Ryan Tate's best hotel articles of the past year

These are my best hotel-related stories written within the past year for the San Francisco Business Times. This list was last updated (none).

The Business Times only covers exclusive stories in its print edition, so the stories below can be considered "scoops" unless labeled otherwise.

  • Four Seasons, 2 other S.F. inns find buyers
    But prices per room show labor dispute has put chill on market

    The Four Seasons and two other hotels have been acquired in separate deals worth more than $300 million. Full story

    San Francisco Business Times, February 3, 2006

  • St. Francis sale could nab $420M
    Landmark hotel joins inn crowd in frothy market

    San Francisco's storied Westin St. Francis hotel is for sale and is expected to fetch up to $420 million.

    The listing puts the city's third-largest hotel at the center of a trading frenzy. The Four Seasons, Park Hyatt, Argent and Pan Pacific all sold recently, while bids were recently collected on the Palace.

    Hotel brokers have been speculating for several months now that the St. Francis would come on the market. Blackstone finally took the plunge earlier this month and began quietly marketing the hotel, according to people familiar with the offering. Full story

    San Francisco Business Times, March 24, 2006

  • Hotels run up tab to boost restaurants
    Today's special: Hot chefs

    Jon KimballMany of San Francisco's largest hotels are upgrading their restaurants with independent chefs and adventurous food, providing restaurateurs with a much-needed influx of capital.

    In remaking their humdrum restaurants, hotels like the Argent and St. Francis are hoping to enhance their image among food-savvy travelers and locals at a time when tourism is up -- along with the price of the city's most desirable rooms. Full story

    San Francisco Business Times, December 8, 2006

  • S.F. hotels undergo upgrades deferred since 2001

    Hilton%20General%20Manager%20Mark%20Everton.After nearly three years of revenue gains, San Francisco hotels are investing in themselves again, with an expensive new round of renovations unseen since the dot-com days.

    Many hotel owners deferred significant upgrades starting around 2001, when economic recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sharply curtailed travel into the city, starving hotels of business. Revenue per available room fell for three straight years, leaving many owners uncertain even as conditions improved in 2004 and 2005.

    Now that it's clear the recovery has legs, owners are pumping money into rooms, lobbies, hallways and restaurants, hoping to participate in the rate increases that have swept the city. Those without the means or inclination to do so are selling their properties to new, better-capitalized owners intent on a renovations. Full story

    San Francisco Business Times, November 17, 2006

  • Argent, other hotels to play 'name game' and reflag

    The Argent, Pan Pacific and Park Hyatt hotels are all expected to be renamed by the end of the year as new owners try to figure out the value of a brand.

    All three hotels have changed hands or begun the process of changing hands since the start of the year. The Argent went to Highgate Holdings of Irving, Texas; the Pan Pacific to Ashford Hospitality of Dallas; and the Park Hyatt to HEI Hospitality of Connecticut.

    Of the three, only the Pan Pacific had been owned locally, by an opportunity fund that acquired the property in 2003 from Japan-based Tokyu Corp. Full story

    San Francisco Business Times, March 24, 2006

  • New chief aims to 'rebrand' S.F. tourist bureau
    Outreach to influence action 2

    Joe%20D'Alesandro%2C%20San%20Francisco's%20tourism%20chiefSan Francisco's new tourism chief is interested in expanding corporate sponsorships, partnering with the Wine Country to market the area, and possibly reducing convention center fees.

    But first and foremost, Joe D'Alesandro said in an interview, he is listening -- listening to local business owners, residents and, in particular, to San Franciso's Board of Supervisors. D'Alesandro confirmed he will meet with all 11 city supervisors within the next two months, a plan he recently unveiled to his bosses on the executive committee of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

    The outreach effort is a politically savvy move by a man accustomed to prickly progressives. During his last job, heading up the visitors association in Portland, D'Alesandro watched in shock as a series of city restaurateurs turned away visiting executives of Monsanto, the agriculture giant that makes genetically altered seeds. Full story

    San Francisco Business Times, July 21, 2006

More articles

At the Business Times, I cover not only hotels but the whole hospitality industry, plus East Bay real estate. You can see more published writing at the main articles index.