By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC
November 5, 2012

1.  Strong Growth in NYC Demand, ADP and RevPAR 
• Autumn 2012
CBRE's Market View for New York City reports:
All major hotel metrics have shown improvement over the first half of 2012, especially in the Lower Manhattan and Times Square markets, which have exhibited year-over-year RevPAR growth of 9.7% and 7.55%, respectively, compared with mid-year 2011.  City-wide RevPAR has grown 6.95%, amid increases in supply in several neighborhoods, speaking to the City's potential to absorb new product as it comes to market.
 
Market demand has continued to grow in 2012 as a result of growing neighborhoods and office markets, as well as continued growth in U.S. and international tourism.  The Midtown South office market has experienced leasing velocity that has surpassed historical highs as office buildings have been acquired, renovated and repositioned to absorb a growing technology and media industry.  This influx of new tenants has bolstered commercial demand in the area.  International travel has also continued to grow at record pace despite economic uncertainty in Europe and slower-than-expected growth in China.  The World Trade Center area has had its impact on demand, as tourists as well as local residents have crowded the area since the opening of the National September 11 Memorial Plaza.
 
The most prominent  buyers of hotel assets in 2012 have been foreign buyers.  The Sahara Group, of India, is in contract to acquire a controlling stake of the iconic Plaza Hotel and Plaza retail for $570 million, and is also reported to be in contract to acquire the Dream Hotel Downtown.  In January, HNA Property Holdings, of China, acquired the Cassa Hotel for $130 million, or $787,879 per key, while Longham Hotels, of Hong Kong, has been actively seeking an acquisition opportunity to expand its brand into Manhattan.
 
In February, King and Grove Hotels, backed by Joseph Chetrit, has also been an active buyer, acquiring the Hotel Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, for $32,350,000 or $505,468 per key, and acquired the Hotel Lola in July for $116 million, or $420,290 per key. King and Grove also purchased the Hotel Chelsea in May 2011 for $80 million.
 
More recently, Strategic Hotels and Resorts acquired the Jumeirah Essex House at Central Park South for a reported $362.5 million or $699,807 per key for the 518-room property, with plans to rebrand the hotel as a JW Marriott at a cost of approximately $18.3 million, bringing the all-in acquisition price to $380.8 million.
 
New York City hotels hosted a record number of visitors in 2010 and 2011, surpassing all previous high watermarks in both years.  Tourism is expected to continue to grow through 2012 and beyond, with the City's goal to reach 55 million visitors by 2015. The Manhattan hotel market has exhibited strong growth in demand and ADR over the course of 2012.  City-wide RevPAR increased year-over-year amid significant increases in supply and continued uncertainty across the U.S. and international travel remains positive.

• October 9, 2012
Roland Li reports in the  New York Times:
 
2.  Dear Waldorf, Mummy Stole Your Teapot Back in 1935
This headline in the New York Times of September 26, 2012 tells the story of the Waldorf-Astoria's amnesty program:  "Do you have a souvenir from New York's legendary Waldorf-Astoria hotel that perhaps you shouldn't have?"  Matt Zolbe, Director of Sales and Marketing, said that the hotel did not start the amnesty program because it needed used silverware but because it was looking for attention on social media.  He reported that about 15 people returned items such as silverware, coffee pots, coasters and teapots before the program ended on September 15th.

On the same subject, my research turned up the following report in The American Hotel by Jefferson Williamson (published in 1930 by Alfred A. Knopf):

3.  Quote of The Month
"If this piece is about the Algonquin, we'd better begin getting there, and so to the Algonquin, which was not christened  Algonquin but something quite different.  The man who was about to open it, a Mr. F., sent for me (I had worked for him before) and made me a handsome offer, the best I had had up to that time, to start immediately.  There was a temporary sign, one of those cloth affairs frequently seen on new buildings, and while the sign was temporary, the name was not.  F. liked it. I didn't. It was the Puritan.
 
"What's the matter with it?" he demanded when I made my objection.  "Isn't it American, hasn't it splendid, historical associations?"
 
I admitted that it had all that. "But," I said, "it has come to have, too, an additional meaning which contradicts the spirit of innkeeping.  It is cold, forbidding, and grim.  I don't like it."
 
"Well, I do."
 
"Well, all right, I'll stay where I am, for you are inviting a bust."
 
"You think yourself so smart," said Mr. F., "suppose you find a better name."
 
Determined that it should be an American word and not a Marseilles, a Piccadilly, a Heather, or a Lido, I went to the Public Library to find who were the first and strongest people in this neighborhood, stumbled on the Algonquins, liked the word, liked the way it fitted the mouth, and prevailed upon the boss to accept it.  I can't say now that the Algonquins were especially hospitable to strangers or that they symbolized warmth and cheer, but I had forgotten all about that in my new love for the word.  I was stuck on it and my boss was stuck with it, and I hope that the many years I have flown it at the masthead may have given it a meaning quite separate from tomahawks and scalping."

                                                                        Frank Case
                                                                        Tales of a Wayward Inn
                                                                        Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1938
 

                                                    
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