Hotel Values

The Chicago Tribune ran an article about how much trouble the hotel industry is in these days. As if we couldn’t guess.

"The first-class traveler is traveling coach. The suite buyer is scaling back to a standard room." Says The Four Seasons hotel. Yeah.

But check this out:

Many hotels traded hands during the boom years and, like many homes, are no longer worth as much as their outstanding mortgage debt.

Whoa. I understand that staying in hotels is the first thing we ditch when money is tight. But I hadn’t thought of the hotel industry in terms of its own credit crisis.

Except for Galena, Illinois and the occasional trip to New Orleans (oh, and that spa in South Dakota), I stay in chain hotels. Marriott when I can manage it. I am a sucker for rewards programs, but mostly I just like to know what to expect. I like seeing different cities, but I also like to sleep someplace familiar.

I have seen chain hotels change hands over the last few years. I remember when we were in Charlotte a decade ago, we stayed at the Westin adjacent to the convention center. A few years ago, when we returned, the Westin was something else. That pink hotel in St. Pete’s was independent until Loew’s bought it a few years ago. I imagine there are franchises that change hands. I imagine that the historic Bed and Breakfasts are bought and sold as people retire. I just hadn’t considered that hotels could have the same debt-to-property value issue that homeowners have. And that their one source of income has decided on a stay-cation this year.

I am going to plan my summer jaunt now.