Front Desk

• La Quinta puts 46 properties on the market
  LQ Management is putting 46 of its assets up for sale as part of a strategy to update its portfolio. The portfolio comprises 34 exterior-corridor La Quinta Inn properties and 12 hotels under different brands, collectively valued at "a couple of hundred million dollars," said President and CEO Wayne Goldberg. "It's something we've wanted to do for a long time, but couldn't because of our debt structure. We've restructured that debt to allow us to pull the trigger on selling these assets that no longer meet our ownership criteria," he said. HotelNewsNow.com (10/5)     

Join Choice Hotels® Today! For a limited time Choice Hotels® is offering benefits and savings to qualified hoteliers who covert to our Quality®, Clarion® or Econo Lodge® franchise. SAVE UP TO $15,000 OFF AFFILIATION FEES and 2% DISCOUNT OFF ROYALTY FEES FOR THE FIRST FOUR YEARS! PLUS MORE! ACT NOW! 800-547-0007. Learn more details.

Business Update

• Joint venture acquires Westin Atlanta Perimeter North
  The 372-room Westin Atlanta Perimeter North in Atlanta has been sold to a joint venture composed of The Arden Group, Carey Watermark Investors and Marcus Hotels and Resorts. The total investment made by the joint venture amounted to $57 million. A portion of that, $14 million, will be used to refurbish rooms and public areas. GlobeSt.com (10/5)     

• Hilton's first hotel in Bangladesh will open in 2015
  Hilton has signed a deal to open the Hilton Dhaka, Bangladesh, its first hotel in the country. The 250-room hotel is set to open in 2015 on Gulshan Avenue, an area known to house expatriates and diplomats. TravelPulse (10/4)     

• Luxury Delano hotel opens in Morocco
  A new Delano resort in Marrakech, Morocco, aims to draw upscale travelers with a nightclub as well as Pomiroeu and Namazake, two new restaurants. The resort also features a spa with Moroccan hammams, or baths, along with three pools. USA TODAY/Hotel Check-in blog (10/4)     

• Other News

• Trump eyes hotel for Scotland's Menie estate golf course
  The Scotsman (Edinburgh) (10/5)     

• DoubleTree by Hilton reflags airport hotel in Mexico City
  Travel Weekly (10/4)     

Market Trends

• Lodging investment market is on a slow rebound, executives say
  Little by little, the debt market for hotel properties is regaining confidence and the pace of lodging transactions is picking up, executives from several hotel-investment firms said during a panel at last week's Lodging Conference in Phoenix. The market is expected to recover slowly through 2013 despite lingering economic uncertainties and worries over the upcoming presidential election, they said. "There are things that are outside our control. There is a lot to be scared about if you want to be. You can't control any of that," said Bruce Lowrey, managing director of RockBridge Capital. GlobeSt.com (10/5)     

• Let channels have their own identity, hotel experts say
  In this feature story, experts weigh in on how to manage distribution channels. "You really should have a marketing plan for each channel depending on your business mix and the profitability of each channel," said Nolan Wrentmore, an Aimbridge Hospitality vice president. He adds that hotels need different approaches for each property. HotelNewsNow.com (10/4)     

• Other News

• West Ventura County, Calif., hotels saw strong occupancy gains in August
  Ventura County Star (Calif.) (free registration) (10/7)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by AH&LA SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Report: Hotels could see added costs from Expedia's pay-later plan (Travel Weekly)

• Top hotel players discuss role of technology in industry's future (HotelNewsNow.com)

• Column: Proactive service impresses guests more than innovation (eHotelier.com)

• U.S. hotels are seeing an increase in rebranding initiatives (Travel Weekly)

• Recovery in U.S. resort segment is ramping up, STR says (HotelNewsNow.com)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Best Practices

• Column: Building customer loyalty lies in offering high-value service
  Building a relationship with customers through engagement is key to nurturing a loyal customer base, writes Bryan K. Williams of B.Williams Enterprise. "People (especially customers) thrive off of relationships. Customers can easily tell if you are revenue-driven vs. relationship-driven," Williams writes. eHotelier.com (10/4)     

Development

• InterContinental Miami will unveil $30M new look
  The InterContinental Miami will show off its $30 million upgrades at the end of the month. The project includes renovated suites, technology and lighting upgrades, and a pan-Latin restaurant featuring meals from chef Richard Sandoval. The Miami Herald (free registration) (10/4)     

• Renovations seek to breathe new life into historic Texas hotels
  A number of entrepreneurs have taken steps to revive several historic hotels in Texas, with varying degrees of success, this feature notes. For example, the Reese Hotel in Harlingen, Texas, underwent restorations worth about $6 million and is set to add office space and a boutique hotel in the future. Other restoration projects, such as the San Juan Hotel in San Juan, Texas, are on the back burner because of the economy. Houston Chronicle/The Brownsville Herald/The Associated Press (10/6)     

• Other News

• Construction to begin on Columbia, Mo., boutique hotel project
  Columbia Daily Tribune (Mo.) (10/4)     

Government Affairs

• Both Romney and Obama could halt hotels' recovery, experts say
  Both presidential candidates have policies that could threaten the slow recovery of the lodging industry, said attendees and panelists at last week's Lodging Conference in Phoenix. However, attendees said that the most pressing issue the industry faces is the upcoming "fiscal cliff" that could lead to significant cuts in the U.S. federal budget and the discontinuation of several vital tax breaks. Travel Weekly (10/7)     

	The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Towne Park to Manage Valet Parking at the Iconic Fontainebleau Miami Beach Interested in learning more about advertising with SmartBrief? Click here for detailed industry information and media kits.

AH&LA News

• Step-by-step social media tutorials
  On AH&LA's revised social media section, easily learn how to use and manage Facebook, Twitter, blogs, RSS feeds and traveler-generated content. Through the expertise of AH&LA allied member TIG Global, we've created a portal for helping you execute a viable social media strategy to capture more market share. Check out executive blogs while you're there.     

• Statistics detail industry at large
  The AH&LA Data Center, powered by Smith Travel Research, gives you access to the most comprehensive hospitality research, spanning national and state hotel statistics. There are valuable reports for hoteliers and hospitality suppliers, AH&LA property and corporate members get generous discounts on reports to optimize their operational strategy, and allied members get free reports to generate leads.     

SmartQuote

The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun." --John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist and philanthropist