employees in the Westmont chain have been participating in rotating one-day strikes for the past two weeks. The workers, represented by Unite Here local 75, are upset about working conditions, increased work load due to layoffs and wages.
The union claims the hotel chain used the recession to justify staff cuts and it says the chain has rebounded well from the economic downturn. Many staff members have been working without a contract since February.
Workers at the Toronto Hilton on Richmond Street West and the airport Hilton hit the bricks Friday due to a lack of movement in the bargaining process.
Hotel employees in the Westmont chain have been participating in rotating one-day strikes for the past two weeks. The workers, represented by Unite Here local 75, are upset about working conditions, increased work load due to layoffs and wages.
The union claims the hotel chain used the recession to justify staff cuts and it says the chain has rebounded well from the economic downturn. Many staff members have been working without a contract since February.
Hotels in India hire detectives to keep an eye on guests
NEW DELHI: If you are visiting the capital for the Commonwealth Games and are putting up at a five-star or seven-star hotel, then don't be surprised if someone follows you or enquires about your guests. As part of heightened security measures during the Games, hotels are hiring private detectives to keep an eye on visitors and their guests during the 12-day sporting extravaganza.
Read More:
Read More:
Buuteeq raises $1.1 million, rolls out iPhone apps for hotels
Buuteeq, a stealthy Seattle upstart which is creating mobile applications for hotels, has raised $1.1 million in new financing, according to a filing with the SEC. Buuteeq is led by Adam Brownstein, who previously worked on the Surface team at Microsoft and in the marketing department at Sony.
Read More:
Read More:
Miami DDA looks at convention hotel
On Friday, the Miami Downtown Development Authority voted to pursue a market analysis on the viability of a convention hotel in Miami’s downtown.
The Miami DDA hired land use organization Urban Land Institute to study the issue and produce a preliminary report, which was presented to the board Friday.
Read More:
The Miami DDA hired land use organization Urban Land Institute to study the issue and produce a preliminary report, which was presented to the board Friday.
Read More:
Hilton name abused in Pittsburgh, hotel chain tells court
Stop calling it a Hilton.
That's what a subsidiary of Hilton Worldwide Inc. is demanding of the owner of the former Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown.
In a complaint filed Friday in U.S. Bankrupcty Court in Pittsburgh, HLT Existing Franchise Holding LLC is asking for a judge to stop Shubh Hotels Pittsburgh LLC from using the Hilton name any longer.
Hilton terminated its franchise license agreement with Shubh earlier this month, citing poor quality assurance scores, unpaid debts and judgments, and negative publicity surrounding the hotel.
Read More:
That's what a subsidiary of Hilton Worldwide Inc. is demanding of the owner of the former Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown.
In a complaint filed Friday in U.S. Bankrupcty Court in Pittsburgh, HLT Existing Franchise Holding LLC is asking for a judge to stop Shubh Hotels Pittsburgh LLC from using the Hilton name any longer.
Hilton terminated its franchise license agreement with Shubh earlier this month, citing poor quality assurance scores, unpaid debts and judgments, and negative publicity surrounding the hotel.
Read More:
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Man charged with attempted murder of JW Marriott valet
Hotel rage in Denver? The Denver DA's offiice has filed charges against a man for allegedly trying to run over a valet parker at the upscale JW Marriott hotel. The two had previously had had an altercation, reports say. File photo taken Oct. 24, 2007 shows sunset over the Denver skyline.
The Denver District Attorney's Office charged Tracy Lee Ottaway, 47, with attempted murder, according to the Denver Post. Ottaway and the valet at the JW Marriott had a previous altercation in late July, although the DA's office didn't release details.
Read More:
The Denver District Attorney's Office charged Tracy Lee Ottaway, 47, with attempted murder, according to the Denver Post. Ottaway and the valet at the JW Marriott had a previous altercation in late July, although the DA's office didn't release details.
Read More:
Couple thrown out of Hotel for writing online hotel review
According to an article in The Gazette, Mr Healey and Sherrie Andrews said they were in day two of a three night stay when they were asked to leave.
Mr Healey, who was due to check out on September 4, was forced to drive back 280 miles the evening before. He said: "I couldn't believe it when we were asked to leave.
"We had been there a day when they said we couldn't get back in our rooms because they were re carpeting, and we didn't complain – all we asked was if we could have an extra towel.
"Then, on our second evening, the Manager banged on the door and told us to get out, accusing us of writing a review on Trip Advisor, and said he would call the police."
Mr Healey has only just returned to work as a Tesco manager after sick leave to receive chemotherapy for testicular cancer according to the article.
 |
| from The Gazette |
A man, who is suffering from Cancer, is very upset after he and a companion were thrown out of a Blackpool UK hotel, because the manager accused them of writing an online hotel review on TripAdvisor
According to an article in The Gazette, Mr Healey and Sherrie Andrews said they were in day two of a three night stay when they were asked to leave.
Mr Healey, who was due to check out on September 4, was forced to drive back 280 miles the evening before. He said: "I couldn't believe it when we were asked to leave.
"We had been there a day when they said we couldn't get back in our rooms because they were re carpeting, and we didn't complain – all we asked was if we could have an extra towel.
"Then, on our second evening, the Manager banged on the door and told us to get out, accusing us of writing a review on Trip Advisor, and said he would call the police."
Mr Healey has only just returned to work as a Tesco manager after sick leave to receive chemotherapy for testicular cancer according to the article.
He added: "I was shocked when the police arrived, and we just agreed to leave. We asked for a refund but the hotel refused.
"I think it is shocking and people need to know about this."
A spokesman said: "Police officers were called to the Golden Beach Hotel just before 8pm on Thursday.
"No offence had been committed by the couple, but the manager had requested them to leave the property. We advised the couple how to go about getting a refund. This is a civil matter."
Troubled hotel portfolio nears resolution
A special servicer assigned to manage some $63.7 million in debt backing a portfolio of nine Fairfield Inn by Marriotts — including three properties in Massachusetts — appears to be readying for more drastic action following months of cash-flow problems.
In July, The Roundup first reported that Och-Ziff Real Estate, the New York investment firm that acquired the hotels in 2007, had acknowledged in writing that it was unable to pay its $200,000-plus in monthly debt service after having tapped roughly a $1 million in cash reserves to support the properties. C-III Asset Management, one of the servicers overseeing the properties’ loans, said at the time that is was “preparing to engage counsel and has begun the process of ordering third party reports” in light of the hotel portfolio’s problems.
Read More:
In July, The Roundup first reported that Och-Ziff Real Estate, the New York investment firm that acquired the hotels in 2007, had acknowledged in writing that it was unable to pay its $200,000-plus in monthly debt service after having tapped roughly a $1 million in cash reserves to support the properties. C-III Asset Management, one of the servicers overseeing the properties’ loans, said at the time that is was “preparing to engage counsel and has begun the process of ordering third party reports” in light of the hotel portfolio’s problems.
Read More:
McDonald’s set to roll out breakfast menu across India
Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) major McDonald’s is all set to roll out breakfast menus across its Indian outlets. A formal company announcement of this new addition will be made in the forthcoming quarter of 2010. By the end of 2010 around 40 McDonald’s outlets across India will serve breakfast menus from 7-11 am and 30 stores are expected to adopt this menu addition every subsequent year.
Read More:
Read More:
Dubai records 4,181,326 hotel guests in first half of 2010
The number of hotel guests in Dubai reached 4,181,326 in the first half of 2010, a nine per cent increase over 3,852,742 guests in the first half of last year. According to a report in asiatraveltips.com, statistics from Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) show that the number of hotels operating in Dubai has reached 566, representing a seven per cent increase from 530 in 2009, while hotel rooms reached 67,369, indicating a 16 per cent increase from 58,188 rooms last year.
Read More:
Read More:
W Union Square Sold
A hotel chain has purchased the hip, but troubled W Hotel in Union Square for well below the price it fetched at the height of the market.
Host Hotels and Resorts, based in Bethesda, Md., has purchased the hipster vacation paradise for $185.2 million, city records show.
Read More:
Host Hotels and Resorts, based in Bethesda, Md., has purchased the hipster vacation paradise for $185.2 million, city records show.
Read More:
