LaSalle Hotel Properties Acquires Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter

Bethesda, Md.-based LaSalle Hotel Properties has acquired the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter for $85million.

The full-service hotel is located in the historic Gaslamp district in downtown San Diego, across the street from the San Diego Convention Center and two blocks from PETCO Park, the new home of the San Diego Padres baseball team.

The 282-room hotel will continue to be operated pursuant to a Hilton franchise agreement, and will be managed by Davidson Hotel Co.

The Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter opened in 2000 and is part of a mixed-use complex that includes street-level retail shops and restaurants, parking facilities and a full-service spa.

The company's acquisition also includes New Leaf, a 116-seat upscale restaurant, and the 4,600-sq.-ft. Artesia Day Spa. The street-level retail shops and Lou & Mickey's Steakhouse will continue to be owned by the seller of the hotel as a separate condominium ownership unit.

The 282 guestrooms and suites are contained in two separate buildings. The main tower includes 252 guestrooms and the adjacent Enclave tower has 30 high-end appointed suites. The hotel has approximately 7,800 sq. ft. of meeting and function space in eight rooms. The property also has access to two separate outdoor meeting areas encompassing approximately 31,800 sq. ft.

Starwood Plans Condo/Hotel in Mammoth

Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Intrawest Corp. plan to build a 230-unit condominium-hotel under the hotel company's Westin brand in Mammoth Lakes.

The Westin Monache Mammoth will be the first full-service, luxury property in the region and the flagship property of The Village at Mammoth. Construction will begin this spring and scheduled to be completed in 24 months.

The project will be the third venture between Intrawest and Starwood, following the Westin Resort and Spa at Tremblant, Quebec, which opened in 2000, and The Westin Trillium House at Blue Mountain in Ontario, which is scheduled to open in late summer.

One of the fastest-growing mountain destinations in North America, Mammoth is located in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains (south of Reno and northeast of Los Angeles). The resort hosted close to 1.5 million skiers last season, ranking it among the three most-visited ski areas in the U.S. and California's most popular four-season mountain destinations.

United Rentals Pledges $100,000 to Relief Effort

Greenwich, Conn.-based United Rentals Inc., one of the largest equipment rental companies in the United States, will contribute up to $100,000 in financial support for relief to the Asian countries devastated by the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The funds will be donated to the American Red Cross International Response Fund.

United Rentals' pledge will consist of an initial corporate donation of $25,000 and the company's dollar-for-dollar match of employee contributions up to an additional $75,000.

Wayland Hicks, chief executive officer of United Rentals, said, "We are matching the contributions of our employees, who have expressed a tremendous outpouring of compassion. All of us at United Rentals express our deepest sympathy to the many people affected by this disaster."

United Rentals also announced it would encourage customers to contribute to the Red Cross fund by accepting customer contributions at its more than 730 rental locations throughout North America.