By following basic accounting principles, hotel owners and managers have the information they need to identify trends before they can have a negative impact on the business. They can reduce expenses, readily accommodate anticipated peak business times, and scale back operations during slow periods. Rather than relying on intuition and reacting to events, successful owners have the financial facts they need on a daily basis to proactively make the right decisions at the right time. Staying on top of the hotel financials also provides an accurate measurement of management performance in every operational area and gives owners a mechanism to see where they stand against the competition. READ MORE

There's no denying that credit card fraud is on the rise. A 2007 report from the Association for Payments Professionals found 72 percent of 3,000 members surveyed had been victims of actual or attempted fraud in 2006. That's up from 68 percent in 2005. Unfortunately, 80 percent of data compromises originate through small merchants - those generating less than 20,000 e-commerce transactions or a million total transactions annually - according to Visa USA. These smaller merchants - such as independently owned hotels - don't always have the technology to provide the secure systems needed in today's increasingly risky financial world. Worse, many hotel owners dismiss the problem because they think they are protected by their merchant acquirers. But they are not. READ MORE

To realize the most success in selling your hotel online, it is imperative to maximize the effectiveness of your listing. A well thought-out and well-written listing will allow you to attract more prospects and better sort out the serious buyers from the rest. By keeping in mind the following "10 commandments of quality online listings," you can help ensure that your hotel attracts the best potential buyers, and that the selling process goes quickly and smoothly. READ MORE

Whether you are buying a hotel for the first time or an experienced owner looking to invest in a new business, the process can be intimidating. Although it is usually not easy, entering the buying process fully prepared can save a great deal of time and frustration, making it easier to close a deal on a hotel that is perfect for you. Going into business for yourself or buying a new hotel will undoubtedly require large amounts of commitment and drive to overcome fear of the unknown, but keeping four critical factors in mind can help ensure success when investing time and money into a new business. READ MORE

When the time has come to sell your hotel and you have listed it for sale online, it is a great feeling to receive interest from potential buyers. Let's face it - selling a business independently can be a lot of hard work and a major time commitment, and when people show interest in what you are selling it can translate into a quick, painless sale. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons communication between a buyer and a seller is not always simple. Hotel owners who list their establishment for sale on the Internet often have to deal with many inquiries from browsers who enter into a conversation without any serious interest in purchasing a business. If hotel sellers are not savvy in how to address this type of situation, they might find the selling process to be longer and more frustrating than necessary. By following some simple communication guidelines when selling your hotel online, you can ensure you don't get caught up in a communication trap. READ MORE

As more and more business owners are choosing to take a do-it-yourself method when it comes to selling, we are noticing a growing number of hotel owners using online outlets to put their business on the market. Unfortunately, we also see many hotel owners attempting to sell online using largely ineffective methods. These situations are usually the result of a lack of research and preparation before listing a business, and can greatly increase the amount of time a business is on the market, can make the selling process more frustrating than it should be, and can result in a much lower selling price. The good news is that if hotel owners looking to sell devote time to researching proper selling methods and follow simple steps, the process can be a breeze. READ MORE

Hotels and resorts are multi-faceted business operations. I recall the last time I was room guest in a hotel. In addition to utilizing lodging services, I ate in the hotel's restaurant. I relaxed at the end of a long day in the hotel's spa. I attended a convention in one of the hotel's conference rooms. As you can see, there are four distinct business operations in the above example. Of course, readers can probably sight several other additional hotel services such as laundry, hair salon, tennis courts and retail gift shops. While motels and hotels are real property assets similar to commercial properties in terms of the location of the specific asset and long economic life (usually 20 to 50 years) they differ from typical commercial properties... READ MORE

Stop anyone on the street and ask him or her to name some familiar hotels. Would you be surprised if the average person could identify three, five or more? Probably not - this is the power of brands. Just like Kleenex and Clorox, name brands for tissue and bleach, a strong hotel brand has the ability to penetrate the target market to such a degree that it becomes recognized as an enduring symbol of the market-specific service standards. This service image cultivates the loyal customer base that is the foundation of a hotel brand's future earnings capacity. The proper identification of a brand's service potential, therefore, is the first step in quantifying its value. READ MORE

At the beginning of each valuation assignment, the applicable standard of value must be specified. The standard of value is a definition of the type of value being sought, i.e., fair market value, financial value, or strategic value, to name a few. The standard of value is selected based upon the type of assignment which can vary considerably, e.g., merger/acquisition analysis, estate tax filing, or dissenting shareholder lawsuits. The standard of value then influences the choice of the appropriate valuation methods used to determine the value of a hotel or ownership interest in the hotel. Therefore, the value of a hotel can differ under various circumstances. READ MORE

You're a relatively small, privately-owned, well-managed hotel operating company. You manage for institutional owners, and have solidly built a core business. But you have limited distribution and don't control the assets you manage. You might even be concentrated geographically. You're concerned that if you don't gain control of the assets you manage and grow your portfolio, you'll have difficulty keeping your key management team. Worse yet, you're concerned that you'll lose market share, your revenues will decline and your profitability will be reduced. You risk watching the enterprise value that you worked so hard to build deteriorate. Not a pretty picture. What are your options? READ MORE

Hotel owners and operators have grown more sophisticated in crafting standards with which to project and then gauge the performance of their properties. As a result, these parties are also negotiating increasingly complex performance test provisions in operating agreements. What is a performance test? Essentially, a performance test sets objective criteria for minimally acceptable financial performance of a hotel and, ultimately, provides the hotel owner with the right to terminate the management contract if the operator fails to achieve the goal. Beyond these basic concepts, performance tests come in all shapes and sizes. A savvy hotel owner will always demand that the hotel management agreement contain some type of performance test. Most hotel operators accept, albeit grudgingly, that such performance standards come with the territory of management contracts. Operators are usually concerned with limiting the scope of the test as much as possible and with negotiating cure rights that protect them from loss of the management agreement. READ MORE

Are the guests of your hotel greeted by name at check in, welcomed with their favorite bottle of wine in their room, and treated to their newspaper of choice each morning? If this scenario is familiar, you are undoubtedly leveraging a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. If not, should you? CRM programs can help build and reward customer loyalty, and capture the ultimate value from every customer relationship. Hotels who effectively leverage CRM programs can realize an improvement in their bottom lines, and an increase in shareholder value. In today's competitive environment, using a CRM system is no longer a matter of choice, but an imperative. READ MORE

September 12-13, 2005, franchisees from all over the nation will march on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to celebrate "Franchise Appreciation Day" initiated by the International Franchise Association. This annual event, now in its 6th year, is held to heighten the visibility of franchising and to educate our U.S. Congress on the important role franchising plays in our nation's economy. This got me to thinking. Franchising represents about 60 percent of the hospitality industry, contributing billions of dollars in annual U.S. revenues. So why is it that we as an industry do not celebrate a national or global "Hotel Franchise Appreciation Day?" Could the answer be that hotel franchising simply isn't appreciated? With franchise fees what they are today, I have to believe that the franchisors appreciate it. Travelers certainly appreciate it - especially those reaping the rewards offered by growing brand/franchise-loyalty programs. Even national franchisee associations appreciate hotel franchising. READ MORE

Attention All Hotel Owners: Did you know that federal tax credits can be used as a financing source for a substantial rehabilitation of a hotel? If your building is a pre-1936 or historic structure, the renovation work could qualify for federal rehabilitation tax credits, representing up to 20% of qualified rehabilitation expenditures. More importantly, these rehabilitation tax credits can be transferred to an institutional investor in exchange for additional equity capital. Through the Internal Revenue Code Section 47, the federal government offers lucrative rehabilitation tax credits to encourage preservation and adaptive reuse of historic and pre-1936 buildings. Calculated as a percentage of the eligible rehabilitation expenses, federal tax law offers a 20% tax credit for substantial rehabilitations of historic buildings, and a 10% tax credit for substantial rehabilitations of non-historic, non-residential buildings built before 1936. READ MORE

Federal tax law allows a 10% investment tax credit for the rehabilitation of a non-historic building placed in service before 1936. To be "non-historic" a building cannot be individually listed on the National Register. A building located within a National Register historic district is presumed to be historic; to use the 10% tax credit, the Park Service must determine that the building in question is not historic. READ MORE