HOTELS’ Investment Outlook

Investment Outlook Features HOTELS' Investment Outlook is a quarterly publication for hotel owners, investors, developers. financiers, consultants and analysts, as well as top executives of hotel chains, management companies and independent hoteliers worldwide. It is the first publication focused specifically on the hotel investment community, presenting timely news and feature articles, providing thorough analysis of major acquisitions, as well as profiling and analyzing the strategies of the industry's movers and shakers. It is an essential component to ensure the investment success of any hotel owner, investor, operator or developer.
MARCH 2008 New Horizons For the first time since Orient- Express Hotels (OEH) was founded in 1976 with the acquisition of the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Italy, the company is no longer under the leadership of the Sherwood family. OEH’s future success rests squarely on the shoulders of former CFO Paul White, who took over as president and CEO in August 2007 following the resignation of Simon Sherwood, the founder’s stepson.
DECEMBER 2007 Gamal Aziz Bets On MGM Mirage's Future MGM MIRAGE is betting on Gamal Aziz and its recently launched non-gaming luxury hotel management company to be one of the key business ventures in its new tripartite business model. What's in store for this company traditionally built around the casino business?
SEPTEMBER 2007 What Makes Banyan Tree Grow One-time journalist turned entrepreneur K.P. Ho found his passion in hotels and a niche for success with Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts. He and his wife started in the 1980s with an unreclaimable tin mine in Thailand and now expect to reach 59 hotels by 2010.
JUNE 2007 Noble Endeavors Backed by an expert team, Mitesh Shah has developed a capital pool that began with family money into a specialist investment group with capacity for US$1 billion worth of acquisition and development.
MARCH 2007 Pioneering Principles With a cash infusion from Istithmar and worldwide marketing expertise from the Wyndham Hotel Group, does Corinthia Group and its Chairman Alfred Pisani have what it needs to take on the world?
DECEMBER 2006 Power Hitter Robert Johnson (r.) struck a motherload of opportunity in the entertainment and sports arenas. Now, with Thomas Baltimore, he seems ready to mine another bonanza in the hotel industry with a sharp eye, discipline and a new US$743 million fund.
SEPTEMBER 2006 Asia's KINGMAKER Some say Symphony Capital's Anil Thandani is a visionary who knows how to make hotel dreams possible and profitable. Meet the man whose vision promises to be a good barometer for what is next in Asia's hotel industry.
JUNE 2006 Expert Efficiency Sunstone Hotel Investors has grown from its roots in southern California to the heart of Times Square thanks to a steely discipline and a knack for capital allocation analysts rate as second to none. Investment Outlook profiles this dangerous competitor.
MARCH 2006 Europe's New Money Players Gerald Parkes and Mark Newman of Lehman Brothers lead a new generation of funds and entrepreneurs who are cashing-in on the opportunities of an under-played European hotel market. The reward for their pioneering efforts? A "New World" 20%-plus IRR.
DECEMBER 2005 Watch This Space CEO Gerald Lawless talks to HOTELS'Investment Outlook about Jumeirah's strategy to grow from a Dubai-based powerhouse to a global player with the ambition and supposed patience to reach 40 hotels within five years.
SEPTEMBER 2005 Taj's Global Aspirations With its acquisition of The Pierre, launch of the indiOne brand and Jiva spas, (l. to r.) Taj Managing Director/CEO Raymond Bickson; IHCL Vice Chairman Krisha Kumar; and Tata Chairman R.N. Tata are positioning the company as a global player.
JUNE 2005 Global Hyatt Ready For Action The gauntlet is down. "Our best years are in front of us," says Hyatt CEO Douglas Geoga. On his agenda: service upgrades, a new brand and "more than our fair share of the deals."
MARCH 2005 Dare To Be Different Before you sell, you sometimes have to enhance. That is the decision MWB made when it decided to operate Malmaison itself, acquire Hotel du Vin and fund growth that will double its presence in the lifestyle sector within five years.
DECEMBER 2004 Diversify And Conquer Conservative and disciplined, LaSalle Hotel Properties keeps leverage low and dividends rolling along with a portfolio diversified not only by location, but by operator and sector.
SEPTEMBER 2004 Asia’s New Tiger Given a green light from its board, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Hong Kong, is on track to double its 44-hotel portfolio by 2008. The means: a combination of ownership and management. The arena: the world.
JUNE 2004 Borrower's Market-For Now (l. to r.) Barry Olson, Archon Capital; Dan Abrams, iStar Financial; and Chuck Rosenzweig, Greenwich Capital Markets, are among the leading lenders who discuss the availability of debt—both today and into the near future.
MARCH 2004 Can Richard North Revitalize InterContinental? “The organization was not working. The arteries were clogged,” says Richard North of the state of InterContinental Hotels Group when he took the reins and led the demerger. Now he is implementing his solutions. Will they work?
DECEMBER 2003 Colony Capital Hunts New Opportunities Colony Capital's decisions to sell Claridge's, enter into final talks for the Hawks Town complex in Japan and acquire Sardinia's luxe Costa Smeralda resort will certainly test the clarity of founder Thomas Barrack Jr.'s forward-looking vision.
SEPTEMBER 2003 Steve Wynn Dreaming Big Again After proving the naysayers wrong at Mirage Resorts, the King of Las Vegas has created Wynn Resorts Limited to develop the next generation of casinos—first in Las Vegas and then in Macau. Read what Steve Wynn has to say about his plans and the future of the gaming industry.
JUNE 2003 Agressive As Ever Having lived in the headlines, the redoubtable Kerzner family is back in the hotel industry’s fast lane with plans for Atlantis, a growing 5-star brand and UK gaming.
MARCH 2003 Measure For Measure An avid proponent of benchmarking and measurability, William Heinecke is looking beyond Thailand to expand his Minor Group's success in the hotel industry.
DECEMBER 2002 No Gimmicks At Two Hiltons Hilton Hotels Corp.'s Stephen Bollenbach and Hilton Group's David Michels have shelved sexy deals and turned their focus back to basics: Making more money.
SEPTEMBER 2002 Independents' Day The merger of the largest third-party managers, MeriStar Hotels & Resorts and Interstate Hotels, forges a 402-hotel powerhouse with a mandate to grow and the cash to get the job done.
JUNE 2002 Mexico? Maybe. Tapping the potential of Mexico’s hotel industry requires more patience and capital than appetite for risk.
MARCH 2002 Steady Hands J.W. Marriott, Jr. (right) of Marriott International and Christopher J. Nassetta of Host Marriott are leading teams that are exhibiting unexpected speed and nimbleness in response to the 9/11 tragedy. But neither is veering from a conservative course.
DECEMBER 2001 Bank On It Political and economic uncertainty have not dimmed the long-term appeal of the hotel industry for key European banks such as Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Germany's DePfa and the Netherlands' NIB Capital Bank.
SEPTEMBER 2001 Unconventional Wisdom Soros' Richard Georgi snubbed cautionary wisdom with a bold move into Japan's hotel market. Europe gets a more strategic touch from the former Goldman Sachs wünderkind.
MARCH 2001 The Best Revenge Many entrepreneurs have sought the grail of a truly pan-European, 5-star hotel company and failed. Now, five years after losing his father's company, it is Sir Rocco Forte's turn to try.
DECEMBER 2000 In Demand Stephen Rushmore learned from the best to create HVS International, a full-service consulting firm. Now his goal is to pay it forward.
SEPTEMBER 2000 Accidental Hotelier Samih Sawiris never intended to become a resort community developer, but after tasting some initial success, he wants to become the Middle East's pre-eminent, homegrown hotelier.
JUNE 2000 Architect Of Luxury Christopher Jeffries and his Millennium Partners are carving out luxury cities within cities, in which the children of the new Gilded Age can experience a night at a 5-star hotel or a new way of living.
MARCH 2000 New Blood Accor has its first new CEO in its 30-year history and a new strategy that has modernized the company and molded it into one of the industry's major consolidators.
NOVEMBER 1999 Hit & Run Nimble, quick and aggressive, Blackstone has become a big play specialist with deals such as Savoy and Vivendi's hotel portfolio.
SEPTEMBER 1999 Heir Apparent Canada's Canadian Pacific Hotels hopes to leverage three strong deals into a platform for global growth.
JUNE 1999 Built To Last CDL Hotels International has survived the Asian meltdown better than most and is positioned to become one of the region's dominant global players.