JMBM · 26 Feb

Hotel finance lawyer: PACE Financing is now mainstream

DocMX · 26 Feb

In these undeniably challenging times, hotels look to do more with less. The pandemic transformed ways of working across many industries, and digitisation or "digital transformation" is often advocated as the way forward to help hospitality weather the storm and become stronger in the long-term. But what do these buzzwords mean for hotels, and what financial benefits can they deliver?

In Extenso Avocats · 24 Feb

More than ever, off-plan hotel leases[1] are making headlines in the leisure real estate industry. Stemming from real estate law professional practices, off-plan hotel leases reconcile the legal and financial interests of three distinct actors: the developer (seller), the investor (owner) and the operator (tenant).

JMBM · 17 Feb

For many years, businesses classed as public accommodations under the ADA have been the subject of "cookie-cutter" complaints that allege discriminatory conditions without providing any specific examples. Thousands of nearly identical complaints have been filed in federal courts nationwide, and their lack of detail makes it difficult for courts to provide a remedy that will prevent future harm. Martin Orlick, Chair of JMBM's ADA Compliance & Defense Group, summarizes the recent decision in Whitaker v. Tesla Motors which may put an end to these fill-in-the-blank cases.

AETHOS Consulting Group · 16 Feb

Romain Semmel is Investment Director at Pygmalion Capital. He built the foundation of his career with globally recognised property advisory firm Jones Lang LaSalle, where Romain has been involved in over EUR €2.5billion in hotel acquisition and financing deals across Europe. He joined Pygmalion in 2018, a dedicated European investment firm deploying institutional capital to acquire hospitality assets and operating platforms. The company has had its first foray into the hotel sector by acquiring a portfolio of Spanish upscale hotels and is now looking to continue its acquisitions despite the current environment.

HVS · 10 Feb

The COVID-19 crisis consumed the United States for approximately three-quarters of the past year. In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.[1] The development and distribution of an effective COVID-19 vaccine, alongside other public health measures, should allow us to combat the health effects of the global pandemic. With certainty coalescing around the health solutions to the pandemic, attention must turn to economic solutions.

HVS · 8 Feb

After making several representations to the government, the Indian hospitality sector, one of the worst-hit by the pandemic, was expecting some game-changing announcements during the Budget 2021 speech which would help accelerate the sector's recovery.However, the first ever 'digital' budget of the country failed to provide any direct and immediate support to the sector.

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants · 5 Feb

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants don't always agree, but when asked to predict the future of hospitality, everyone felt the same: Don't expect recovery to be quick.

JMBM · 4 Feb

As we've discussed in previous blogs, there has been an uptick in lawsuits filed against hotels alleging a failure to list accessible features on their website as required by the ADA. While many of these cases have been successfully defended in federal courts, new filings continue to surge and many plaintiffs are turning to state courts which have different requirements for dismissal. Martin Orlick, Chair of JMBM's ADA Compliance & Defense Group, explains why we should expect these cases to continue in 2021 and what hotels should be looking out for.

Horwath · 3 Feb

This quotation is usually attributed to former US President Dwight Eisenhower. He meant it in a military context. When the wolves at the door are soldiers (or even heavily armed and bizarrely-dressed "Republicans"), your plan may have to change rapidly and radically, but you must have one, and you must be clear about where your plan is taking you. This means strategy.

HVS · 22 Jan

In Spring 2020, many hotels were forced to furlough most on-property Sales Managers because so much demand for hotels disappeared with the pandemic, requiring any remaining team members to be responsible for market segments which previously were not their responsibility. These remaining Sales Managers were forced to adapt to many other changes in a short time, including rescheduling/canceling events, in addition to learning how to research and sell to new/additional market segments while maintaining relationships with past and current clients. What does this mean for the future sales teams?

The Hotel Financial Coach · 18 Jan

I am a big fan of the Uniformed System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), or as she is affectionately called "You Sally." It has been the guide that our industry uses to properly present financial information for a long…long time, in fact almost 100 years. It lays out the format for our financial statement presentation and essentially acts as a referee if you like, to tell us what goes where. What revenues, costs of goods, expenses, and payroll belong to which department.

JMBM · 14 Jan

We have a new PPP Loan authorization bill out of Washington, after months of political wrangling. Congress could have done more, but they did provide for up to $2,000,000 in additional forgivable loans per borrower, along with provisions which specifically cater to the hospitality industry.

HVS · 11 Jan

A crisis is often needed to make drastic changes and the ongoing pandemic is one of the most challenging crises that the world has faced since the Second World War. The COVID-19 outbreak came in suddenly, swept across the world and changed us in an unprecedented way - not only our businesses but even the way we live.

US Hotel Advisors · 8 Jan

It is obvious that hotel operating performance will be much better in 2021 than 2020. It is, perhaps, less obvious that hotel lending has already begun staging a comeback that will accelerate throughout the year while continuing to stay ahead of actual hotel performance.

HVS · 8 Jan

Like many people, I returned to my desk this week after the now-familiar five-second commute between the kitchen and my office at home and pondered what the New Year is likely to bring the UK hotel industry. By the time Boris Johnson started his TV broadcast at 8pm on Monday and Lockdown 3.0 had now commenced, any optimism we might have had was substantially depleted.

HotStats Limited · 7 Jan

Does a pandemic qualify for business interruption insurance? It's a question hoteliers shouldn't be asking themselves, but rather, their insurance company.

Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited · 7 Jan

Is COVID-19 the Armageddon for the hotel industry? That's the first question I asked Dr. Donald W. Wise, co-founder and senior managing director of Turnbull Capital Group. With over 36 years of investment banking experience in the hospitality industry, he and this firm have been involved in roughly $20 billions of advisory, consultation, note sales, preferred equity and debt placements, and transactional engagements on both the buy-side and the sell-side.

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants · 29 Dec

In the world of forensic accounting there is a somewhat similar collection of cautioning indicators called Red Flags. Unfortunately for us, the Red Flag list is not limited to seven "sins". As you can imagine, for every hotel's control environment and operating structure the opportunities for Red Flags to emerge can be fluid, especially in the COVID-19 era we are operating.

The Hotel Financial Coach · 28 Dec

As you know the front office is the command post for your operation, and it's also the point where all the receipts come through. Making sure you have solid internal controls at the desk is not only good business, it's mission-critical. Without these safeguards you are wide open and as someone once said, good internal controls help keep honest people honest. Now don't get me wrong. I believe we need to trust the people we have on our teams, and I also have seen what can happen when there is an opportunity. So, this piece is about eliminating most of those weaknesses at the front desk.

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants · 25 Dec

During crisis times, the hospitality industry becomes fragile as demand is driven by guests. Conditions that affect guests also affect the business. As its nature, hospitality investments usually have longer return on investments, and sometimes detached investor profile as owning a hotel and operating it are two different practices.

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants · 23 Dec

Many hotel owners made quick decisions this past Spring to survive the uncertainty ahead. The need has never been greater to rethink what the optimal plan is to move forward in the fast-changing market. Don't assume that the current business model will still yield the highest and best use going forward.

HVS · 21 Dec

In the past few months, several state governments have been proactively lending a helping hand to the tourism & hospitality sector in their respective states, providing various relief measures to help the sector stay afloat during these trying times. Last month, in a move to reboot the sector, the Maharashtra government conferred 'industry' status to the state's hospitality sector.