The judgment is a step toward an eventual sale of the 1,635-room property at 17 E. Monroe St. at what could be a fraction of its pre-pandemic value. The hotel was appraised in March at $328 million, which is well below the value of what Thor owes on the property and far from the $560 million appraised value in 2018 when Thor took out the mortgage.
Full service hotels – gift shop, restaurant & lounge, banquets and room service – are a really challenging and expensive business to run. Really hard to bring 10% +/- to the post-tax bottom line. Wasn’t always so hard. They used to be all over – Best Western’s, Ramada’s, Holiday Inn’s (3 of which I worked at as Food & Beverage Director or General Manager in the 80’s). Wasn’t unusual to find a staffed gift shop, in addition to a restaurant-lounge-n-room service – at even a family room-rate Holiday Inn. Those places took lots of staff of very different skills –… Read more »
So are you saying that this giant multi-service hotel has a scant chance at a future? Your expertise is impressive – I say that because wearing multiple hats running hotels is no easy feat. It strikes me that a 1600 room hotel has to have a high occupancy rate and a high banquet/party/wedding rate, all very difficult given the economic circumstance of Chicago frankly the ever present crime problem. Am I making sense?
JackBolly
3 years ago
So sad. Hope the Palmer House can make it. Such a grand place.
Hmmmm…..Now it’s revealed why Lori ran off to Europe! She probably cut a deal to sit on it until her aircraft reached top of climb. Everything is fine!
Lion's Choice
3 years ago
So all that crap about Loop hotels making a comeback was pure BS
It’s Chicago the city of mendacity! From the highest offices to the lowly ward healer it’s all BS. Crains, the Civic Federation, the everything is lollipops and sugarplums media. They’re all going to try and BS their way out of this! I don’t remember, I don’t recall! It’s Russian disinformation!
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Full service hotels – gift shop, restaurant & lounge, banquets and room service – are a really challenging and expensive business to run. Really hard to bring 10% +/- to the post-tax bottom line. Wasn’t always so hard. They used to be all over – Best Western’s, Ramada’s, Holiday Inn’s (3 of which I worked at as Food & Beverage Director or General Manager in the 80’s). Wasn’t unusual to find a staffed gift shop, in addition to a restaurant-lounge-n-room service – at even a family room-rate Holiday Inn. Those places took lots of staff of very different skills –… Read more »
So are you saying that this giant multi-service hotel has a scant chance at a future? Your expertise is impressive – I say that because wearing multiple hats running hotels is no easy feat. It strikes me that a 1600 room hotel has to have a high occupancy rate and a high banquet/party/wedding rate, all very difficult given the economic circumstance of Chicago frankly the ever present crime problem. Am I making sense?
So sad. Hope the Palmer House can make it. Such a grand place.
I still miss Trader Vic’s at the Palmer House.
I got married there. Very sad to see indeed.
Hmmmm…..Now it’s revealed why Lori ran off to Europe! She probably cut a deal to sit on it until her aircraft reached top of climb. Everything is fine!
So all that crap about Loop hotels making a comeback was pure BS
It’s Chicago the city of mendacity! From the highest offices to the lowly ward healer it’s all BS. Crains, the Civic Federation, the everything is lollipops and sugarplums media. They’re all going to try and BS their way out of this! I don’t remember, I don’t recall! It’s Russian disinformation!