From left: The exterior of 129 West 46th Street, Apple Core Hotels President Vijay Dandapani and a rendering of the lobby

The nine-story, 79-room Comfort Inn at 129 West 46th Street has been rebranded Broadway @ Times Square hotel, owners Apple Core Hotels announced, and will undergo a renovation.

It’s the third time the discount hotelier has stripped one of its Midtown hotels of its chain franchising and brought it independent. Previously it rebranded a nearby Super 8, at 59 West 46th Street, and named it the Hotel @ Times Square, and a Red Roof Inn at 6 West 32nd Street became nyma, new york manhattan hotel. The firm owns two other franchised hotels in Midtown. [more]

Vijay Dandapani of Apple Core Hotels and Will Obeid of Gemini Real Estate Advisors at real estate panel yesterday

The bloodletting for Manhattan hotel operators did not end with 2009, preliminary figures covering January from industry analysis firm PKF Consulting reveal.

The average daily room rate fell in January by 8.8 percent compared with the same month last year to $192.96 per room, and the revenue per available room, or revpar, dipped by 3.6 percent to $125.71, data from PKF shows.

But on a bright note, the figures indicate that occupancy rates rose, to 65.1 percent last month from 61.6 percent in January 2009.

For all of 2009, revpar plunged by 25.8 percent from $264 per room to $196 per room, the PKF figures indicate.

At a panel on hospitality at the New York Real Estate Summit yesterday in Midtown, hotel executive Vijay Dandapani, president and COO of Apple Core Hotels, noted the year began poorly.

“We have seen a further depression in January,” he said. “I personally think 2010 will be flat.” [more]