Sonnenblick-Eichner Company Arranges $26,750,000 of First Mortgage Financing for Two Northern California Hotels
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company | January 10th, 2023
Hilton to Bring First Waldorf Astoria Property to Costa Rica
Hilton | November 15th, 2022
Property Taxes Post COVID-19
Brian F. Bisema | September 28, 2020
By Brian Bisema, Suzanne Mellen After realizing record-high RevPAR levels with over 100 consecutive months of growth, the lodging industry continued to strengthen through 2019, albeit at a significantly more tempered rate. Then, in the first quarter of 2020, COVID-19 struck. The unimaginable pandemic erased years of RevPAR gains virtually overnight, leaving owners and operators scrambling to strategize the forthcoming steps. While logistics pertaining to reopening hotels, new sanitation standards, and controlling variable operational expenses are on the forefront of hoteliers’ minds, fixed expenses, particularly an asset’s property tax...
How Much Does It Cost to Give Great Customer Service?
Shep Hyken | September 16, 2020
By Shep Hyken I recently wrote an article in Forbes about how to get customers to pay more. The focus, of course, was on customer service and experience. Research has irrefutably proven that customers will pay more for a better experience. Research also has irrefutably proven that customers will leave you for your competition if you don’t give them the service they expect. One of my Forbes readers, Daniel Rodriguez, sent in an interesting comment. He said, “What’s interesting is that better service is correlated to a higher willingness for the customer to pay, but that doesn’t mean that a business has to spend more on CS to...
Evaluating Hotel Performance: 6 Key Factors
EHL Insights | September 15, 2020
The clear-cut measurability of KPIs is alluring. Occupancy percentages, profit indicators, return on investment. These are the type of traditional performance measures on which many hoteliers rely when it comes to evaluating hotel performance. Unfortunately, taken in isolation, they are now thought to provide misleading signals, failing to adequately support the needs of today’s organizations. In order to capture the full picture of hotel performance, additional factors must be borne in mind. Does your hotel take safety seriously? Does it embrace innovation? Are you providing service excellence to your hotel guests? A more holistic view ...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: What Everyone Needs to Know About Hotel Financial Skills 1-10
David Lund | August 24, 2020
By David Lund On the eve of starting my financial leadership course for the third year with Royal Roads University it occurs to me that most people have it somewhat wrong when it comes to how they think about the financials inside the hotel business. It’s almost like they think that a mechanic is the only person who can drive a car. On that note many great drivers possess great knowledge about how the car works but they’re not mechanics; it’s not a requirement to be a great driver. You would never take your Ferrari to the driver for a repair, but man can they drive it. The exact same goes for financial skills and understanding. You ...
ProfitSword Provides Focus Hospitality Management With Latest in Business Intelligence Technology and Revenue Management Efficiency
ProfitSword, LLC | July 7, 2020
Full service hotel management company able to instantly obtain real-time performance metrics across portfolio and identify business risks or opportunities despite current market uncertainty. ORLANDO, Fla. – (July 7, 2020) – ProfitSword, hospitality’s premier developer of business intelligence and data integration software, has been selected by Focus Hospitality Management to enhance its strategic planning, operational management and revenue growth abilities with the implementation of ProfitSage. An award-winning hotel management company that provides in-depth expertise for all facets of a hotel’s operation and that oversees a diver...
Optimism Versus Reality
H. Keith Thompson | June 1, 2020
By H. Keith Thompson I am, by my very nature, an optimist. I don’t think you can be a hotel broker and not be an optimist. Optimism is welcomed, wonderful, and useful, but there must be some reality woven in. Today there are 40+ million people unemployed in the US, and it is expected that the May 2020 unemployment rate will be 20+/-%. For the hospitality industry, COVID has caused performance to plummet to levels never seen before. While I am happy to see public companies rebounding in stock value, a close friend of mine asked me what I believe could be the best question. Why? With hotels especially, as well as office, multifamily,...
Post-COVID Brokers Opinion of Value
Avison Young | May 14, 2020
ATLANTA – May 14, 2020 – Avison Young Hospitality Group presents a new Post-COVID Brokers Opinion of Value Format. The hospitality industry has been shaken to its core over last several months by the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic shutdown the virus has left in its wake. Markets across the country and the world have seen business grind to a halt, with hoteliers in every corner of the globe feeling immense economic pressure from the drastic loss in business. We at Avison Young understand the hotel owner’s need for a property specific presentation they can use for their partners, investors and lenders that demonstrates vi...
From Density to Distancing
H. Keith Thompson | May 12, 2020
By H. Keith Thompson, Principal Avison Young Hospitality Group Ten short weeks ago, business was about packing in as much density with as many people as possible. From hotels, conventions, sports venues, air travel, resorts, retail, and office buildings - down to going to a Costco. Now, ten weeks later, it is all about staying separate and distancing yourself from other people. How can this be possible? Because COVID-19 (‘CV”) has caused a shift in the paradigm of personal life and commercial life that no one saw coming. Ten weeks in, we now judge every face-to-face interaction differently than we used to. Behind closed doors, al...
The Real Effect of COVID-19
H. Keith Thompson | May 7, 2020
Public interviews versus private interviews By H. Keith Thompson, Principal Avison Young Hospitality Group Publicly accessible interviews seldom tell the real story. The real story is only garnered through private conversations that are kept confidential. The reason is simple; no CEO wants to discuss publicly the real time performance, cash position, losses and contingency plans inherent in their company’s strategy. They have peers, competitors, investors and lenders who simply do not want this level of confidential information available for public consumption. Their public message is one of hope and optimism, but more times than not ...
Access Point Financial Secures $9.2 Million Loan for Delta by Marriott, Green Bay
Access Point Financial | April 6, 2020
Recognized leader in hospitality-focused lending completes full loan funding in just 15 days amid coronavirus outbreak GREEN BAY, WIS. - April 3, 2020 – Access Point Financial, LLC (APF), a leading direct lender and specialty finance company focused exclusively on the hospitality industry, today announced the completion of an agreement with Lodging Opportunity Fund REIT (LOF REIT) to refinance the Delta by Marriott in Green Bay, WI. LOF REIT worked with Access Point Financial to secure a $9.2 million loan on the property. The REIT chose APF as its lending partner due to the company’s ability to be nimble when working with a limited...
Avison Young Transactions, March 2020
Avison Young | March 31, 2020
ATLANTA – March 31, 2020 – Avison Young Hospitality Group announced the firm closed two hotel transactions in Pennsylvania and Illinois last week. One property was a select service hotel in Allentown PA and the other was a Springhill Suites in Illinois. Pricing for both hotels represented the new normal during the coronavirus situation....
Hospitality Financial Leadership – Creating Asset Value Even in These Turbulent Times
David Lund | March 25, 2020
By David Lund That’s right, your eyes and the headline are not fooling you. I learned an incredibly valuable lesson from a client in a backwards kind of way and now I want to share it with you. It is a simple way to create something valuable and powerful even in a completely down market like were in now. Use this story to show your teams what they are leaving on table in the way of profits and asset value if they are not always looking for the upside in their hotel. Here is my story. I had just finished a half-day hospitality financial leadership workshop for a client, one of a series of six that they had contracted me to do. The Gene...
COVID-19 Financing Strategic Options for Hotel Owners
Harry G. Spirides | March 19, 2020
By Harry G. Spirides, President & CEO of Spirides Hospitality Finance Company Along with all the other industries around the world the U.S. hotel industry has been blindsided by the COVID-19 Global Pandemic Black Swan Event. Instantly, hotel owners have found themselves with empty hotels, depleted cash reserves, and wondering how they will be able to make their monthly mortgage payments and payroll which were hardly ever considered to be a problem in the expansionary period leading up to COVID-19. Due to the recent unprecedented sharp interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, the Prime Rate is now set at 3.25% which sets the table fo...
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company Arranges $20,500,000 of First Mortgage Financing for the Carriage Inn, Sherman Oaks, California
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company | March 19, 2020
Beverly Hills, CA (March 19, 2020) – Sonnenblick-Eichner Company announced today that it has arranged $20,500,000 of first mortgage financing for the 178-room Carriage Inn, located at the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Sherman Oaks, California. The non-recourse 10-year fixed rate loan was priced at 3.36%, with interest-only payments for the entire loan term. The hotel, affiliated with the Best Western Plus brand, features meeting space, a pool and Jacuzzi, a fitness center and surface parking for 160 cars. The hotel is conveniently located within close proximity to Universal Studios/Hollywood, the ...
Avison Young Transactions
Avison Young | March 17, 2020
ATLANTA – March 17, 2020 – Avison Young Hospitality Group announced the firm closed five separate hotel transactions last week. The property closings were in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and one closing at the Atlanta Airport. Brands ranged from Marriott select service hotels to various other brand families. The hotels were all under 200 rooms each and were in suburban and tertiary markets reflective of the ever-changing investment cycle....
Access Point Financial Provides $11M in Financing for Sheraton Chicago Northbrook Renovation
Access Point Financial | March 12, 2020
Recognized leader in hospitality-focused lending steps in to assist with the continued repositioning of the Sheraton brand with Chicago hotel update CHICAGO – March 12, 2020 – Access Point Financial, LLC (APF), a leading direct lender and specialty finance company focused exclusively on the hospitality industry, today announced the completion of an agreement with a Chicago-based ownership group to provide $11 million in financing for the renovation of the Sheraton Chicago Northbrook Hotel. The Sheraton Chicago Northbrook Hotel opened in 2008, and is located in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The 161-room hotel selected Acce...
RLH Completes Sale of Red Lion Hotel Anaheim for $21.5 Million
RLH Corporation | March 10, 2020
DENVER, March 10, 2020 -- RLH Corporation (NYSE:RLH) announced today that it has closed on the sale of its Red Lion Hotel Anaheim for $21.5 million in gross proceeds. Red Lion Hotel Anaheim was wholly owned by the Company and unencumbered by a mortgage. Proceeds after broker fees and customary closing costs will be used to repay the $10 million credit facility. The remaining funds of $10.8 million will be used to fund franchise growth opportunities and for general business purposes. This transaction marks the final closing of four hotels announced in September 2019 as under contract to be sold. The net proceeds from these four assets af...
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company Arranges Financing for Lone Star Court, Austin, Texas
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company | March 3, 2020
Beverly Hills, CA (March 3, 2020) -- Sonnenblick-Eichner Company has arranged first mortgage debt to refinance the Lone Star Court, a 123-room boutique hotel located within The Domain, a 303-acre master planned development in Austin, TX. The CMBS loan, funded by a Wall Street investment bank pays 3.49% interest only over the entire 10-year term. Loan proceeds were utilized to retire existing debt and provide working capital. Hotel amenities include The Water Trough Restaurant and Bar, 1,933 square feet of meeting space, 3,341 square feet of outdoor event space, a fitness center, swimming pool, and 154 parking spaces. Lone Star Court is ran...
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company Arranges $17,750,000 of Interim First Mortgage Financing for The Normandy Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company | January 28, 2020
Beverly Hills, California – January 28, 2020 – Sonnenblick-Eichner Company announced today that it has arranged $17,750,000 of interim first mortgage financing for The Normandy Hotel, a six-story, 75-room boutique hotel located in the upscale Kalorama district of Washington, D.C. The Kalorama district is one of Washington, D.C.’s most desirable neighborhoods, located just blocks from Dupont Circle, and minutes from the White House, Capitol Hill, Smithsonian Museums, National Zoo and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The non-recourse LIBOR-based loan has a term of 5 years and paid off an existing acquisition and renovation l...
RobertDouglas Advises Geolo Capital and JW Capital Partners on the $120,000,000 Sale of the Thompson Washington, D.C.
RobertDouglas | January 27, 2020
New York – January 27, 2020 - RobertDouglas announced today that it advised a joint-venture between Geolo Capital and JW Capital Partners in arranging the forward-sale of the Thompson Washington, D.C. to Union Investment, a German institutional fund manager, for $120,000,000. “The opportunity to participate in the development of the Thompson Washington, D.C. attracted a wide range of investment options. Ultimately, Union Investment offered the most attractive structure though a sale-leaseback,” commented Evan Hurd, Principal and Managing Director. “Although the sale-leaseback model is commonplace in most European markets, it is sti...
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company Arranges Interim Leasehold First Mortgage Financing for Residence Inn by Marriott Walnut Creek, Walnut Creek, California
Sonnenblick-Eichner Company | January 15, 2020
Beverly Hills, CA – January 15, 2020 – Sonnenblick-Eichner Company has arranged interim first mortgage leasehold financing for the Residence Inn by Marriott Walnut Creek, located in Walnut Creek, CA. The non-recourse LIBOR-based loan funded upon completion of construction and the opening of the hotel. The Residence Inn by Marriott Walnut Creek is a 160-room, six-story, extended-stay hotel located in the heart of downtown Walnut Creek. The 77% loan-to-cost loan with a credit spread in the low 300s over LIBOR, provided a return of cash equity to the borrower and relieves them of the recourse obligations associated with the construction l...
Access Point Financial Partners With AD1 Global to Finance the Development of Hyatt Place and Home2 Suites in Palm Bay
Access Point Financial | January 7, 2020
Leading hospitality industry lender selected to finance dual properties for new Florida development partnership, citing reliability and flexibility ATLANTA – January 7, 2020 – Access Point Financial, LLC (APF), a leading direct lender and specialty finance company focused exclusively on the hospitality industry, has signed an agreement with top hotel development and management firm, AD1 Global Hospitality, to finance the development of a Hyatt Place and Home2 Suites by Hilton located in Palm Bay, Florida. Access Point Financial provided $26.8 million in financing for the development of the hotels, with $15 million for the 106-room ...
PAR or POR? A Guide to Interpreting Hotel Operational Ratios / Laura Resco
HotStats | December 23, 2019
Hospitality data is only as good as the ratio used to calculate it. Is it better to be on PAR or on POR? We explain the differences between per-available-room and per-occupied-room bases Data is king, but futile if you don’t know how to best interpret the numbers. Asking yourself, “What’s the best way to analyze my data?” is too broad and only adds to the confusion. A better approach is to start by setting goals for your analysis. What specific information do you want to extract from your data? When you have a clear understanding of this, you can choose the most relevant ratios accordingly. The two most popular ways to calculate...
Drury Hotels Is Developing Its First Property in the DISNEY SPRINGS® Resort Area of Orlando, Florida
Drury Hotels Company | December 9, 2019
ST. LOUIS, Dec. 9, 2019 -- Drury Hotels Company is bringing a bit of magic to its guests. The company is developing its largest property to date, the Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista, and will begin to welcome guests by spring 2021. The new property, located in the DISNEY SPRINGS® Resort Area in Orlando, Florida, is the company's first Official Walt Disney World® Hotel and the fourth Drury Hotel in the state. The entire project – which includes 604 rooms and more than 12,000 square feet of meeting space – will be complete by the end of 2021, with the first 264 rooms available by spring 2021. The new hotel will feature a host o...
