Lender requests Florida hotel management company to assist with troubled asset
(TAMPA, FL – 01/06/16) When a hotel asset is in trouble and the lender must step in, it is often necessary for the financial institution to rely on the expertise of a hospitality industry professional who has experience in dealing with distressed hotel properties. Recently, a local lender asked St. Petersburg-based Southwind Hotels and Resorts to provide hotel receivership services for the Masters Inn Tampa Fairgrounds, located at 626 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, about a mile from the Florida State Fairgrounds facility.
In a receiver role, Southwind President Gilles Arditi (pronounced "Jheel R-DeeTee") has stepped in to manage the recovery process for the hotel, which includes providing a dedicated management team and regrouping with existing hotel staff to analyze the property from a physical standpoint and a personnel perspective. The goal is to implement a plan for identifying areas where profitability can be increased most efficiently and to improve guest satisfaction through training and operational adjustments. Additionally, Arditi will represent the lender throughout the court process that comes with hotel receivership, navigating the complicated legal system.
“This property presents a number of challenges from a physical perspective, but its location provides great potential for being a successful hotel,” explained Gilles Arditi, president of Southwind Hotels and Resorts. “We are working closely with the lender and hotel team to make the right decisions to move forward with a sensible plan for this property.”
Southwind Hotels and Resorts specializes in recovery turnarounds and long-term management solutions for branded, independent and boutique hotels in Florida and throughout the Southeast. The company’s history of developing successful recovery plans for hotels in the Tampa Bay area and beyond provides lenders with a resource experienced with the legal process of receivership and how to successfully operate a hotel within a limited budget. Working with other distressed hotels in the Tampa area, Southwind was able to ensure that all of the obligations and terms covered under the receiver’s order were met, and they led a team of real estate brokers to the final phase of disposal of assets on behalf of the lender, setting the properties up for future success under new ownership.
For more information about the hotel receivership process, contact Gilles Arditi with Southwind Hotels and Resorts, 727.803.6926 or gilles.arditi@southwindhospitality.com.
