Developer proposes to demolish Century Plaza hotel

The 726-room Century Plaza has played host to U.S. presidents, rock stars and business moguls, and served as the location for countless galas and social functions since it was completed in 1966 as the centerpiece of an office, retail and residential development carved out of the former back lot of the 20th Century Fox film studio.

For many years the Century Plaza's doormen wore red Beefeater costumes. The hotel's ballrooms welcomed high-profile events, including an opening charity gala in 1966 emceed by Bob Hope, who with singer Andy Williams entertained the likes of Ronald and Nancy Reagan and Walt and Lillian Disney.

President Nixon hosted a state dinner there in 1969 for the Apollo 11 astronauts after their successful journey to the moon. In 1995, Hollywood studio head and notorious embezzler David Begelman committed suicide in a room at the hotel.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Provides Intra-Quarter Update

Disclosure regarding the non-GAAP financial measures in this release is included on page 5. Disclosure regarding the Comparable Portfolio is included on page 6 of this release. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measure for each of the periods presented are included on page 7 of this release.
Arthur Buser, President, stated "While we are seeing softness in both transient and group trends, we are reaffirming the guidance we provided during our third-quarter call earlier this fall. We continue to work closely with our managers to drive top-line growth and to improve our operating efficiencies to minimize margin erosion in this challenging operating environment."

Citigroup downgrades Indian Hotels to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’

Citigroup has downgraded Indian Hotels to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 47. The downgrade is based on lower earnings estimates to take into account the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, which will lead to temporary shutdown of the company’s flagship property in Mumbai and likely lower occupancy of the company’s other properties in India.

Indian Hotels is the largest hotel operator in the country and is looking to enter the budget hotel segment through its new brand ‘Ginger’ . It already operates 11 budget hotels and plans to add 35 such hotels in the next few years with an investment of Rs 400-600 crore. Indian Hotels also plans to foray into the adventure business with wildlife lodges.

Hospitality Veterans Launch New Fund to Acquire Hotels

"We believe the turmoil in the credit markets, together with the prospect of a recession, the depth and duration of which is unknown, will create compelling opportunities to acquire hotels at historically attractive prices," Solmson said. "Assuming moderate leverage of approximately 50 percent, we will have up to $300 million in buying power and plan to invest this sum over the next few years. We intend to acquire an institutional grade portfolio of premium-branded select-service and full-service hotels that will be diversified by brand, geography and market segment. Initially, we will focus on Marriott, Starwood (including Sheraton and Westin) and Hilton-branded products."
Solmson noted that the company has flexibility in structuring transactions. "We intend to be entrepreneurial in our approach and creative in structuring transactions, and we have the ability to move quickly. We will work directly with owners, developers, brokers and management companies to source transactions. It is anticipated that all of the hotels will be operated by third-party management companies."