To: Grommit who wrote (43732 ) 8/5/2011 6:07:02 PM From: E_K_S Read Replies (1) | Respond to Re: Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. (AHT) "...Looking at upcoming debt maturities, the next key date is December 2011, when a $203 million loan comes due followed by May 2012, when $167 million loan matures. We are continuing to negotiate with several lenders and servicers on restructuring solutions and will pursue actions we believe are most accretive to our shareholders...." San Diego hotels feeling less financial distress signonsandiego.com "...the number of lender-owned hotels rose from 6 to 20, although only one hotel -- the 141-room Lake San Marcos Resort -- was foreclosed on during the second quarter, said Alan Reay, owner of Atlas Hospitality. Rather than foreclose on hotels whose owners have been unable to make payments on mortgages financed when the economy was stronger and real estate values were much higher, lenders have been more willing to re-work the loans or sell them, Reay explained. "In terms of distress, we're starting to see it taper off, and that’s because of the improving economy," he said. "Also, a lot of lenders are choosing to sell their hotel loans, and the buyers (of those loans) are either working out new arrangements with the borrowers or offering a discount on the loan, and the borrowers are paying them off. "In still other cases, investors have come in and basically re-worked the loans with the borrowers and taken them out of default." "...We were able to obtain these 28 luxury upper-upscale and upscale hotels for $158,000, per key, a 44% discounts replacement cost. This represents a 47% discount to recent peer acquisitions at an average of over $300,000 per key. From an operational standpoint this portfolio continues to demonstrate improved performance for those 11 hotels, the 28 in the portfolio that are brand or third-party managed....". California Hotel Foreclosures Jump 91% as Lenders Seek to Sell Properties bloomberg.com "...The average U.S. hotel purchase price climbed to $192,479 a room in the second quarter, up more than 25 percent from 2006, during the property boom, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc. Values are being driven up this year by a surge in luxury- hotel transactions, the New York-based research company said....". is an expense incurred every time they change their debt profile Therefore, the upside could provide for a 45% -55% gain if the stock just gets back to these recent levels. That's a pretty good risk/reward and the dividend is a bonus.
