Each Friday, the HotelNewsNow.com editorial staff picks the most compelling (or downright gutsy) quote and reader comment from the previous week.
Comment of the week
Implementing a LEED-certified design into a hotel is one thing. Making sure that design is installed correctly and operating functionally is something else entirely. Indeed, the task often requires comparing actual versus modeled energy efficiency, according to an anonymous reader, who commented on Patrick Mayock’s report, “Panelists: Don’t resist the green hotel wave.”
“Agreed on all parts. However, I'd say the biggest challenge is having operating systems correctly designed, installed and operational within the property. Having developed a LEED Gold Certified newly constructed hotel the biggest challenge for us was the energy efficiency 18 months post opening didn't match up with the energy modeling. We are consuming a good bit most (sic) kwh than modeled. I'm curious to hear what operating systems have had the most success in cutting down operating costs -not what it's supposed to do but what it's truly operating at post opening or reopening.”
Join the conversation by posting your comment to “Panelists: Don’t resist the green hotel wave.”
Quote of the week
Monty Bennett is not at all coy about what Ashford Hospitality Trust intends to do if Goldman Sachs & Company is unwilling or unable to rework the debt coming due next month on its Tharaldson portfolio of 105 hotels owned by Goldman affiliate Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds.
Ashford, which recently closed on its purchase of the 28-hotel Highland Hospitality portfolio, is prepared to jump—once again—into acquisition mode.
“We’ve got some calls in,” Bennett said, adding, “I’m not sure what their plans are. We’re very interested in the portfolio. It’s all up to our friends at Goldman Sachs.
“Our overall strategy is to make money for our shareholders, and the return on that portfolio would be accretive to our shareholders. We would increase our (funds from operations) per share and ultimately increase our share price. … We’re waiting for the right hotels, and this portfolio would be the right one.”
