By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
3 July 2007
Hotel Lawyer on THE BIGGEST HOTEL DEAL IN HISTORY. I almost entitled this blog: “‘Paris Hilton, “Get a driver!’”
Fresh out of a jail after serving 23 days of a 45-day jail sentence for probation violation following an embarrassing series of drunk driving and driving without a license offenses, the insolent (now reformed) Paris Hilton should just get a driver. She may not have to worry about the cost anymore! Her Granddaddy’s company has just been sold for $26 billion, and his share is $990 million!
REWIND. Instead, I decided to go with my more usual “hotel attorney and advisor” approach and will lead with this:
As if in a real world re-enactment of the nursery rhyme about 10 little Indians (or the 1945 Agatha Christie movie “Until there were none”*), Blackstone announced today that it is buying Hilton Hotels Corporation in a […]

Jim Butler

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
9 July 2007
Hotel Lawyer on eco-friendly hotel financing in Hollywood California. Today, JMBM issued a press release announcing that its Global Hospitality Group® closed the senior debt portion of the capital stack on one of the largest single hotel mixed-use projects in the country — and one bound to be a “Green” project at that! The complex construction loan transaction was for JMBM client, HSH Nordbank AG, a leading credit institution headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, and particularly renowned for very large construction loans on luxury hotel projects.
This is a significant transaction for several reasons.
A flagship, lifestyle, hotel mixed-use development.
“This is going to be one of Hollywood’s flagship developments,” said attorney Guy Maisnik, lead counsel specializing in hospitality transactions. “This is a very high-profile asset, backed by two of the most respected developers in the hospitality arena. Their expertise, combined with JMBM’s experience […]

Jim Butler

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
16 July 2007
While I hear from readers on just about every posting I make on www.HotelLawBlog.com, there are some entries that generate much more traffic than usual, draw the most comments from readers, or just seem to stir the industry pot enough to keep my phone ringing. While some of these “top” stories are thoughts about emerging trends, like Green Hotel Development, and others are my take on timely news like the Ian Schrager and Bill Marriott “Marriage,” certain blog stories just seem to strike a chord with my readers.
I was able to select 25 such stories from every topic area categorized on the Blog. While it was a struggle to decide where the cutoff was for each topic, anyone who wants more on a particular subject can go to www.HotelLawBlog.com and search for all articles on the topic. To […]

Jim Butler

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
21 July 2007
Hotel Lawyer in Beverly Hills with breaking news. Hotel leader Ali Kasikci has just tendered his resignation as Managing Director of the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel. He feels this is the best way to be able to fully explore new opportunities for the next step in his remarkable hotel career. For anyone looking to take their hotels or hotel company to a new level of luxury, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as well.
Who is this man? What has he accomplished? What new challenges is he looking for?

Ali Kasikci is one of the great hotel leaders of the world, with many international awards, including recognition in 2004 as “Hotelier of the World.” He has just resigned as Managing Director of the Peninsula Beverly Hills, and is excited about fully exploring new challenges and opportunities. In his first year at the […]

Jim Butler

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
27 July 2007
Hotel Lawyer on GREEN hotel development. Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP (JMBM) announced today that The Hotel Developers Conference™ 2008 (www.jmbm.com/THDC) will focus entirely on green hotel development and renovation. Presented by the 50-lawyer team of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® this green hotel “summit” is co-sponsored by the University of Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Los Angeles Chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). More than 450 hospitality industry leaders are expected to attend, March 12-13, 2008, at the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As we have said here on www.HotelLawBlog.com before: “Don’t wait for the GREEN. It is here”
Cost premiums are falling. Payback is fast.
“It seems like only yesterday that sustainable hotel development represented a 10-20% cost premium, which was largely unaffordable to most developers,” says hotel lawyer Jim Butler, chairman of […]

Jim Butler