Join panelists Bob Rauch, Ash Patel, Alan Reay, Gary London and Guy Maisnik while they speak about the hospitality outlook in 2012.

Hotel developer and consultant Robert Rauch agrees there should be fewer hotels heading toward foreclosure this year.

“I don’t think we will see more foreclosures I think there will likely be more technical defaults,” Rauch said also suggesting that extensions and workouts may give hotel owners more time than they have had in a while.

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…”For the next five years, I foresee good times ahead after three horrendous years for our industry,” said Rauch.

According to Rauch’s hospitality firm R.A. Rauch & Associates, tourism in San Diego County in 2012 is expected to rake in $10 million in new tax revenue, create 1,000 new jobs and have 450,000 more hotel rooms occupied across the county….

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Robert Rauch, president of hospitality consulting firm R.A. Rauch & Associates Inc. in San Diego, foresees more deals in the $5 million to $25 million range in 2012, mostly by single investors and small investment firms.

Experts note that loan distress will play a diminishing role in the hotel marketplace, thanks to an improving economic climate and rising property values. Owners with otherwise good payment histories will see flexibility among lenders, willing to adjust terms or extend loan maturities if owners can come up with more equity to refinance.

“The lenders aren’t going to be in a hurry to foreclose,” Rauch said. “They don’t want to be in the hotel operating business.”

Read more:  http://sdbj.com/news/2012/jan/02/tourism-industry-looks-build-recession-recovery-ga/

Hotel business has not returned to pre-recession levels, but experts say the segment registered year-over-year improvement in 2010 and 2011, and the general trend should carry forward in 2012.

“It’s not explosive growth, but it’s very positive,” said Robert Rauch, president of local hospitality consulting firm R. A. Rauch & Associates Inc., who also operates two Hilton-branded hotels in Carmel Valley.

San Diego County hotels were on track to finish 2011 with an overall occupancy rate around 69 percent. Rauch said it will likely be 2013 or 2014 before the region sees a return to the 73 percent occupancy rates seen in the peak 2007-08 period.

However, he said the region in the past year saw revenue per available room rise about 8 percent and room rates increase about 5 percent, both keeping ahead of inflation.

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And local hospitality veteran Bob Rauch said he and nearly all of his peers have been very busy this December.

“There’s a bunch of pretty happy people going into 2012,” said Rauch, who operates a Homewood Suites and a Hilton Garden Inn in Carmel Valley.

“We are having a record December, and it’s all leisure business,” said Rauch, president of R.A. Rauch & Associates Inc. This week, he said, the hotels “have been running at nearly 100 percent capacity.”

While business can be brisk this time of year, Rauch said he’s never seen the hotels this full. Most of the travelers at his hotels arrived by air, for the first time including many international travelers, from China, Europe and Canada.

Rauch, who sits on the marketing committee of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, said he heard similarly optimistic accounts from his colleagues there in a committee meeting last week. Nearly across the board, the industry said visitor numbers had increased from last year.

“We all talked about how things were going, and everybody was up … hotels, restaurants and attractions were all up” more than 5 percent, Rauch said. There were some exceptions, namely a few museums that were flat or a bit down, but the overall outlook was positive.

Looking ahead, Rauch said he’s forecasting “a very strong tourism year in 2012.” Rauch will be delivering his forecast on Feb. 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn.  He described the trends in a November report titled, “Let the Good Times Begin,” which is also the title of his February presentation.

“The ‘Great Recession’ followed by the ‘Great Hangover’ has ended,” Rauch wrote in his report, which sees strong growth nationwide, not just in San Diego County. And for hotel owners, that means an increase in property values as average revenues per room, a key industry statistic, go up.

“Going forward, I believe we can look at double-digit per annum growth in values over the next four years,” Rauch wrote. “That means that a hotel that is currently valued at $150,000 per room will be worth over $220,000 by 2015. Why? Because average rate, by and large, drops to the bottom line and that is where much of the growth will come from.”

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/business/tourism-hospitality-industry-poised-to-roar-into/article_e2fa979e-f06e-5361-8ebe-e29441d98180.html#ixzz1iXSvS5i5

Robert Rauch, a San Diego hotel owner and consultant, said San Marcos was a strong location for a new hotel, largely because the university would drive occupancy.

He said, however, that financing was exceptionally tight, and most lenders expect prospective borrowers to come up with half the cash required for their projects. The San Marcos project, he said, could cost about $18 million to build, including the land.

Rauch said the city loan was an unusual arrangement, and questioned whether the company would have sufficient capital to secure a loan for construction.

“It’s not typical that the city would loan them the money,” he said. “If they can’t pay for the land, how are they going to afford to build a hotel?”

However, the arrangement could help with financing requirements by reducing the amount the company must borrow from other lenders, Rauch said.

“It’s a great deal, if they can get the city to loan them the money at a low interest rate,” he said.

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/san-marcos/san-marcos-city-drops-sale-price-for-proposed-hotel/article_9898e251-bf23-5317-b3e1-85111eea2f8c.html#ixzz1iXSGschU

Over the past year, the leisure and hospitality sector added 6,000 jobs.

“The industry tried to hold on to its labor force, but we shed jobs in 2009 and 2010, and in 2011, there wasn’t much hiring until very recently,” said veteran hotelier Bob Rauch of R.A. Rauch & Associates Inc., a San Diego-based hotel management company.

Last week, Rauch opened his La Jolla-based 40-room Pantai Inn, a super-luxury boutique hotel with a Balinese theme. He hired 15 people for the Pantai and has added here and there at his other properties, including the Homewood Suites by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn, both of which are in Carmel Valley.

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/business/economy-job-picture-improves-in-november-as-economy-begins-to/article_8f5e728c-163b-502e-8ae4-31c076c6d0d3.html#ixzz1gqL47XPc

La Jolla, CA, November 21, 2011 – Reminiscent of the tranquil retreats of the Indonesian island, Pantai Inn (pronounced pawn-tai) will open Thanksgiving weekend 2011 with ten richly appointed suites designed with custom-made, wood-carved furnishings, stone carvings, and hand-selected décor from Bali. Pantai Inn offers one- and two-bedroom suites, plus Pandang, the property’s signature three-bedroom villa.

This one-of-a-kind property is made up of a collection of cottages, bungalows and townhouses built between 1900-1930 situated along the La Jolla coastline, offering its guests spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and themed landscaping features of cascading waterfalls and lush gardens.

“Restoring the magnificent character and charm of nearly century-old buildings into a Balinese-themed paradise is a mere portion of the extraordinary experience at Pantai Inn,” said Larry Jackman, whose family acquired the property in April 2010.

FEATURES AND AMENITIES

The 40-room, all-suite Pantai Inn masterfully blends Bali’s old-world charm, kingly comforts and cutting-edge technologies. Rooms include fireplaces, fully equipped kitchens with state-of-the-art appliances, wood-carved canopy beds from Bali*, modern touch-controlled bamboo blinds, Balinese art and wood carvings, wall-mounted 55-inch flat panel TVs with cutting-edge connection hub technology, premium HD TV channels (both locals and from LA stations), bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling granite, quartz, carved tile, stone and hand-pounded copper sinks; basic personal appliances, laptop safes, plush mattresses with fine luxury bedding by Anichini and Turkish towels, and iPod docking stations. The property also offers complimentary continental breakfast, complimentary Wi-Fi access, and valet parking. *feature not available with all suites.

LOCATION

Known as “The Jewel”, La Jolla is one of the most sought-after vacation destinations in San Diego with its Mediterranean-style village, sophisticated arts and culture scene, world-class dining opportunities treasure trove of designer boutiques, and idyllic location.
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YEARS IN THE MAKING

Despite its stunning oceanfront location, the hotel was once a shabby and deteriorating property, then named Shell Beach Apartments-Motel. The Jackmans purchased the neglected property with the intention of re-opening the complex’ doors as vacation rentals following minor repairs and improvements. However, the property’s rundown condition required more expense and attention than the Jackmans expected.

They turned to long-time friend, David Lee Soanes, an accomplished architect recognized for developing high-end resorts, including Four Seasons Hotels in Indonesia. Soanes compared the property’s cottages and bungalows to the diverse varieties of buildings that make up Bali’s small towns and villages.

One evening, over margaritas at a local Mexican restaurant, David starting sketching and noting down ideas on paper placements and napkins. “We kept waving to our waiter, asking for more and more napkins to capture all the ideas that were flowing,” Larry remembered.

“That was the night Pantai Inn was born.”

Just five months into restoring the dilapidated buildings and grounds, Soanes passed away, never to see his dream come to fruition. After a brief delay, the Jackmans hired Greg Castle of Castle Architect, known for his beach bungalow designs in Hawaii and California, to finish the project.

RATES

Rates for a 1-bedroom suite start at $399, while a 3-bedroom suite starts at $599. Once the hotel’s restoration of all 40 suites is completed, rates will start at $599.

MANAGEMENT

The Jackman family awarded the hotel’s management contract to Carmel Valley-based R.A. Rauch & Associates, specialists in the hotel sector, having built, owned, consulted and managed hotels for more than 20 years.
“La Jolla deserves this unique jewel and we are very excited to be entrusted to manage such a stunning, perfectly located gem of a hotel,” said Bob Rauch, president of RAR. “We’re aiming to provide ‘wow’ customer service at the super luxury level and that is a challenge that gets all of us motivated to open this property.”

R.A. Rauch & Associates also manages El Cordova Hotel in Coronado, CA; Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites in Del Mar, CA; and Quality Inn & Suites in Colorado Springs, CO.

Rauch brought in 16-year hospitality pro, Bernardo Zavala, as Pantai Inn’s operations and sales manager in August 2011. With former stints as customer relationship and operations/MOD at La Jolla’s La Valencia Hotel and management supervisor at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara (now named the Park Hyatt Aviara), Zavala is poised to lead Pantai Inn to becoming La Jolla’s standout hotel property.

“We’ve hand-picked every item and paid attention to every detail to give our guests an unparalleled experience”, said Zavala. “We’re truly bringing the essence of Bali to California.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The Jackmans anticipate all 40 suites to be complete by early 2013. For more information, go to http://pantaiinn.com/

“The luxury sector has been faster to rebound, but it was also the hardest hit during the recession,” said Robert Rauch, who heads the locally based hospitality consulting firm R.A. Rauch & Associates Inc. and operates two Hilton-branded hotels in San Diego. Rauch says while the region’s highest-profile properties get the bulk of attention from remodeling projects, there are potentially dozens of hotels in San Diego County undergoing renovations at any given time. Many are improvements geared to replacing furnishings based on regular wear and tear, while other operators might decide that more extensive updating is in order to remain competitive.