Strategic Hotels & Resorts announced it closed on its disposition of the Four Seasons Mexico City hotel to an affiliate of Meridia Capital for US$54.0 million.
The company originally bought 57 acres of oceanfront land for US$53 million for the resort development, according to a BusinessWire report from December 2007.
Expedia finally spoke out on its dealings with Choice International during its third quarter conference call. During the call, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was asked by JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan to give some color on the situation with Choice and a potential similar situation with Best Western International.
Khosrowshahi’s response: “As far as the discussions we have had with Choice, we're not doing business with Choice right now on a chain basis. We don't have the vast majority of Choice hotels on our site. I don't want to get into the particulars of, let's say, negotiations and discussions we have had for Choice other than to say, first of all, our primary goal is to have the broadest, deepest set and highest-quality set of inventory for the benefit of our customers.
Read today’s story, “Expedia execs address Choice, Best Western situations.”
Expedia also reported that its gross bookings increased 9 percent (12 percent excluding the estimated negative impact from foreign exchange) for the third quarter of 2009 compared with the third quarter of 2008, driven primarily by 26 percent growth in transactions, partially offset by lower prices for airline tickets and hotel room nights. Domestic bookings increased 8 percent and international bookings increased 11 percent (16 percent excluding foreign exchange).
Beanie Baby tycoon Ty Warner has run into difficulty getting an extension on a US$345 million securitized mortgage on four of his luxury hotels, including the New York Four Seasons, because of the hotels' declining cash flow, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Subscription required)
The mortgage was transferred to a special servicer, Capmark Financial Group, according to debt-rating company Realpoint LLC.
US Airways detailed realignment plans, which include drastically cutting Las Vegas service and focusing on key hubs, TravelWeekly reports.
http://www.travelweekly.com/lasvegas/article3_ektid205530.aspx
The airline will reduce Las Vegas service from 64 to 36 daily departures by February. US Airways said it is responding to continued weak demand in Las Vegas and high fuel prices.
US Airways said it will strengthen its core network, focusing on hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix, while pumping up its presence at Washington Reagan National. The airline will no longer serve Colorado Springs and Wichita, Kansas.
The English and Welsh hotel sectors will see considerable increases in rates bills from April 2010, according to Tony Dann, head of rating and taxation at CBRE.
The 2010 Draft Rating List has brought a sharp increase in the rating assessment for hotels across the country. In looking at the assessments for a number of 3 star plus hotels, there has been an average increase of 35 percent to 40 percent in the regions with a 50-percent uplift in Central London. Some of the well located Central City and Airport hotels have seen increases in excess of 100 percent.
The five-year rating revaluation takes into account changes in rental values across the country. The valuation date is fixed two years before the new list comes into force, the 2010 assessments reflecting rental values as at April 2008.
View full report from CBRE.
Compiled by Stacey Higgins.
