CHICAGO — It’s become a thorny issue of perception versus reality in the hotel financing world. Contrary to popular belief, lenders have not completely shut off the capital spigot, says Ravi Patel, vice president of finance and development for...
Not surprisingly, a panel of hotel valuation experts at the Midwest Lodging Investors Summit was unable to definitively answer the question embedded in the session’s title: What Is Your Hotel Worth Today? It wasn’t their individual or collective...
Bharat Patel got right to the point about three minutes into the opening general session of the second annual Midwest Lodging Investors Summit earlier this week. Rates are still skidding, according to the chairman and CEO of the Sun Group of...
Yesterday’s bankruptcy filing by Extended Stay Hotels came as no surprise to me and probably to a lot of other people in the industry. The company, which owns and operates nearly 700 extended-stay properties under several brand names, is leveraged...
NEW YORK — Chris Matthews, host of “Hardball” on MSNBC, has some advice for President Barack Obama on how he can get back in the good graces of the hotel and meetings industry. “I do think that he has to start saying, ‘Don’t be afraid to travel...
Is the worst over for the hotel industry? While there are encouraging signs that hotel fundamentals are bottoming out, a high level of uncertainty continues to swirl around the industry. Because the hospitality sector is inextricably tied to gross...
NEW YORK — Hotel ownership isn’t for the faint of heart in this troubled economy. The average value per room in the U.S. hotel sector has fallen 45% since peaking in 2006, according to consulting firm HVS, and won’t rebound to peak levels until...
Following an analysis of the U.S. lodging industry, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels today released a new research study that identifies segments and players that are more resilient, are performing better, or are less affected by the slowdown in economic...
It’s a tough time to be a hotelier in Mexico. First, drug-related violence put a crimp in spring-break business. Now, a rapidly widening swine flu crisis in the country and around the world makes Mexico a less-than-attractive travel destination...
Friendly competition in the hotel industry turned to war yesterday, as Starwood Hotels sued Hilton and several of its executives, alleging corporate espionage, theft of trade secrets and unfair competition. Starwood says Hilton used W’s trade...
