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Adam's Mark hotel sold
By J. NEALY-BROWN A Kentucky company has agreed to buy six Adam's Mark hotels across the country, including the hotel in Clearwater Beach. Columbia Sussex Corp. of Fort Mitchell, Ky., also plans to buy hotels in Philadelphia, Houston, Memphis, Columbia, S.C., and Colorado Springs, Colo., and rename them all. The 217-room Clearwater Beach Adam's Mark is the smallest of the hotels owned by HBE Corp. of St. Louis. A new name could help business at the hotels being sold, because the Adam's Mark chain has spent much of the past two years fending off allegations of racial discrimination stemming from an event at its Daytona Beach hotel. Bill Yung III, president of Columbia Sussex, declined to comment Tuesday on the terms of the sale, which is expected to be completed next month. HBE spokesman Randy Myers confirmed the agreement, but declined to comment until the deal is finalized. Last month, HBE president and chief executive Fred Kummer announced the sale of up to five hotels, a decision made in response to the shrinking occupancy rates since Sept. 11 and the need to raise cash. Company officials would not say why six hotels are included in the deal. In October, Adam's Mark laid off 20 percent of its hotel management, Myers said. HBE Corp. recently opened hotels in Indianapolis, Jacksonville and suburban Chicago, and is expanding its hotel in Daytona Beach. Company officials would not say how much debt was incurred from the expansion. Columbia Sussex operates 54 hotels under franchises such as Marriott, Crowne Plaza and Radisson. This year, the Kentucky company bought the 265-room Radisson Hotel Tampa at Sabal Park and said it would change the affiliation to Crowne Plaza. Yung said all of the acquired Adam's Mark hotels will operate under new names, but didn't disclose what they would be. The name change may improve the hotels' image, "especially in this case where there's a negative perception," said Peter Ricci, an assistant professor of lodging management at the University of Central Florida. "It would be to their benefit to reflag it," Ricci said. The stigma attached to the chain from allegations of racism will be tough to shake. HBE Corp. is keeping the Daytona Beach hotel, where private plaintiffs and state and federal governments say black guests were treated unfairly during Black College Reunion in 1999. Guests said they had to pay upfront to use the minibar, wear orange neon wristbands and pay extra for rooms. There also were complaints about art work being removed from rooms and room service being limited. In March 2000, the company settled a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, agreeing to adopt a racially unbiased guest policy. The chain apologized if guests were offended, but didn't admit to doing anything wrong. Allegations brought by the state government and private plaintiffs were settled last week for $1.1-million. HBE Corp. also agreed to pay $940,000 in attorneys' fees. As part of the settlement, the NAACP agreed to call off its boycott of the chain. -- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. J. Nealy-Brown can be reached at nealy@sptimes.com or at (727) 893-8846.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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