News from the HotelGuru “Good Times 2012” Conference
On February 9th, HotelGuru.com operator R.A.Rauch & Associates sponsored a conference “Let the Good Times Roll” at the Del Mar Hilton Garden Inn. Hand picked experts in Finance, Law, Real Estate and Hospitality spoke about the bright future of the business. Bob Rauch, hotelguru.com, put number predictions on area hotel prospects: “Occupancy in San Diego will exceed 70 percent at over $130 in 2012,” he said.
Here are the highlights, as covered by major local and industry publications:
“Hotel property prices rising, but financing is scarce” (February 10, 2012)
The state of the hotel market was the topic during a HotelGuru.com-sponsored event hosted by Robert Rauch at his Hilton Garden Inn on Thursday.
Rauch said while the hotel industry has been through a great deal, he is looking at 2012 as if it were 2004 — right before it experienced some of its best years ever.
“Good times” for hotels in 2012, experts say (February 10, 2012)
By most accounts, 2011 brought long-awaited financial gains for hotels battered by the recession, and it’s likely 2012 will deliver more of the same. But don’t count on much in the way of new hotel development anytime soon, said a panel of industry experts meeting this week in San Diego.
Across the board, revenues, daily rates and hotel occupancies are up in San Diego County, although the growth continues to lag other California counties, and the performance has yet to match levels seen before the economic downturn.
“This is a good time to be in the hotel business,” said Alan Reay, founder of Atlas Hospitality Group, a brokerage firm that also tracks the California hotel market. Reay was among a group of panelists speaking at a forum dubbed “Let the Good Times Begin.” Last Thursday’s forum was organized by San Diego hotel owner and consultant Robert Rauch.
Panel: SoCal Back to Pre-recession Metrics (February 14, 2012)
Hotel markets in southern and coastal California are hopping and as buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines begin to jump back in, the window of opportunity on attractive deals is starting to close, according to a panel of experts last week.
“We’re in the second inning of the recovery,” said Gary London, a San Diego real-estate economist and president of The London Group Realty Advisors. “We have a long way to go,” but the worst appears to be over, London said, pointing to strong gains in occupancy, revenue and transaction pricing in California’s coastal markets in 2011. Lenders remain cautious, however, making this primarily a cash market.
London and three other hotel real-estate experts offered forecasts and advice to an audience of investors and hotel operators from around the San Diego region at a panel called “Let the Good Times Begin.” Robert Rauch, president of R.A. Rauch & Associates, a San Diego-based hospitality management company, hosted and moderated the event in Del Mar.
