Radisson Resort Orlando

Gaylord: Gross advance group bookings down

NASHVILLE, Tennessee--Gaylord Entertainment Co. (NYSE: GET) today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2011. Highlights include:

Consolidated revenue increased 2.9 percent to $220.7 million in the first quarter of 2011 from $214.5 million in the same period last year. Adjusted Gaylord Hotels total revenue (which excludes Gaylord Opryland, but includes the Radisson) was flat at $149.0 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared to $149.1 million in the prior-year quarter.

Adjusted Gaylord Hotels revenue per available room ("RevPAR") increased 0.5 percent and Adjusted Gaylord Hotels total revenue per available room ("Total RevPAR") increased 2.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010.

Gaylord Opryland RevPAR increased 5.0 percent and Gaylord Opryland Total RevPAR increased 10.3 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010.

Loss from continuing operations was $2.0 million, or a loss of $0.04 per diluted share (based on 48.2 million weighted average shares outstanding) in the first quarter of 2011 compared to a loss from continuing operations of $1.8 million, or a loss of $0.04 per diluted share, in the prior-year quarter (based on 47.0 million weighted average shares outstanding).

Adjusted EBITDA3, which includes casualty loss, was $43.8 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared to $42.0 million in the prior-year quarter.

Consolidated Cash Flow4 ("CCF") increased 4.1 percent to $46.0 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared to $44.2 million in the same period last year.

Gaylord Hotels (including Gaylord Opryland) gross advance group bookings in the first quarter of 2011 for all future periods were 360,338 room nights, a decrease of 31.2 percent when compared to the same period last year. Net of attrition and cancellations, advance bookings in the first quarter of 2011 for all future periods were 274,558 room nights, a decrease of 23.8 percent when compared to the same period last year.

Colin V. Reed, chairman and chief executive officer of Gaylord Entertainment, stated, "Our business performed as expected in the first quarter of 2011 and we see our momentum building as we move towards the second half of the year. We see real signs that lodging fundamentals are improving, as evidenced by growth in outside-the-room revenue and the continued improvement in group attrition.

We're Dreaming of Disney: Disney Room Review--Radisson Resort ...

We just returned from another weekend jaunt down to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World.  We were so pleased with our previous stay on a 3* hotel through Hotwire that I couldn't believe it when a 3* hotel for $27 per night popped up on Hotwire the first week of April for our April 29th to May 2nd stay.  The hotel ended up being the Ramada Maingate West  and from the pictures on their website I was expecting another great stay in Orlando.  Then I visited Trip Advisor , my first stop prior to booking a known hotel and after booking through Priceline or Hotwire.  After reading some good and some not-so-good reviews  about this hotel I was sort of dissapointed but thought that it could still be a great property.  Fast forward to last Friday morning, the day of our departure, when I checked the Trip Advisor site for new reviews.  Review after review I read about how horrible this hotel was; bed bugs, cockroaches, mold on the walls, rooms not being cleaned for an entire stay (3-5 nights), prostitution and drug deals going down in the parking lot.  I determined that I would not allow my family to stay and sleep in such conditions; how could this poor of a hotel (62% traveller dissatisfaction rating) be rated on Hotwire at 3*'s?  I immediately began putting together a Priceline bidding strategy utilizing information from Better Bidding and Bidding for Travel  and soon had my strategy all laid out.  I started my bidding at 3.5* properties for $40 and increased my bids incrementally by $2 up to $52 by adding other areas within the Orlando area that I wished to stay and those areas that had less than 3.5* hotels.  I then started a new bid on a 3* hotel at $42 again incrementally increasing my bids by $2 with each free re-bid until a bid of $46 per night was accepted.  I then called Hotwire to discuss the Ramada Maingate West that I would not be staying in.  I told them about the poor reviews and conditions and they said that the hotel had been reviewed within the past week and the hotel still was an acceptable 3* hotel to them.  I requested a refund and was told that "Hot Buy" hotel rooms were non-refundable, which I knew when I purchased it.  However, I purchased the room in good faith that I would be receiving a hotel room of 3* quality.

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