to a level where they are virtually worthless.
HA Perspective: Barcelo joins Travelodge in showing that what appears to be a strong covenant can quickly prove the opposite once a recession bites. But while Puma has clearly
burnt its paws on leases it does not prove beyond doubt that hotels and leases should never mix. The problem was paying too much at the peak of the cycle and then attempting to pass that on to the operator via unsustainable rents.
Properly structured leases, that
are either variable or at least are structured in such a way that allows a lessee enough room to survive a downturn, can work. Whether they are desirable is another matter.
Banks get
granular Banks have realised the value of real-time business information with several institutions in talks with software provider Guestline to use its detailed data to better assess hotel performance. The move promises banks better information on which to base lending decisions, as well as the opportunity to keep a closer eye on the performance of hotels they have funded.
The keen interest from the banks follows Guestline’s formation of a strategic partnership with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels earlier this year, with the intention of getting the industry to better understand the value of real-time data. The company has more than 20 years
of experience building web- based reporting systems, usually deployed by client hotel companies purely for operational functions such as handling reservations. The Guestline initiative will make aggregated hotel performance data available to partners, while those hotels that use the full breadth of Guestline’s web-based reporting systems will be able to access real-time information on the revenue performance of their own properties. This allows benchmark against a locality. “Before lending, banks can take a look at the performance of hotels in, say, Exeter, and that allows them to review actual ADR,” explained Guestline’s Rupert Gutteridge. Then, once funds have been advanced, Guestline can provide all interested parties with live information. “They have access to data in the specific hotel, and can see that the hotel is being run properly.” For Guestline, which has long been providing web-based reporting systems, and is the UK’s largest provider of PMS systems, the move upstream is symptomatic of a changing market. “Typically in the PMS marketplace, the hotel’s need has been focused on functionality, and measures such as occupancy,” said Gutteridge. “But now, with money tight, everyone is having to look at the bigger picture.” For those looking to value hotels, Gutteridge said the information requirement has changed too. “With property prices not in a rising market any more, the asset value is changing more to do with what’s happening on the inside, rather than the bricks and mortar.” And by providing partner JLLH with aggregate data on hotel performance city by city, there is the opportunity for a potential investor to compare
likely returns from hotels in alternative locations. Currently, Guestline’s data is UK focused, though its systems are being increasingly used by hotels across Europe and further afield. “We’ve enough of a footprint in the UK to give them good data,” said Gutteridge.
HA Perspective: Thanks to the more widespread proliferation of computerised systems, hotels are now in the enviable position of having access to incredibly detailed transaction data. However, despite the fact that this data is often collected and stored, in most cases it remains an asset that is currently massively underexploited. Why this might be the case is unclear, although the highly operational nature of the sector, where managers are frequently too busy dealing with day-to- day issues to sit back, analyse and reflect, is clearly an issue. It is thus perhaps ironic that the impetus for better using our data comes from outside the sector, in effect from banks and consultants wanting to peek over our shoulder and make sure we are doing our job properly. The benefit for the latter is clear – higher quality consolidated information to help them understand markets at the macro level as well as control operation on a micro level. In fact, given the accuracy, and currency that the system can provide, the Guestline initiative represents an Asset Manager’s dream, giving him or her in- depth, live, access to a property’s performance and greatly increasingly transparency. Quite why a hotel would cooperate is more difficult to understand. In most cases it is likely that this solution will be imposed as a
condition of funding, allowing investors to more closely monitor operations. Thus in the future hoteliers will have to be more careful, as it will definitely be a case of Big Brother is watching you.
Hotel Analyst
Having read these four pages of Hotel Analyst we hope you want to find out more.
To sample visit:
www.hotelanalyst.co.uk/sample For more details visit:
www.hotelanalyst.co.uk or call +44 (0)20 8870 6388
WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2012 135
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204