Hotel Lawyer in Florida. While Gloria Estefan's fans are anticipating the September 2007 release of her new Spanish-language album, 90 Millas, featuring original music inspired by her native Cuba -- the hotel industry is eagerly awaiting the opening of her new luxury resort, Costa d'Este in Vero Beach, Florida. Gloria and Emilio Estefan are not new to the hospitality industry -- they currently own 5 Cuban restaurants in Florida and Mexico, and the Cardozo Hotel in Miami.

Hotel Lawyer on the Schrager-Marriot marriage and its impact on lifestyle hotels. One of my steady themes here at www.HotelLawBlog.com, is that lifestyle hotels are the hottest thing going in new hotel development, particularly hotel mixed-use. (See, for example, "The new "LIFESTYLE" hotel brands are changing the hotel industry and hotel mixed-use."). But at a press conference held on the roof of Schrager's Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan at 10:00 am on June 14, 2007, Bill Marriott (chairman and CEO of Marriott International) and Ian Schrager (the founder of Ian Schrager Hotels, now known as "Morgans Hotels") surprised most of the hotel industry with their news. Marriott (age 75) and Schrager (now 60) announced formal plans to partner in the creation of a new lifestyle boutique hotel brand. The as-yet-unnamed-brand will provide the high-design, boutique, lifestyle product that Schrager invented, with Marriott's world-class hotel operating resources and development support.

Shilo Inns generously makes donations to private and public schools and prides itself in being committed to its communities. With this admirable attitude toward its fellow citizens, how can it be so wrong-headed in its advertising slogan, “American Owned and Proud of It”? Does Shilo require a loyalty oath from its employees, franchisees or guests? Or is Shilo warning guests that some competing motor inns may be owned by immigrants? What Shilo doesn’t say is that their logo is a blatant attempt to define “American Owned” in its own image. After all, except for native Americans, we are all immigrants to the United States. True patriotism emcompasses the very best of America which is reflected in its diversity and its multi-ethnic population.

Hotel Lawyer on developing GREEN hotels. An exciting new benchmark has been set in the hospitality industry. The Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa has received the prestigious LEED Gold certification! This is the first time that the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded "LEED Gold" to a hotel. It marks a sea change. It is the first, but won't be the last. In fact, get ready to ride the new wave or drown in the lost opportunity.

Hotel Lawyer reporting from Meet the Money® hotel financing conference. At the recent Meet the Money® conference on hotel financing, Mark Woodworth, Executive VP of PKF Consulting, presented the latest report from PKF Hospitality Research to a crowd of more than 450 hotel industry leaders who gathered to connect with all the top debt and equity financing sources for hotels and hotel-related projects. (For more details on the Conference or the materials from it, see "Hotel financing gateway. Meet the Money® -- gateway to debt and equity financing for hotels. How to get your hotel financed.")

Show me a successful, highly respected hospitality Sales professional and I’ll show you someone who has mastered the art of developing referrals. No greater compliment can be paid to a hospitality Sales pro than to have a prospect call to book a piece of business because “John Jones (a client of the Sales pro) told me I should call you.” Now keep in mind, referrals don’t just “happen”. They develop from a process that usually takes time.

Hotel Lawyer on recognizing, avoiding and defending ADA lawsuits. In case you haven't noticed, ADA lawsuits -- suits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act -- are on the rise. We have covered a number of troublesome ADA claim areas here on www.HotelLawBlog.com in the past [Just go the the blog and scroll down the right hand side until you see the easy-to-use tools to sort blog entries by topic. ADA is the first topic]. But today, I would like to introduce Marty Orlick, one of my hotel lawyer partners who specializes in defending ADA cases. In fact, Marty Orlick has represented property owners in defending more than 200 ADA cases! So let's get Marty's street savvy advice on how to recognize the threat and then to avoid the potential lawsuits lurking at bottom of your pool.

Hotel Lawyer on debt and equity financing for hotels -- hotel financing update. The party's not over, but it may be time we sobered up. How do you find debt and equity financing for hotel development, hotel mixed-use, repositioning and purchase or sale?

Hotel Lawyer at Meet the Money® -- the premier hotel financing conference. In an annual survey prepared for exclusive release at JMBM's Meet the Money® hotel finance conference, the Lodging Industry Investment Council (LIIC) "Top 10" Investment Trends and Challenges were unveiled on May 3, 2007. If you want to know what these industry leaders think about the industry, check this out . . .

Hotel Lawyer on hotel finance summit. As more than 120 providers of capital -- debt and equity capital for hotels -- prepare to head to Los Angeles for the ultimate face-to-face summit with consumers of hotel capital in Los Angeles on May 3, 2007 at JMBM's Meet the Money® Conference (for details, see ), a fitting benchmark has been surpassed. The $100 billion deal is about to happen!