Hotel openings are an elaborate affair that seek focused inputs from the ownership at a pre-opening stage. While the hotel management company and operations team are largely responsible for the pre-opening preparation, the owner also has his/her tasks cut out. Here's a look at the very basic set of expectations from an owner of a managed-hotel at this stage:
In Part 1, I discussed the importance of determining the true revenue and expense levels of a property, which may not be overtly evident by statements or tax returns provided by a motel owner. When reconstructing a true (or as close to true as possible) statement, this may diminish the reliability of the direct capitalization method and discounted cash flow in the reconciliation if these opinions are based on estimated statements. Conversely, this heightens the importance of the RRM if the rooms revenue is the most documented line item, as well as the importance of the sales comparison approach; moreover, these two may be the most highly relied-upon methods by sellers and buyers in the motel investment space.
INTRODUCTION (I HEAR THE DRUMS ECHOING TONIGHT) - Ever since its release in '82, Africa by TOTO became a quadruple platinum record, with around 300M streams on Spotify, 400M YouTube views and even a solar-batteries-powered sound installation in the Namib Desert, "to keep TOTO going for all eternity". But what makes this song so special after all these years? I doubt it's simply because of the '80s wave of nostalgia we are experiencing and, even though TOTO was (and still is) a super-band of extremely skilled musicians, there must be a deeper reason. Most genetic experts today agree that the entire humankind originated in Africa, and that all non-African people descend from what anthropologists describe as the "Out of Africa Migration", happened some 70,000 years ago. It is undeniable, therefore, that this continent does strike a chord in us. The reason, quite simply, seems to rely on our DNA.
Asset managers are a conduit between a hotel’s owner and the company operating the hotel, writes HOSPA’s Jane Pendlebury, and as such they add great value to both parties. One key to their success is the ability to carefully manage both parties’ expectations.
Bigger is better, right? That's why there are more hotel mergers and acquisitions in recent years; there are also many hotel chains are building larger loyalty programs to pull in more travelers. Besides hotels, Airbnb and OTAs (online travel agents) also want to get bigger through acquisitions.
Thanks to the increasing complexities of today's hospitality market where disruptors seemingly turn up out of nowhere and operators consolidate at a fast rate - it is easy to understand why.
In the lead up to the 2019 Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC), we asked a number of industry partners how they synchronise for success.
Planning for a major property renovation can give any hotel management team a major headache. Still, keeping your hotel property fresh and inviting increases guest satisfaction, leading to more repeat customers, referrals and a major boost in revenue.
In 1919, two grand hotels were racing to completion. The Hotel Commodore connected to Grand Central Terminal and owned by The New York Central Railroad officially opened on January 28, 1919. Named after 'Commodore' Cornelius Vanderbilt, the founder of The New York Central Railroad System, it had a whopping 2,000 guestrooms. It also housed the single largest room ever constructed.
If you're thinking of investing in the hotel sector in Europe where should you be looking to put your money? Patrik Hug, Senior Consultant, Advisory & Valuation Services at Christie & Co based in Munich, Germany, says much depends on how risk averse the potential investor is.
Recently, my partner, Guy Maisnik, and I spoke about hotel retail mixed-use development with Kelsi Maree Borland of GlobeSt.com. Her article, Why Retail Owners Are Partnering With Hotels ran with the subtitle, With retail evolving to be more experience-driven, retail owners are finding the benefits of adding boutique hotels to shopping centers.
Following a year of robust transaction activity, hotel capitalization rates remain stable, while hotel NOI and values are under pressure due to slowing RevPAR growth and increasing operating expenses. This article looks at hotel sales and capitalization rate trends, the impact of slowing RevPAR growth on hotel values, and the outlook for 2019. [1]
A possessory interest is created when a private-sector tenant is granted exclusive use of real property (land and/or building) that is owned by a tax-exempt entity, typically a municipality or a state or federal government agency. The right to occupy and use the land and/or building is usually conferred via a lease
On average, hotel prices increased significantly in 2018, as a strong pool of buyers with favorable outlooks kept downward pressure on cap rates. A strong bidding environment for hotels, particularly those in markets where barriers to entry were high and PIPs had already been completed, kept prices strong, resulting in some big wins for hotel sellers that purchased their hotels at the right time during the last downturn.
Hotel owners increasingly rely on hotel management companies to operate their hotels through formalized hotel management agreements (HMA). Separating ownership and operations supposedly benefits both parties: owners are able to invest in hotel real estate and access the professional operating expertise of hotel management companies, while operators can generate important income streams, expand any brands they may have, and earn profits, all without having to invest in the underlying real estate.
For the past four years the opening of dual-branded properties has been very popular among hotel developers. The perceived benefits of building a property with two or more brands are many:
Hotel owners increasingly contract hotel management companies to operate their properties. While extensive research has examined management agreements to determine the balance of power between owners and management companies, little research has investigated the actual role that hotel owners play in property-level decision making. This is perplexing because management companies generally insist that hotel management agreements (HMAs) specifically stipulate that the owner should not seek to influence the hotel's general manager (GM). In other words, in exchange for their services, management companies have generally required owners to relinquish involvement in the hotel's day-to-day business. However, hotel owners are increasingly sophisticated and institutional, suggesting they may not be content to remain uninvolved as individual or single-property owners had previously done.
Hurricanes Michael and Florence are both gone, but the extent of their destruction is now coming into clearer focus.
HVS continually tracks the rates of return on the assets that we consult on. In our most recent review, we found that equity yield rates, on average, have been declining, due in part to the expectation of slowing EBITDA Less Replacement Reserve growth. The sample size of available data is also a contributing factor.
It's nothing new to hear about hotels or owners who have said "good bye" to brands and have gone on their own as an independent hotel. This is the story of one such hotel and a look at their results. I am also going to highlight the typical costs associated with being affiliated with a brand and what some say is the biggest reason to get out while you can.