Washington, January 18, 2012 —Executives and companies responsible for the most influential hospitality industry developments in 2011 will be honored during the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), January 23-25 at the JW Marriott and Nokia Theatre at LA LIVE.  Nominees are considered for the awards based on outstanding business performance in various industry sectors.

Nominees for the 2011 awards include:
 
Development of the Year 2011

• The 1,005-room, $320 million JW Marriott Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Indiana, was developed and managed by the White Lodging Services Corporation.
• The 270-room Mondrian Soho in New York, New York, developed at a cost of $250 million by Cape Advisors, Inc., and managed by Morgans Hotel Group
• The 334-room Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, developed at a cost of $126 million as a joint venture between Carlson Hotels Management Corporation and Magellan Development Group.

Single Asset Transaction of the Year 2011

• A joint venture between Equity Group Investments, Hilton Worldwide, and Elysian principals purchase of the 188-room Elysian Hotel Chicago from Arcapita.
• Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., purchase of the 1,625-room Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, CA, for $570 million or approximately $351,000 per room from the Manchester Financial Group.
• Pebblebrook Hotel Trust purchase of the 235-room W Boston, for $89.5 million, or approximately $381,000 per room, at bankruptcy auction, from SW Boston, LLC.

Merger & Acquisition of the Year 2011

• A joint venture between Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc and Prudential Financial Inc., acquired the hotel portfolio of Highland Hospitality Corp, a McLean, VA-based REIT. The acquisition and restructuring were completed through a $1.3 billion consensual foreclosure.
• A joint venture between Chatham Lodging Trust and Cerberus Capital Management LP, acquired 64 hotels from Innkeepers USA Trust, a Palm Beach-based REIT and a majority-owned unit of Apollo Investment Corp., for an estimated $1.02 billion.
• New World Hospitality Ltd. acquired Rosewood Hotels & Resorts LLC, a privately held ultra-luxury hotel management company based in Dallas, from Rosewood Corp. and Maritz Wolff & Co LLC, for $229.5 million. One day after the deal closed, the family of Hong Kong billionaire Cheng Yu-Tung, which controls New World Development Co., acquired five luxury hotels, including Manhattan's Carlyle, from Rosewood Corp. and Maritz, Wolff & Co. for $570 million.  The combined transaction is approximately $799.5 million.

Jack A. Shaffer Financial Advisor of the Year 2011

• Jon Kurnit, Senior Managing Director, Beacon Hospitality Partners
• Herb Warmbrodt, Principal, Warmbrodt Hotel Investments
• Robert J. Webster, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels

Co-hosted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and Burba Hotel Network (BHN), the two-and-a-half-day ALIS event features an extensive array of seminars and panels hosted by leading experts and investors discussing important trends and identifying new opportunities.  The conference attracts the lodging industry’s leading hotel executives, investors, lenders, developers, and professional advisory community.  Proceeds from ALIS benefit the educational, research, and training missions of the American Hotel & Lodging Education Foundation (AH&LEF), AH&LA’s nonprofit affiliate.

Online registration is available via the ALIS Website.  For general event information and sponsorship opportunities, contact BHN Associate Jodi Braverman at [email protected] .

Serving the hospitality industry for a century, AH&LA is the sole national association representing all sectors and stakeholders in the lodging industry, including individual hotel property members, hotel companies, student and faculty members, and industry suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides members with national advocacy on Capitol Hill, public relations and image management, education, research and information, and other value-added services to provide bottom line savings and ensure a positive business climate for the lodging industry. Partner state associations provide local representation and additional cost-saving benefits to members.

AH&LEF is the charitable fund-raising and endowed fund-management subsidiary of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Founded in 1953, AH&LEF is the premier organization for scholarships, professional certification, and instructional material as well as funding for hospitality industry research.

BHN is the worldwide leader in developing and organizing conferences for the hotel and tourism investment community. With more than two decades of experience, over 90 events completed or in production to date, and more than 67,000 international delegates, BHN conferences have become “must attend” events for industry leaders who come together to network, conduct business and to learn about the latest trends. BHN events include the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles; the ALIS Summer Update in Dallas; the Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS) in Miami; the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in Hong Kong; HICAP UPDATE in Singapore; the Hotel Investment Forum India (HIFI) in Mumbai; the Hotel Opportunities Latin America (HOLA) conference in Miami, and the Hotel Investment Conference Europe (Hot.E) in London. The BHN website at www.Burba.com is the gateway for information about the conferences BHN produces, as well as a direct link to important players in the hospitality investment world.