Ramada in Christchurch: Wyndham Hotel Group is introducing the Ramada Encore brand to Christchurch, New Zealand. The 88-room Ramada Encore Christchurch Colombo Street is being developed under a franchise agreement with Lepdon Holdings and is due to be finished late this year.
Read the story in the New Zealand Herald
Westwood Claremont: The 55-room Claremont Hotel in Los Angeles’ Westwood neighborhood, built in 1940, sold for US$12.3 million to Shamina Investments and will give the building its first major renovation. The previous owner was MFQ Investment Inc.
Read more in the Los Angeles Business Journal
Anaheim tax reimbursements: Wincome Group will become the first developer to benefit from a policy enacted by Anaheim, California, city government that encourages the development of luxury hotels with tax reimbursements. Wincome affiliate FJS Inc. is developing a 600-room hotel scheduled to open in 2020.
Read more in the Orange County Register
Trump hotel restaurant: Owners of Koi, a restaurant in Trump Soho in New York City, is shutting its doors in June because of what the owner called a sharp drop in revenue since November.
Holiday Inn guilty: A California Superior Court jury returned a unanimous verdict against Holiday Inn in a case where the hotel receptionist at a Holiday Inn Express north of Los Angeles gave a key to a sexual predator who then let himself into a hotel room and raped a woman. The woman was awarded US$3.5 million.