Owner of shuttered Pizza Hut franchises files suit against the pizza chain

Image via WikipediaLarry Lundy, a well-known New Orleans businessman and Pizza Hut magnate who owned dozens of the franchises in southeast Louisiana that abruptly closed last month, filed a counterclaim Monday against the pizza chain, claiming it hampered his company's profitability as it attempted to squeeze him out of the market.

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• Pizza Huts around La. closed over lawsuit (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Hardee's restaurants looted, closed in Egypt

Image via Wikipedia

A Hardee's franchise in Cairo, Egypt, has closed its 32 locations there after some restaurants were damaged and looted in the political protests.

One of the closed restaurants is in Tahrir Square or “Freedom Square.”

"We have no insight as to whether they were targeted because of their western affiliation," said Jenna Petroff, a spokeswoman for St. Louis-based Hardee's. "There has been damage and looting in a number of locations, but at this point, the damage is believed to be associated with general looting."

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Starwood Hotels CFO: Middle East Turmoil 'Hurting Our Business'

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Escalating political turmoil and violence in the Middle East is blemishing a robust lodging recovery in global markets for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT).
The company, which swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, said the Middle East and Africa were the only regions that haven't fully recovered from one of the worst brutal downturns in the hotel industry.

"The political turmoil in North Africa, especially Egypt, is of course hurting our business," said Vasant Prabhu, vice chairman and chief financial officer of the hotelier during a post-earnings conference call Thursday. He noted Starwood has 16 hotels across North Africa that generated between $10 million to $12 million in fees last year.

"We expect that our fees will be hit in North Africa," he added. "It is too early to tell how we will be impacted, but this is clearly a risk that needs to be closely monitored."

Starwood's revenue per available room, a key profit metric for hotels, was up more than 10% in the fourth quarter of 2010 over the same time period in 2009, the company reported. It was up 9.4% for the year, following a decline of 20.7% in 2009.

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STARWOOD REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER 2010 RESULTS

WHITE PLAINS, NY, February 3, 2011

(NYSE: HOT) today reported fourth quarter 2010 financial results.

– Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Fourth Quarter 2010 Highlights

􀂃

special items, EPS from continuing operations was $1.08.

Excluding special items, EPS from continuing operations was $0.52. Including

􀂃

Adjusted EBITDA was $269 million.

􀂃

Including special items, income from continuing operations was $206 million.

Excluding special items, income from continuing operations was $99 million.

􀂃

in constant dollars) compared to 2009. System-wide REVPAR for Same-Store

Hotels in North America increased 10.2% (9.7% in constant dollars).

Worldwide System-wide REVPAR for Same-Store Hotels increased 10.1% (10.3%

􀂃

2009.

Management fees, franchise fees and other income increased 13.0% compared to

􀂃

approximately 100 basis points compared to 2009.

Worldwide Same-Store company-operated gross operating profit margins increased

􀂃

10.1% (10.9% in constant dollars) compared to 2009. REVPAR for Starwood

branded Same-Store Owned Hotels in North America increased 9.1% (8.1% in

constant dollars).

Worldwide REVPAR for Starwood branded Same-Store Owned Hotels increased

􀂃

basis points compared to 2009. Adjusted for a non-recurring item recorded in 2009,

margins increased approximately 170 basis points.

Margins at Starwood branded Same-Store Owned Hotels Worldwide increased 30

􀂃

compared to 2009.

Operating income from vacation ownership and residential increased $13 million

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contracts representing approximately 8,000 rooms and opened 23 hotels and

resorts with approximately 5,700 rooms.

Read More:During the quarter, the Company signed 37 hotel management and franchise 

Debt Due-Date Looms for Kerzner

Kerzner International Resorts Inc., owner of several high-end vacation spots, including the sprawling Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, has tapped a cadre of restructuring advisers to help rework nearly $3 billion in debt ahead of a looming repayment deadline later this year.

Kerzner recently enlisted advisers at law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Blackstone Group LP to determine how to restructure the debt, according to people familiar with the matter. About $2.6 billion of the debt, in the form of a senior mortgage, comes due in September.

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Hilton's Revival Boosts Blackstone

A year ago, Blackstone Group LP's real-estate group was peeling egg off its face.

Real-estate chief Jonathan Gray, once toasted as a member of Vanity Fair's "New Establishment," also seemed to have established the firm's most embarrassing deal. Blackstone's record $6 billion investment in the buyout of hotel chain Hilton Worldwide had lost 70% of its value.

How things have changed.

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Florida Dispute over hotel taxes escalates

As South Florida counties sue Expedia, Priceline and other travel sites for uncollected hotel taxes, state lawmakers are pushing bills to scuttle the litigation.

Legislation filed by two Republicans would exempt the travel giants from paying hotel taxes on the rates they charge customers. Meanwhile, local governments -- including Broward and Miami-Dade -- are taking the sites to court for not collecting those taxes, claiming Expedia and the rest owe millions of dollars.

The dispute has been building judicial momentum for years, as tax collectors try to expand their authority from brick-and-mortar hotels to virtual booking systems. Miami-Dade was part of one class-action suit Florida counties filed in Monroe, only to settle for under $7 million.

But both Broward and Miami-Dade are pursuing separate court cases

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New Year Fireworks causes fire at Shenyang Sheraton

The blaze in Shenyang, the capital of China's Liaoning Province, is believed to have started in an apartment complex before spreading to the hotel.

Chinese state media said a fireworks display was the cause of the fire.

The 20-storey Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel is the the tallest building in the city.

It meant firefighters had trouble extinguishing the blaze, as they were unable to reach the highest parts of the building.

Around 50 guests were evacuated from their rooms but there were no reports of injuries.

Hilton Paid Starwood $75 Million in Espionage Settlement

Hilton Worldwide Inc. paid $75 million last year to Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide as part of a settlement agreement in a corporate-espionage lawsuit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In its earnings statement Thursday, Starwood said it received the money in a corporate settlement in December but didn't identify Hilton. Still, the legal settlement with Hilton was the only one Starwood reached that month.

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InterContinental Hotels to invest $500 mn in Mexico

Mexico City( Hospitality Business News)  –  InterContinental Hotels Group will invest $500 million in Mexico over the next three years, the office of Mexican President Felipe Calderon said.

Calderon met Sunday with IHG's president for the Americas, Jim Abrahamson, who informed him of the decision taken to make this new investment.

The new investment "will translate into a projected 47 hotels with a total of 5,000 rooms," according to information released by the Mexican government.

At the meeting between Calderon and Abrahamson, "they exchanged points of view on the tourism industry and Mexico's great potential to figure among the world's top five tourist destinations, while also discussing the tourism industry's impact on creating jobs and growing the nation's economy."

The Calderon administration has declared 2011 to be the Year of Tourism in Mexico.

During last month's FITUR tourism fair in Madrid, Mexican Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara said that, despite the violence spread by organized crime, visits to Mexico have increased and "investments have as well."

Citing preliminary figures, she said that more than 22 million people visited Mexico last year, matching the record set in 2008.

Kuwait blogger sued over bad restaurant review

blogger in Kuwait is facing court action after posting a bad review of a local restaurant, in a case that could set a precedent for defamation laws in the Gulf state.

Mark Makhoul, a Lebanese blogger in court, is being sued by Las Palmas Company – which owns the newly-owned Benihana franchise – for KD5,001 (about 17,878), after the firm claimed he damaged the reputation of the restaurant with a series of “offensive” claims made on his blog.

Makhoul had said that when he and his wife had eaten at the Asian outlet, their food had been undercooked.
Makhoul’s crimes, it specified, were “the damages caused… [by] encouraging large numbers of customers not to try the restaurant by insulting and doubting the quality of food served.”

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Daytona Beach hotel owner arrested in child porn sting

Daytona Beach police have confirmed to News 13 that a hotel owner has been arrested in a child porn bust.
In a joint investigation with the FBI, the police raided the Desert Inn hotel Wednesday morning.

The hotel was locked down due to the investigation, with at least 40 guests inside.

According to News 13 reporter Saul Saenz, around 70 police and FBI officials raided the hotel at about 10 a.m. Investigators said they are serving search warrants to look into reports of child porn, child sexual abuse and child exploitation. The proclaimed owner, who has not been identified, was charged with three counts of sex acts on a 13-year-old, one count of lewd and lascivious and voyeurism.

Police Chief Mike Chitwood told News 13 the raid is the culmination of a month-long investigation between the FBI and Daytona Beach police.

The FBI said it received solid information about a month ago about illegal activities occurring inside the Atlantic Avenue hotel. Chitwood said a series of sealed search warrants were executed.

Russian Police Raid Deutsche Bank in Hotel Probe

Russian police raided the Moscow offices of Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest lender, today as part of a criminal investigation into fraud in the reconstruction of the Hotel Moskva, investigators said.

Officials believe $87.5 million was stolen from a company controlled by the city government, the Investigative Committee in Moscow said on its website today, without detailing Deutsche Bank’s connection to the case.

The probe was to do with “a criminal case on alleged embezzlement during the reconstruction of the Moscow Hotel” that relates to an unnamed client and not to the bank itself, Deutsche Bank said in an e-mailed statement today. “Deutsche Bank continues to operate as normal,” it said.

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Claremont files for bankruptcy

The Claremont Hotel & Spa, a fixture in the Berkeley hills since 1915, was part of a luxury hotel group that filed for bankruptcy yesterday. The Claremont and seven other resorts were part of a $6.6 billion acquisition by Morgan Stanley in 2007. When debt of $1.5 billion came due yesterday, lenders foreclosed on five of the properties (three other properties with longer-term debt did not file for Chapter 11 protection).

The lenders, led by hedge fund Paulson & Co, stated in a press release that they intend to work down the debt and position the hotels to benefit as the economy improves. The last few years have been particularly bruising for the luxury end of the travel industry, and the Claremont has suffered from poor occupancy rates.

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Hard Rock files lawsuit to stop foreclosure

The Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas claims a company trying to foreclose on the struggling hotel has no right to do so and is trying to gain an advantage over other investors, according to a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court.
In the 825-page lawsuit filed on Tuesday against an entity created by NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. of New York, the Hard Rock said it was bringing "this action ... to prevent NorthStar from foreclosing on a major Las Vegas hotel casino and destroying plaintiffs' equity value as a consequence."

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