USA Today – Historic Bourbon Street hotel to undergo makeover, become a Hyatt

By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY The historic Chateau Bourbon Hotel in New Orleans’ French Quarter is getting a major overhaul and by mid-2012 will open as a Hyatt hotel. The hotel’s transformation into the “Hyatt French Quarter” hotel. The renovation should be completed by mid-2012, Carey Watermark Investors says in a recent press release. The makeover includes a revamp of the hotel’s food and beverage operations and an increase in its room count to 254, or four more rooms. The deal will give Hyatt a full-service hotel located at the intersection of Bourbon Street and Canal Street, a solid location for both tourists and business travelers whether they’re going to Harrah’s Casino, the New Orleans Convention Center or the Superdome. Chicago-based Carey Watermark, a non-traded real estate investment trust, made a joint venture investment of about $46 million with New Orleans-based HRI Properties, the original owner. Carey Watermark’s investment is worth about $31 million. The hotel’s housed in a building that opened in 1849 as the D. H. Holmes department store. In 1995, HRI converted it into a hotel that also contains some leased commercial space. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that HRI had faced a Sept. 1 deadline to pay off roughly $16 million in debt, and the new investment helped HRI avoid selling the hotel. Carey Watermark CEO Mike Medzigian told the Journal that the hotel will undergo an $18 million renovation before taking the Hyatt’s name. travel.usatoday.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under federal securities laws and the company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions created thereby. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and Carey Watermark Investors Incorporated and its related and affiliated companies assume no, and hereby disclaim any, obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained herein. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.