Are Hotels and Timeshare Companies Looking to Offset Losses with Real Estate Investments?

Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht offers some interesting insights about the commercial real estate market as an investment during the down economy. You can watch the interview in this clip from the Fox Business Channel.

And before you view the clip, here’s a little perspective on how Starwood Capital fits into the bigger picture with Starwood hotels and Starwood timeshares. Historically, Starwood Capital is known as an aggressive and successful acquirers of individual hotels, hotel companies, and timeshare resorts worldwide. From their website: “Starwood Capital is well known for its 1995 acquisition and subsequent recapitalization, reorganization and expansion of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT “Starwood Hotels”), a Fortune 500 company, with ownership of brands such as Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels, The St. Regis, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection and Four Points by Sheraton. Mr. Sternlicht, as Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels between 1995 and May of 2005, led the transformation of Starwood Hotels from an overleveraged, liquidating REIT into a thriving global enterprise of more than 115,000 employees, with a total enterprise value in excess of $18 billion, including more than 800 hotels system-wide in 80 countries.”