2008 Sales Achievement Award Winners Announced at Hotel Brokers International 50th Anniversary Celebration

At their recent 50th anniversary celebration, officials of Hotel Brokers International (HBI) announced the 2008 winners of the organization's prestigious Sales Achievement Awards. The highlight of the ceremony came when Bill Moyer, Donohoe Real Estate Services, was named Salesperson of the Year and Bob Hunter, Hunter Realty Associates, Inc., was named Broker of the Year.

"Despite last year's sagging economy, eight individual sales associates and four brokers finished with a 'personal best' sales record," said Jeff Westgor, HBI's president and president of Westgor & Associates Inc. "In addition, nine other individual members won awards for unique deals and portfolio sales. Errol D'Souza, Laurel Real Estate Company, was recognized for HBI's 10,000th transaction, since its founding 50 years ago, with the sale of the 64-room Holiday Inn Express in Newton Falls, Ohio, for $4.6 million.

"According to information provided at our conference and at ALIS earlier in the week, 2009 will be a difficult year for hotel operators," Westgor noted. "Many experts, including a consensus of HBI brokers, believe that the hotel real estate market will become increasingly active as the year progresses.

"There are a lot of loans coming due, values have declined due to falling RevPAR, and debt financing is harder to find and at more restrictive terms," he said. "Owners who have loans coming due within the next 12 months should seriously consider listing their properties now. We believe there will be more transactions in 2009 than in 2008 when both buyers and sellers were largely on the sidelines. Financing remains available, especially for properties under $10 million. HBI brokers have strong relationships with many lenders and can help obtain financing."

Bill Moyer of Donohoe Real Estate Services was named Salesperson of the Year, the organization's top award for a sales associate. For the third year in a row, Bob Hunter, president of Hunter Realty Associates, Inc. was named Broker of the Year.

Other 2008 winners include:

  - Record Dollar Volume, awarded to individuals and brokerages that

    achieved their personal highest dollar volume in 2008:



       Individual Sales Associates

       ---------------------------

     - Jennifer Church, CHB - Milmark Hotel/Motel Investments, LLC

     - Robert Flake -Western Hotel Brokers, Inc.

     - Michael Faridi - Huff, Niehaus & Associates, Inc.

     - Lee Hunter, CHB - Hunter Realty Associates, Inc.

     - Byron Hinton - Scoggin Blue, LLC

     - Charlotte Seale - Donohoe Real Estate Services

     - Bill Moyer  - Donohoe Real Estate Services

     - Elias DePaula  - MBA Hotel Brokers



       Brokerage Firms

       ---------------

     - Laurel Real Estate Company

     - Western Hotel Brokers, Inc.

     - Donohoe Real Estate Services

     - Milmark Hotel/Motel Investments, LLC



  - Most Co-op Sales, awarded to brokerages that achieved the highest

    number of joint transactions during the current awards period:

     - Huff, Niehaus & Associates, Inc.

     - Laurel Real Estate Company



  - Single Asset Sale of the Year is awarded to the primary listing and/or

    selling agent.



     - Bill Moyer - Donohoe Real Estate Services, for the sale of the 235-

       room Doubletree Hotel in Charlottesville, Va., for $23.5 million.



  - Portfolio Sale of the Year, determined by the merits of the

    transaction, is awarded to the primary listing and/or selling agent:



     - Errol D'Souza, CHB - Laurel Real Estate Company, for the sale of a

       two-hotel portfolio, the 77-rooms Holiday in Express in Austinburg,

       Ohio,  and the 64-rooms Holiday Inn Express in Newton Falls, Ohio,

       for $11.2 million.  This sale was HBI's 10,000th transaction in the

       organization's 50-year history.



  - Unique Deal of the Year, awarded based on the unique aspects of the

    transaction, the complexity of the deal and the challenges presented to

    the broker:



     - Joe McCann, CHB - Optimum Hotel Brokerage, LLC, for the sale of

       the 112-room Kenilworth Inn, in Kenilworth, N.J., for $11.6 million.



  - New Associate of the Year, awarded to the associate who obtains the

    most exclusive listings and achieves the most outstanding sales record

    in their first year of hotel brokerage:



     - Suresh Patel -- MBA Hotel Brokers, for obtaining six exclusive

       listings and closing three hotel transactions.



  - Top Broker and Salesperson in Each Region, criteria include record

    sales volume for the year and HBI programs and activities participation.



  Top Regional Brokers

  --------------------



  New England/Mid-Atlantic Region

     - Joe McCann, CHB - Optimum Hotel Brokerage, LLC



  South Atlantic Region

     - Brian Coakley - Donohoe Real Estate Services



  North Central Region

     - Errol D'Souza, CHB - Laurel Real Estate Company



  South Central Region

     - Brandt Niehaus, CHB - Huff, Niehaus & Associates, Inc.



  Mountain/Pacific Region

     - Steven Blue, CHB - Scoggin Blue LLC



  Top Regional Salespersons

  -------------------------



  South Atlantic Region

     - Teague Hunter, CHB - Hunter Realty Associates, Inc.



  North Central Region

     - Jennifer Church, CHB - Milmark Hotel/Motel Investments, LLC



  South Central Region

     - Darin Brock, CHB - Brock Hotel Group



  Mountain/Pacific Region

     - Robert Flake - Western Hotel Brokers, Inc.

About HBI
Hotel Brokers International, with more than 100 hotel brokerage specialists, is the world's leading hotel sales organization. Now celebrating its 50th year of successful hotel real estate transactions, the organization annually accounts for the largest share of mid-market transactions in the United States. With a database currently comprising more than 150 property listings, the HBI website attracts more than 30,000 monthly site visitors from approximately 40 different countries. Founder and host of the popular Hotel Investor's Marketplace, HBI also developed the Certified Hotel Broker program and publishes TransActions Recap, the industry's leading source of hotel real estate sales data.

In addition to broker services, HBI offers affiliate membership to professionals in allied fields, including franchising, lending, appraisals and investment services. For more information about HBI's hotel listings or to become a broker or affiliate member, HBI may be reached at (816) 505-4315 or via the Internet at www.hbihotels.com.



Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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