The expansion of the hospitality industry, from new-builds to renovations and rebrands, is dependent on investor capital, and those investors expect a return—which is where forecasting comes in.

A variety of opinions are out there when it comes to the current lending landscape with optimism and a good dose of concern about where the economy is in the current cycle both in the mix.

The city of Beloit, Wis., is receiving a $250,000 state grant to help finance the redevelopment of a vacant office building into a luxury boutique hotel: The Hotel Goodwin.

From the desks of the Hotel News Now editorial staff: Blackstone to sell all remaining Hilton shares Hotel social experts look to inspire, share guest photos Trinity Merger Corp. closes $345m IPO Big Island volcano spews ash but shouldn’t harm people A look at strange items stolen from hotels

Epelboim Development Group secured a $21.5-million loan to finance the development of a new Tru by Hilton hotel in Orlando.

Blackstone's checking out of Hilton and into LaSalle.Just days after announcing plans to sell the last of its Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. shares, Blackstone Group LP has agreed to buy luxury hotel owner LaSalle Hotel Properties, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The all-cash transaction values LaSalle at $33.50 a share, or $4.8 billion including debt, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal is confidential. Representatives for Blackstone and LaSalle declined to comment.The agreement represents a premium of almost 35 percent above LaSalle's share price on March 27, the day before its smaller rival, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, announced a proposed all-stock deal for LaSalle, the owner of 41 luxury hotels. What Blackstone is offering is more than double the 14.7 percent median premium applied to U.S. real estate investment trust transactions over $1 billion in size over the past five years, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. data.

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (“Park”) (NYSE:PK) today announced that it has closed on the sale of the 601-room Hilton Berlin (the “Hotel”) located in Berlin, Germany, for gross proceeds to the joint venture owners of the entities that own the Hotel of €297 million, before customary closing adjustments. The gross proceeds equate to approximately $350 million, or $583,000 per key. Park’s pro rata share of gross proceeds was approximately $140 million. The sale price represents an EBITDA multiple of approximately 20x the Hotel’s 2017 EBITDA.

Bloomberg columnist Joe Nocera adds up the victories by Steve Wynn's ex-wife Elaine as she attempts to clean up Wynn Resorts. He rightfully calls her a shareholder activist who breaks the mold because she doesn't have a cut-and-run mindset. Now there's a model for others to follow.

The Blackstone Group L.P. is selling its remaining shares of common stock in Hilton—15.8 million of them valued at about $1.3 billion—in privately negotiated transactions pursuant to Hilton’s effective shelf registration statement.

United Airlines CFO Andrew Levy has resigned after less than two years on the job, catching Wall Street by surprise...

Now we have to wonder: What will Blackstone buy next?

There is no shortage of investment flowing into travel startups. Consider the Phocuswright study, “The State of Travel Startups 2017,” which tracked 1,497 digital upstarts around the globe and collectively attracted nearly $62 billion in funding. Those capital resources are nearly double the $32.6 billion that was funneled into the 1,252 startups tracked during the previous year.

Epelboim Development Group secured a $21.5-million construction loan from BridgeInvest for the development of an eight-story, 259-suite Tru by Hilton hotel in Orlando, FL, designed as the largest Tru by Hilton in the U.S. to date.

The hospitality world all wondered when private equity powerhouse Blackstone would take its exit from Hilton. Now we know. So ends a storied chapter where Blackstone took Hilton private, and then public. All along the way, you know Blackstone was lining its pockets.

Hotel Business has been following financial news in the industry.

Ciske van Oosten, senior manager of the global intelligence division at Verizon’s security assurance consulting practice, and John Barchie, senior fellow at Arrakis Consulting, offer the following tips for hoteliers looking to ensure their properties are GDPR-compliant.

PMZ Realty Capital LLC, a national boutique real estate investment banking firm focused on creating advantageous capital structures for its clients, has arranged a $13,000,000 permanent loan for the Hilton Garden Inn Bettendorf/Quad Cities located in Bettendorf, Iowa.

There are compelling reasons to start thinking deeply about how to value a company’s data assets for accounting purposes.

With 500 online hotel bookings happening every minute, technology is transforming the way people book travel -- but it's also creating real problems. Travel fraud is on the rise, with one in four consumers being scammed , according to recent research from the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA). The accused? Third-party travel resellers. And shady online marketing practices by these companies have led to 28.5 million fraudulent and misleading hotel bookings -- costing consumers a whopping $5.2 billion in 2107 alone.

U.S. retail sales increased for a second straight month in April, indicating consumer spending is accelerating after a sluggish first quarter. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales climbed 0.3% last month following an upwardly revised 0.8% surge in March. The April gain matched economists’ forecasts.

After a period of strong words from travel companies following the election of President Donald J. Trump and the chaos of the travel ban fiasco which followed, executives across the industry have tempered down their rhetoric on political issues. At first, the executives of companies including Expedia Group and Airbnb expressed concern about the election of Trump. Yet as the administration and series of travel bans rolled on, fewer leaders voiced opposition to policies that were squarely opposed to the health of the U.S. travel industry.

We find our industry and nation amidst surging economic growth and new business development opportunities, and two major advances late last year are pushing development forward. First, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) returned to the historical definition of “joint employer” and brought certainty back to franchising. Second, a once-in-a-generation tax overhaul—in addition to tax cuts—contains two small, yet very important, provisions; the preservation of federal historic tax credits and the creation of Opportunity Zones to promote investment in economically distressed areas. These provisions encourage long-term investment and development in older areas of our cities and counties, as well as in areas that were left behind as the nation rebounded from the Great Recession.

Human slavery is still present in today’s developed world, and it’s possible a victim of the trade could even be working in your hotel, against his or her will, without your knowledge. Labor trafficking is defined by the National Human Trafficking Hotline as a “form of modern-day slavery in which individuals perform labor or services through the use of force, fraud or coercion.” Labor trafficking most commonly occurs in domestic work and agriculture, but its presence can be felt in a variety of industries. Traffickers often saddle their victims with usurious debts and demand remittance despite paying beneath the minimum wage, leaving victims feeling stranded with no options for escape.

The commercial real estate industry is not usually first thought of when it comes to technological advancements. But slowly, that is changing. Increasingly, technology is helping property management firms automate systems and processes, and improving tenants’ experiences.

Well, the FDA’s long-awaited menu labeling rules are here. Moving forward, all of your favorite restaurants with more than 20 locations will have to start telling you exactly how many calories are really in those quesadillas, burgers and chicken wing platters. The FDA went through a lengthy process to turn the well-intentioned law (21 U.S.C. § 343(q)(5)(H)) into a set of very specific rules (21 C.F.R. 101.11). And while there was much speculation about further delays – the May 7, 2018 deadline has finally come and gone.