Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 - (Page 16)

16 Franchise Law IN THE details Learn from bad situations Don’t ignore franchise bills Involve franchisees Cooperation pays off H&MM September 15, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Good people persevere through bad times bills on the bottom of the payment list. Repercussions from such actions could result in serious negatives to both franchisors and franchisees with the potential loss of the hotel and/or restaurant properties. In assessing constructive initiatives during these challenging times, I am reminded of the philosophy of the late Bill Rosenberg, the founder of Dunkin’ Donuts: You learn more from adversity than you do success. When his company suffered signiﬁcant unexpected losses in the early 1960s and stock in Dunkin’ Donuts started spiraling downward, his bankers and some of his directors encouraged him to let his current management team go, including his son Bob Rosenberg. Bill refused to do so, determined that his management team was best qualiﬁed to handle the crisis and believing they could succeed. In time, the company rebounded with proﬁts and favorable stock prices. Bob Rosenberg said: “What I learned from this experience is fundamental. I became more outreaching to others. I started to look at the franchisees as partners and invited them to participate in the decision-making of the business.” I remember in the early 1970s when hotel industry revenue and hotel stock prices were down, due to gasoline shortages. In particular, Holiday Inn stock dipped from $40-plus per share to approximately $4.50. The franchisee leadership of the company, working together with senior management of Holiday Inn, selected Roy Weingardner to work together with Kemmons Wilson, the founder and chairman of Holiday Inn, to focus on effectively handling the adverse economic climate. Weingardner was one of the largest franchisees of Holiday Inn and put his hotel properties in a blind trust when he became vice chairman of Holiday Inn. Over the course of the next several years, through effective strategic moves, its revenue dramatically improved, as well as its stock value. Consistent with Dunkin’ Donuts’ and Holiday Inn’s comebacks from adversity, franchisees are well advised to work in conjunction with their franchisors and lenders to help overcome any economic downturns they may be experiencing. Cooperation and integrity between franchisors and franchisees in handling bad times will go a long way in resolving difﬁculties. hmm@questex.com Mort Aronson is counsel with the international law ﬁrm of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP. He can be reached at MAronson@ KilpatrickStockton.com. Face Lifts Benchmark Hospitality International, operator of the Chaminade Resort & Spa in Santa Cruz, Calif., completed a comprehensive $15-million renovation of the property. The renovation program included all public areas, the restaurant & lounge, guestrooms and meeting and event spaces. The 330-room Radisson Hotel Nashua (N.H.) is undergoing an $8-million renovation. Expected to be complete by November, the project includes the creation of 14 unique suites and renovations to the guestrooms, spa facilities and all meeting spaces. Compiled by Elaine Simon, esimon@questex.com By Mort Aronson H&MM Columnist e are experiencing an economy that is challenging at best and recessional at worst. The hotel industry is facing economic pressure on both franchisors and franchisees to effectively manage reduced revenue and ill-advised ﬁnancing of past hotel and other real estate projects. The temptation may be great on some hotel operators to place their franchise W Almost child’s play: A simple, powerful, proﬁtable way to build. Choose systems-built construction from DeLuxe for your next multi-family project. 09-028 CIRCLE NO. 116 http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.constructionsimplified.com/hm http://www.constructionsimplified.com/hm

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 Contents Microtel, Hawthorn Settle in at Wyndham Is it Black or Red for Green Hotels? New City on the Strip When in Doubt, Purchase some Seashells Legal FAQ Consultant's Corner Sales Clinic On Finance Travel Trends Franchise Law Guest Column Events Cornell Insights HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Top Hotel Companies Survey Awards Lending Requires Knowledge, Preparation Casegoods Minibars Historian to Keynote Leadership Forum at IH/M&RS Fitness Equipment The Lodging Conference Preview Accent Lighting Awards Vacuums Supplier News Transactions People Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008

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