LaSalle Hotel Properties is telling management companies to cut staffing by 20%. The real estate investment trust also froze salaries. "We are going to do everything we can where we can save money," Chief Financial Officer Hans Weger said.

Amid forecasts of a difficult 2009 operating environment, it's good to stop and find a few rays of light in the storm clouds. STR identified the top 10 U.S. markets based on RevPAR, then added preliminary October 2008 performance for each market.

It makes sense that 2009 will probably be known as the year of the hotel consultant.

Blackstone Group's $26 billion leveraged buyout of Hilton Hotels a year ago may have come at the least opportune time. The deal was one of the firm's last in the waning days of the buyout boom. Banks, shareholders and even U.S. taxpayers may ultimately be on the hook for the deal.

Even when occupancies were dropping at midprice hotels last summer, luxury hotels seemed immune to the slowdown, but that changed dramatically when the stock market began to plunge in September.

Although all of the details of the government bailout of the extensive bad debts of American financial institutions have yet to take final shape, you can’t help but wonder how it is going to impact the hotel industry.

STR released its revised 2008 and 2009 forecasts and its projections for the U.S. hotel industry’s performance in 2010.

United States Lodging Construction Pipeline Highlights at Q3

Hotels are increasingly finding themselves shifting their marketing plans in order to court regional business as unaffordable airfares prevent many guests and meetings from long-distance travel.

Marriott is warning that turbulence in the financial markets could cause owners to cancel or delay projects. The chain became the first to announce potential problems; cancellations could put thousands of jobs in jeopardy.

Hoteliers speaking at the Lodging Conference this week described how they are modifying their firms' strategies in response to the economic climate. Ted Darnall, chief operating officer of HEI Hotels & Resorts, said that with financing for hotel renovations extremely hard to come by, his firm is focusing only on upgrades that will bring in customers.

To gauge the depth and magnitude of a performance downturn, STR's Mark Lomanno looks at declines in occupancy and room rate and the rate at which those numbers are either accelerating or decelerating.

An analysis of STR data finds that while more hotels decreased their rates in the first half of 2008 than in 2007, over 70 percent of U.S. hotels continue to raise their rates.

Under the pressure of slumping occupancy, hoteliers might feel the urge to drop rates to chase demand. The experts warn against it, however, saying the move will likely hurt hoteliers--and their competitors.

Newly launched website Tripr.tv encourages hotel guests to video tape their hotel rooms and post them online for the world to see.

Rate and RevPAR continue to increase globally in July

The U.S. hotel industry posted increases in the key performance measurements of average daily rate and revenue per available room during July.

The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in the key performance measurements of occupancy and revenue per available room during the week of 10 -16 August 2008, according to data from STR.

And Many ‘Home-Based’ Vacations Include Hotel Stays and Travel-Related Activities

The economy is dying on the vine while $4 gasoline and rising unemployment have consumers putting purchases of everything from cars to houses on hold. Hotel chains, fearful of faltering occupancies as vacationers decide that backyard barbecues are more reasonable than a resort stay by the beach this summer, are scaling back plans for new construction. Condominium development is moribund, and the apartment, office, retail and even industrial sectors have all fallen off.

Summertime in Las Vegas might be more scorching this year than usual due to the heat from a growing number of condo hotel lawsuits. A group of 40 investors who bought condo-hotel units — privately owned homes inside hotels that revert to hotel rooms when the owners are away — are suing the developers of Signature, a hotel and condominium complex developed by a partnership of MGM Mirage and Aventura, Fla.-based Turnberry Associates. The owners claim their units aren't generating the revenue promised by salesmen.

Boutique hotels have evolved from novelty properties opened by the likes of Bill Kimpton and Ian Schrager to a staple that is a must-have for most large chains. One hotelier described his mission for boutique hotels as providing not just five-star service, but a fun version of five-star service.

Airlines are reducing the number of flights they operate as fuel costs soar, leading to an impact on the hotel industry. One analyst predicted that RevPAR could drop by 3% to 4% in 2009. Investors are advised to "reduce their exposure" in hotels in the meantime.

Restaurant managers are increasingly applying revenue management techniques to make their operations more profitable. The key to restaurant revenue management is accurately measuring revenue for a particular time interval.

Join AH&LA's Women In Lodging for a networking luncheon held in conjunction with the HD Expo in Las Vegas. Vail Brown from Smith Travel Research will divulge insight on trends and the impact of design on profitability, and you'll have the chance to exchange perspectives with the women who shape our industry.

PowerofTravel.org presents all of the available travel industry economic impact data in an easy-to-navigate format that enables the user to see the benefits of travel from the international level down to individual congressional districts.

Most companies assume that their customers are highly price-sensitive. They design their marketing programs with this idea in mind. When they have sales, more people buy. When their products or services are not on sale, less people buy. Capture a glimpse of the important differences in transaction and relationship buyers and how you can make each type a long-time customer.

A recent survey conducted on behalf of AIG Travel Guard found that Americans are still planning to travel in 2008, but may be altering their trips to cut costs.

As the economy cools, companies are starting to shrink their travel budgets -- a move likely to put further strain on struggling airlines. Hotels, car-rental agencies and restaurants, which along with airlines employ roughly 4 percent of U.S. workers, will also feel the pinch.

Time is up for the way hotels have been traditionally rated. A new stay paradigm has emerged and antiquated rating systems are no longer relevant.

Research conducted by Marriott indicates one third of all travelers are "experience driven" and would therefore gravitate to a boutique or lifestyle hotel. But all boutique/lifestyle hotel rooms combined represent only 3% of available hotel rooms today. So there is a major gap that many hotel chains are beginning to exploit with new brands like Hyatt Place, Indigo and W Hotels.

As if the sagging dollar and soaring oil costs weren't enough to dent travel budgets, hotel room rates are expected to surge in the coming year. From New York to Asia, and just about every desirable destination in between, the prices of rooms - especially at hotels and resorts favored by luxury and business travelers - are expected to rise significantly, sometimes in the double digits, analysts say.

"With the evolution online communities and the advent of sophisticated internet marketing resources and tools, it is critical to be aware of emerging trends and opportunities."

The travel industry is bracing for tough times. The slowing U.S. economy threatens the once-booming hotel industry, while the credit crunch is hampering expansion plans.

Hotel owners who wish to terminate a management agreement may find it to be difficult but not impossible. Several legal tools are available to help with the task, but owners need to understand that the hotel operator is often an "agent" of the owner.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels announced that the firm has published the U.S. Select Service Hotel Investor Survey, the first survey focusing on this segment of the hotel industry. This is the fourth issue of this survey, which targets 6,000 select service hotel owners and investors across the U.S.

Billionaire real estate developer Sam Zell bought a 7.7 percent stake in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. to become the company's second-biggest shareholder, causing the shares to rise 4.8 percent.

Jubilance regarding the overall state of the lodging industry is quickly fading. It’s getting overtaken by a swelling sense of pessimism.

The credit crunch, a weak U.S. dollar, new construction, green building, globalization and rapidly shifting US demographics are all factors that will shape the U.S. hospitality sector in 2008, according to a report released today at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) by Ernst & Young.

Suppliers are focusing on implementing tailored web strategies for their loyal members, offering a number of personalization tools and features distinctive for each member based on their membership profile. As the race for influencing and retaining consumer evolves, what does "loyalty" stand for online travel agencies?

At the beginning of 2007, Marriott International was dazzling Wall Street, with the firm's shares hitting all-time highs in February after beating analysts' expectations -- yet again -- for quarterly earnings.

An analysis of supply change within the extended-stay lodging segment certainly illustrates the appeal of this property type among hotel developers.

With all the rumblings of a potential decline in the nation’s economy, PKF-HR felt it important to conduct a special econometric analysis that measured the impact a hypothetical economic recession would have on U.S. hotels.

Lodging Econometrics (LE), the Global Authority for Hotel Real Estate, released its latest report to the Lodging Industry, announcing the New Construction Pipeline in the United States set a record at 5,011 projects / 654,503 rooms, making Q3 the fifth consecutive record-setting quarter.

The Mid-Year 2007 USRC Hotel Investment Survey indicates that discount rates and capitalization rates for both limited-service and full-service hotels have generally held at or near the record lows demonstrated in the Winter 2007 survey.

The year 2007 has started on a higher than expected note for global tourism. From January through April, international tourist arrivals worldwide rose by over 6% to 252 million, representing an additional 15 million arrivals as against the same period in 2006, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

A groundbreaking analysis of the effect of brand affiliation on a hotel property’s value has been named the best article published in Volume 47 of the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly (CQ).

At a press conference held on the roof of Schrager's Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan at 10:00 am on June 14, 2007, Bill Marriott (chairman and CEO of Marriott International) and Ian Schrager (the founder of Ian Schrager Hotels, now known as "Morgans Hotels") surprised most of the hotel industry with their news. Marriott (age 75) and Schrager (now 60) announced formal plans to partner in the creation of a new lifestyle boutique hotel brand.

Brands are the dominant consumer force in American consumerism. Brands make people feel good. They’re dependable, and the strongest of them not only resonate in the collective conscious, they are clearly understood. Think Starbucks, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart.

Sports analogies were the clear winner at the 29th annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. It was the only way professional prognosticators and conference attendees could describe where the hotel industry was in its traditional cycle.

As the single biggest chain scale segment in the U.S. lodging industry, economy chain performance is a critical indicator of the health of the industry. With almost 750,000 rooms affiliated with brands designated in this segment, representing just under 17 percent of all rooms in the U.S., their collective performance often reveals the overall incidence of travel for a large portion of lodging consumers.

The hotel sales market continues to remain strong as capital pours into the sector. And across the country brokers have been reporting brisk sales. For brokers, it’s a great time to be in the transaction business.

The hotel industry may be in a period of unmitigated highs, but prognosticators are starting to spend more time talking about potential lows. It’s true that the lodging business will still crank out record high profits for the next two years, but those tracking the business’ cyclical nature are seeing the first signs of the unavoidable downtown.

At the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit conference there was quite a bit of good news---the industry has just finished up the year with record profits for 2006! Transition dollar volume is also at all time high and 2007 is expected to be another record year for RevPAR growth, industry profits and transactions.

A symbolic gesture was made at the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. convention.

Hotel rooms that can access everything from your favorite food to your musical preferences— while running on technology that's clever enough to repair itself—might sound like a page torn right out of a pulp sci-fi novel. It isn't.

Country hoping for flood of Americans if and when travel ban is lifted

During the last 10 years, the fabled roadside exterior corridor hotel has been taking lots of knocks. Once considered the prototypical design for all limited ...

The just-released Winter 2007 USRC Hotel Investment Survey indicates that discount rates and capitalization rates for both limited-service and full-service hotels have continued to decline. ...

When most people think about New York hotels, it’s usually the city’s luxury hotels that grab all the headlines. But those looking past the Waldorf=Astoria ...

Overseas hotel groups are keen on building or operating five-star hotels in the mainland despite fierce competition and oversupply in cities such as Beijing, according ...

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels anticipates that the robust environment of hotel real estate mega-deals is poised to continue throughout 2007 and into 2008.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. hotel industry, four years into a recovery from the travel slump that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001, ...

The first day of the annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) opened yesterday with a record number of delegates – more than 2,400 – all ...

As we start 2007 our thoughts turn to the year ahead and what we can expect from the cautiously optimistic, yet still volatile market environment ...

It’s a good time to be a New York City hotel owner. Average Daily Rates continually hit record highs, nearly all rooms are filled regularly ...

By nearly all accounts, 2007 is expected to be a banner year for the hotel industry. There should be record profits and more rooms filled ...