🏛️ HLC D.C. — Are You In? | Hotel Deals + Trade Secrets + Priv acy Breaches + Risk Management + FTC Junk Fees + Franchise Agreements

May 2025 / View this email in your browser.

Via CoStar image: Two People shaking hands in a meeting. TEXT: "Despite Challenges, Deals Still Possible in Current Environment, Hoteliers Say."

HOUSTON — The U.S. hotel industry has been going through some disruption due to economic uncertainty, but players in the transaction market say deals can be done. They're just not as easy and more expensive than they used to be.

During a capital markets panel at the Hospitality Law Conference, John Keeling, executive vice president at Valencia Hotel Group, said historically hotels have been considered among the riskier real estate investment classes. The leases are for one night, making it difficult to predict accurately what the next night will bring, while buildings such as offices offered fixed leases for 10 years.

Now, the office market is recovering from the pandemic but is still in the doldrums, Keeling said. Those 10-year leases don’t seem as safe. The hospitality rate model means hotels can raise rates faster to account for inflation.

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Best Practices to Safeguard Your Company’s Trade Secrets — Case Study

via HL Blog

The number one risk for trade secrets exfiltration is from insider threats—employees, contractors, or even executives with access to sensitive information who either intentionally or accidentally compromise it. Regardless of the intent, however, your company must put itself in the best possible position to protect against the exfiltration of its trade secrets and confidential and/or proprietary information.

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Data Privacy Breaches: A Wake-Up Call for Hotel Operators

via Hospitality Net

In the hospitality industry, there is yet another obstacle that operators really need to worry about. We all know that guest trust is the cornerstone of success but what if we breach that trust and not even on purpose?

Hospitality Legal, Risk, Safety and Security Coalition

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Risk Management as a Tool to Help Hotels Build Resilience

via Hospitality Management

Uncertainty defines the hospitality outlook in the new year. Regulatory shifts, economic volatility and climate impacts present complex risks. ERM adoption is growing across the industry to anticipate and manage disruptions.

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Washington DC.

How the FTC’s Junk Fees Rule Sets a Standard for Hotel Pricing Nationwide

via Hotel Dive

The rule, which was finalized in December, clarifies that it is “an unfair and deceptive practice” for businesses to “offer, display, or advertise any price of live-event tickets or short-term lodging without clearly, conspicuously and prominently disclosing the total price.”

Via CoStar image: Smiling middle aged businesswoman signing paper contract at group meeting TEXT: "How Hoteliers Can Better Negotiate Franchise Agreements"

HOUSTON — While hotel brand companies generally have the advantage when negotiating a franchise agreement, owners have more options than just signing on the dotted line.

Franchise companies are resistant to change that will affect consistency across their brands, which has led them to perpetuate the use of form franchise agreements, said Colby Birkes, partner at Dentons Bingham Greenebaum, during a presentation at the Hospitality Law Conference.

“However, due partly to the competitive evolution of the market with a focus on fostering a strong, long-lasting relationship under the franchise agreement, franchisors have become more relaxed and more open to negotiating points and changes in between franchise agreements,” he said.

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