When walking into hotel lobbies these days, I sometimes wonder whether I have entered through a side entrance into the bar or restaurant. There’s been a lot of talk lately about maximizing revenues from every square foot of a hotel’s interior, including the formerly under-utilized reception/lobby area. Lobby spaces are being converted from […]

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As predicted by many currency traders, the dollar may have turned the corner, most significantly against the Euro, as discussed in the Economist today. After peaking at US$1.60 against the Euro on April 22nd, the dollar has strengthened to below US$1.54 on May 2nd in response to the “perception that the period of Federal […]

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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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