FelCor Dominates in the Luxury Hotel REIT Space, Knickerbocker Launches February 2015

CEO Rick Smith tells TheStreet’s Jill Malandrino the company is now well positioned for growth following its restructuring by cleaning up the balance sheet and overall property portfolio. FelCor sold a number of hotels and improved the operating performance to put the company ahead of peers. Smith says the market that has outperformed for the portfolio is San Francisco and all of the West Coast. New York has been a little slower to come back and it tends to be a very volatile market. That said, the iconic Knickerbocker hotel opening in February 2015 is one of the properties FelCor is looking forward to most. Managing Director of The Knickerbocker, Jeff David, says a big part the project is research and development and pioneering luxury in Times Square, particularly as the hospitality space keeps re-inventing itself.