In October of 1994, an affiliate of Associated Hotels, LLC purchased the Camelot Hotel in downtown Little Rock. The hotel had been a poor performer, was in need of major renovation, and was a blight on the community. Associated recognized the turnaround opportunity from a management, renovation, and sales and marketing standpoint and put together an aggressive plan to reposition the hotel as the premier hotel in downtown Little Rock. Just prior to the completion of the renovation Associated implemented an aggressive public relations and sales campaign to ensure a fast ramp up of the hotel. Within nine (9) months of completion, the hotel had achieved a Revpar Index of 109%. The hotel continued to outperform the competitive set until the hotel was sold in June of 2007. Associated was retained to manage the hotel on behalf of the new ownership group, and after a major renovation and public relations and sales effort it continues to perform at above market levels.

 

In June 2006, Associated was retained by Woodfield Hotels, LLC to manage the Holiday Inn in Rolling Meadows. The hotel was in default with Holiday Inn for poor guest service scores and was struggling for a operating solution for a spread out, older 423 room hotel. Associated worked with the ownership to renovate the hotel and in an effort to increase value, customer penetration, and relevance, convert an outlying guest room tower into a Holiday Inn Express. The hotel is currently out of default, has been Relaunched by Holiday Inn, and is regaining market share. The Holiday Inn Express, open just over a year, is the leading hotel in the Chicago region for Overall Guest Satisfaction and is approaching 100% Revpar Index.

 

 

In July 2008, Associated was engaged by the owners of Grace Hotels, LLC to manage and assist in the completion of the Holiday Inn Express Waukegan. The hotel has been open for six (6) months and in the face of a heavily dominated Marriott competitive set, including a brand new Springhill Suites, the hotel is achieving over 100% Revpar index. The aggressive pre-opening sales and marketing efforts and revenue management strategies that Associated employs have been very effective in the fast ramp up of this hotel.

 

After owning and managing the 430 room Holiday Inn and Suites at Minneapolis Airport since 1981, Associated sold the hotel to an institutional investor in June 2007 who retained Associated to manage. After embarking upon a major renovation which was completed in August 2008, the hotel has once again moved above the 100% occupancy penetration level. This admirable performance is occurring despite a difficult economy and a competitive set which includes a full service Hilton, Marriott, and Embassy Suites.

 

In June, 1992, an affiliate purchased the 300 room Sheraton in Naperville, IL from a lender. Recognizing the opportunity for enhanced management, renovation, and brand change, the hotel was quickly repositioned as a Holiday Inn and immediately became the premier hotel in the western suburbs of Chicago. In February, 2001, the hotel was expanded by 130 rooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space to allow it to compete for larger group business. After many years of operational and financial success, the hotel was sold for a substantial profit in 2007.