China has imposed a new Olympics-related visa crackdown in recent weeks, resulting in sharp declines in inbound visitors. The government has called the move a “temporary measure,” which is intended to allay Olympics-related safety concerns. However, tighter visa controls are having an affect on business and leisure travel and a corresponding impact on […]

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Ehotelier reported that the International Lodging Finance Council (ILFC) had announced the results of its annual survey of 41 active senior and subordinate lenders. Unsurprisingly, surveyed lenders expressed a conservative outlook, with palatable LTV’s dropping from the mid-70s to the low to mid 60s on existing assets, with only certain high leverage lenders […]

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Now that the post mortem on the Sub Prime mess has begun (perhaps prematurely), the finger pointing is increasing. The more we find out, the more it appears that a perfect storm of sorts is revealing itself.  In our recent article, LodgingInsiders pointed to the rating agencies as the enablers of what has […]

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Hotel owners and developers in the United States are currently stalled in their efforts to finance acquisitions, developments, renovations and refinance existing assets. Corporate transactions have been equally hampered by the current market uncertainty, with credit committees reluctant to approve much of anything these days.
Lenders are extremely cautious when it comes to […]

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Ever since this whole sub prime powder keg exploded, I’ve been saying to people that none of this would have happened without the rating agencies. To my surprise, most people have disagreed with me, however, rating agencies appear to be the latest casualties in this expanding crisis (as discussed further here).

So why do I […]

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