Latest news with #CommodoreHotel
Scoop
4 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Hospitality With Heart: Commodore Airport Hotel Christchurch Named NZ's Friendliest Hotel For 2025
Commodore Airport Hotel Christchurch has been named 2025 New Zealand's friendliest hotel by Travel Weekly, a leading Australian travel publication. The award, announced in June 2025, recognises guest feedback, service quality, and authentic hospitality, areas where the Commodore stood out for its personal touch and the visible presence of the Patterson family, who own and operate the hotel. To determine the friendliest hotels around the world, Travel Weekly analysed 12.6 million reviews of more than 14,000 4 to 5-star hotels. "This award reflects what we've always believed - that hospitality isn't just about providing a room, it's about creating genuine connections with every guest," said Michael Patterson, Director & General Manager of Commodore Hotel and Patterson Hospitality Group. "Our father Tom instilled in us that every guest interaction matters, and that philosophy guides everything we do." The recognition comes as no surprise to those who have witnessed the family's hands-on approach firsthand. "I was dropping my car off to try the Commodore's Christchurch airport parking service when I saw Michael Patterson walking past with a jug of water, helping a guest defrost their windscreen," said Rachel Alexander, CEO of Alexanders Digital Marketing. "It wasn't a grand gesture, just genuine care for someone who needed help." This award confirms Commodore Hotel's place as one of Christchurch's top accommodation providers. Located on Memorial Avenue near Christchurch Airport, the 157-room property has resort-style amenities including an indoor pool, gym, tennis court, pickleball courts, 24-hour shuttle, and airport parking, making it a practical and comfortable choice for both business and leisure stays. Run by three generations of the Patterson family, the hotel blends legacy and personal service, earning loyal guests from around the world. This same care is echoed across the Patterson Hospitality Group's other properties, Hotel Montreal in Central Christchurch and Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel where the Patterson family's legacy of warmth and attentive service continues.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What Trump's Real Estate Deals Teach Business Owners About Building Wealth
President Trump has captured the spotlight since the mid-2010s as a political figure. His first presidency came as a surprise in 2016. After losing the 2020 election, he became the second president in history to lose a reelection bid before winning again. Trending Now: Read Next: Since Trump has become synonymous with politics for a decade, it's easy to forget that he became a successful real estate investor and has plenty of insights to share. Ironically, his real estate career has been just as volatile as his presidency. Trump amassed great fortunes with strategic real estate investments in the 1980s and became a household name. Then, he almost lost everything in the 1990s and ascended to new heights in the 2000s. Trump's real estate deals offer plenty of valuable lessons for aspiring investors and people who want to make their mark in the world. It's not practical for everyone to get started with large real estate properties, but it should be an aspiration. Trump doesn't invest in single-family homes and that isn't how he made his mark in the beginning. In fact, his first deal was a 1,200-unit apartment complex in Cincinnati that he and his father bought. Check Out: Not everyone can start with that type of deal. Some investors accumulate multiple single-family homes before they move on to apartments. However, Trump explained the logic of investing in large-scale properties in 'The Art of the Deal.' 'It takes almost the same amount of energy to manage 50 units as it does 1,200-except that with 1,200, you have a much bigger upside,' he said. President Trump used a lot of debt to finance his deals. If he needed all of the cash ready to go, he wouldn't have the real estate empire that he has today. He used advanced strategies to minimize his investments in some properties. For instance, Trump secured an option agreement to purchase the Commodore Hotel from the bankrupt Penn Central. This gave him the option but not the obligation to buy the property. While waiting, he leveraged political connections and New York City's steady decline in the 1970s to get a sweetheart deal on the property. He received an unprecedented 40-year tax break on the property that only ended in 2020. Few investors can capitalize on those types of strategies. Trump had established himself as an ambitious real estate developer at a time when New York City was reeling economically. However, his organization has also taken out many loans. Over-leverage almost wiped him out in the 1990s, demonstrating the risk of this strategy. However, leverage is one of the quickest ways to scale a real estate portfolio. Trump didn't buy a property just for the sake of buying it. His book 'The Art of the Deal' explores intricate details of multiple deals. While you can buy stocks in a matter of seconds, Trump's description of multi-year build-ups leading up to deals resembles chess masters duking it out on the board. Waiting multiple years to swoop in allowed Trump to capitalize on bad market conditions. He also got to take advantage of competitors who were in weakened states and desperate to make deals. When a competitor is desperate to make a deal, it's easier for investors like Trump to find undervalued deals. He explained in 'The Art of the Deal' that he had to acquire Bonwit Teller to build Trump Tower. He mentioned that Genesco would likely try to get out of the deal as multiple wealthy investors approached them. However, Trump had been eying this property for years and had a one-page letter of intent from the seller. He detailed the smart and ruthless approach that allowed him to use this letter as leverage to secure a great deal at a great price. 'I could have litigated it and held up any sale of the Bonwit property for several years. Naturally, I let Genesco know I fully intended to do just that if they reneged on my deal. With creditors breathing down their necks, Genesco, I knew, didn't have a lot of time,' he said. Knowing yourself can help you find great deals. Knowing when the competition is weak may help you capitalize on extraordinary opportunities, especially if you have leverage. Editor's note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Warns of 'Red Rural Recession' -- 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard 6 Popular SUVs That Aren't Worth the Cost -- and 6 Affordable Alternatives The 5 Car Brands Named the Least Reliable of 2025 This article originally appeared on What Trump's Real Estate Deals Teach Business Owners About Building Wealth
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What Trump's Real Estate Deals Teach Business Owners About Building Wealth
President Trump has captured the spotlight since the mid-2010s as a political figure. His first presidency came as a surprise in 2016. After losing the 2020 election, he became the second president in history to lose a reelection bid before winning again. Trending Now: Read Next: Since Trump has become synonymous with politics for a decade, it's easy to forget that he became a successful real estate investor and has plenty of insights to share. Ironically, his real estate career has been just as volatile as his presidency. Trump amassed great fortunes with strategic real estate investments in the 1980s and became a household name. Then, he almost lost everything in the 1990s and ascended to new heights in the 2000s. Trump's real estate deals offer plenty of valuable lessons for aspiring investors and people who want to make their mark in the world. It's not practical for everyone to get started with large real estate properties, but it should be an aspiration. Trump doesn't invest in single-family homes and that isn't how he made his mark in the beginning. In fact, his first deal was a 1,200-unit apartment complex in Cincinnati that he and his father bought. Check Out: Not everyone can start with that type of deal. Some investors accumulate multiple single-family homes before they move on to apartments. However, Trump explained the logic of investing in large-scale properties in 'The Art of the Deal.' 'It takes almost the same amount of energy to manage 50 units as it does 1,200-except that with 1,200, you have a much bigger upside,' he said. President Trump used a lot of debt to finance his deals. If he needed all of the cash ready to go, he wouldn't have the real estate empire that he has today. He used advanced strategies to minimize his investments in some properties. For instance, Trump secured an option agreement to purchase the Commodore Hotel from the bankrupt Penn Central. This gave him the option but not the obligation to buy the property. While waiting, he leveraged political connections and New York City's steady decline in the 1970s to get a sweetheart deal on the property. He received an unprecedented 40-year tax break on the property that only ended in 2020. Few investors can capitalize on those types of strategies. Trump had established himself as an ambitious real estate developer at a time when New York City was reeling economically. However, his organization has also taken out many loans. Over-leverage almost wiped him out in the 1990s, demonstrating the risk of this strategy. However, leverage is one of the quickest ways to scale a real estate portfolio. Trump didn't buy a property just for the sake of buying it. His book 'The Art of the Deal' explores intricate details of multiple deals. While you can buy stocks in a matter of seconds, Trump's description of multi-year build-ups leading up to deals resembles chess masters duking it out on the board. Waiting multiple years to swoop in allowed Trump to capitalize on bad market conditions. He also got to take advantage of competitors who were in weakened states and desperate to make deals. When a competitor is desperate to make a deal, it's easier for investors like Trump to find undervalued deals. He explained in 'The Art of the Deal' that he had to acquire Bonwit Teller to build Trump Tower. He mentioned that Genesco would likely try to get out of the deal as multiple wealthy investors approached them. However, Trump had been eying this property for years and had a one-page letter of intent from the seller. He detailed the smart and ruthless approach that allowed him to use this letter as leverage to secure a great deal at a great price. 'I could have litigated it and held up any sale of the Bonwit property for several years. Naturally, I let Genesco know I fully intended to do just that if they reneged on my deal. With creditors breathing down their necks, Genesco, I knew, didn't have a lot of time,' he said. Knowing yourself can help you find great deals. Knowing when the competition is weak may help you capitalize on extraordinary opportunities, especially if you have leverage. Editor's note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Warns of 'Red Rural Recession' -- 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard 10 Unreliable SUVs To Stay Away From Buying 7 Tax Loopholes the Rich Use To Pay Less and Build More Wealth This article originally appeared on What Trump's Real Estate Deals Teach Business Owners About Building Wealth Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Times
06-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Pacers are once again the comeback kings. How will the Thunder respond?
The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic's daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. On this day in 1946, the National Basketball Association was founded. It happened at the Commodore Hotel in New York City. Despite the low ratings, it somehow managed to stick around. It's almost like the ratings conversation is kind of meaningless. Pacers have new massive late-game comeback The absolute worst thing you can do against the Pacers is have a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead. The Thunder, in their days of scouting to prepare for the NBA Finals, failed to recognize that. When the Thunder were up 15 points with less than 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, they should have known they had put themselves in great peril. Advertisement The Pacers just can't be killed. I don't know what it is about them. You can't flap them. They're unflappable – even against the best defense in the NBA. Even against the most dominant team in the NBA. The Pacers just methodically and calmly start chipping away, just waiting for that moment to throw a dagger into the hearts of their opponents and satisfy some oddly gratification of sending the opposing crowd home in utter shock. I'm going to paint this scenario for you, and you tell me how much you think the Thunder would win this game by: You'd probably guess it was yet another 30-point victory for the Thunder, but the Pacers won that game. They won it with a furious 29-14 run in the final 8:47 of the game. After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed a midrange jumper with 14 seconds left and a one-point lead, the Pacers opted to not call a timeout and just put the ball in the hands of Tyrese Haliburton – the man who has terrorized clutch defenses all playoffs long. Hali decided to take on the best defense in the world, and knocked that thing down. Cold. Another fun thing to do here is watch Dwyane Wade's reaction to it on a live stream as it happened. The legend of Haliburton and these Pacers continues to grow. This is Haliburton's fifth game-tying or go-ahead shot in the last five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime of a playoff game. Only LeBron James (eight) and Reggie Miller (five also five) have as many or more since 1997. He's now 6-of-7 on shots to tie or take the lead in the last 90 seconds of the fourth or overtime, the most of those shots since 1997. And the Pacers now have five wins when they are down by 15 or more points in a playoff game this postseason. Their record is 5-3 when they trail by 15 in a game in the 2025 playoffs. That is absurd. The reasons all of those bad stats for the Pacers and good stats for the Thunder in the bullet points above didn't sink Indiana? Advertisement They only gave up 11 points off those 25 turnovers. The Pacers went 18-of-39 (46.2 percent) from deep. And they outrebounded the Thunder 57-39. Yes, they gave the ball up but they limited the damage it did. They lit up one of the best defenses from 3 — with five different players hitting multiple 3s, led by Obi Toppin's five. And they hammered the boards. Before the opening tip, OKC changed their lineup to Cason Wallace starting over Isaiah Hartenstein. A curious change from current Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault concerned about the pace and quickness of Indiana. Following the game, my friend Shaker Samman threw this breakdown of why either team will win the title in this series: 'Thunder: – sixth best regular season record in history – has the MVP – incredible efficiency numbers – young stars across the floor – great on both ends – no real weakness Pacers: – have the juice' Sometimes the simple reason is the best explanation. The Pacers have the juice. Knick fans dodge a bullet in coaching search 🏀 No thank you. Rick Pitino has quelled any speculation of his interest in the Knicks job. Knicks fans can rest easy. 🎙️ Showing support. Rick Carlisle put out his support for ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke. Her spot on the lead team may not be guaranteed. 🏀 He's here. The Suns named Jordan Ott their new head coach. How he got here. 🏀 Big honor. NBA referees are much maligned, but they know when they've made it: Earning the illustrious white jacket. 🏀 Remix! Don't forget this article from Jason Jones last week. Haliburton is a new villain. 🎧 Tuning in. Today's 'NBA Daily' discusses how last night's electric Game 1 finish changes the vibe of the NBA Finals. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. How do Thunder respond in Game 2? When you only trail in a finals game for 0.3 seconds, I'm not sure how many adjustments you need going into the next game. But Sunday at 8 p.m. ET (on ABC), we're going to see the Thunder in a surprisingly desperate situation. They're going to have to win Game 2 of the NBA Finals, or risk facing some real peril in this series down 2-0 headed back to Indianapolis. The Thunder have been in this scenario already once before in this postseason. Advertisement In Game 1 of the second round, the Nuggets came back to win a tight game in OKC by two points. The Thunder responded in Game 2 with a 43-point drubbing of Nikola Jokić's friends. We know the Thunder are capable of bouncing back in a big way. OKC has only lost back-to-back games only twice this season. One set of losses happened toward the end of the season when its fate as the No. 1 seed was already decided. The Thunder lost to the Rockets and Lakers in consecutive games. The other set happened against San Antonio and Dallas before Thanksgiving. On the flip side of that, the Pacers won Games 1 and 2 in both Cleveland and New York in their previous two rounds. As good as the Thunder are, the Pacers are no strangers to pulling this off. So how do the Thunder avoid that from happening? Here are three keys: 1. The turnovers have to equal points. Going into Game 1, the Thunder were averaging just under 24 points off opponents turnovers. That's a ridiculous number. They were scoring 1.36 points per possession on steals. That's also a ridiculous number. So, why didn't OKC turn turnovers into a wave of points? The Thunder only had eight shot attempts on fast breaks. Three of their 14 steals were immediately given right back to the Pacers with immediate turnovers by their opponents. And OKC just seemed to rush a lot of shots. 2. Protect the 3-point line. Getting lit up for 18 3-points on nearly 50 percent efficiency does not scream Thunder basketball. They were top 10 in 3-point rate allowed and allowed the lowest 3-point percentage. On the season, they're 12-5 when they allow 18 or more 3-pointers. They seemed content on allowing 3-pointers to guys they weren't worried about beating them. It backfired because Toppin was knocking down shots and being a difference-maker. The Thunder have to run Indiana off the 3-point line while still protecting the paint. 3. Go back to what you know. I did not like the decision out of nowhere to start Wallace over Hartenstein going into Game 1. In a vacuum, I understand the logic behind Daigneault's decision, given the speed and persistence of the Pacers' tempo. But adjusting to an opponent before a game even starts can give that opponent a psychological edge. OKC should go back to the original starting lineup, be big and try to make sure it's hammering the boards and the paint. What to make of commissioner's new comments NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the media prior to the tip-off of the 2025 NBA Finals, and he had some very interesting statements about expansion before letting us know he loves the new All-Star format. Before we get to that, I want to go back to some comments Commissioner Silver made on FS1 just a couple days ago. He was addressing the idea of people not being excited about two small markets being in the NBA Finals: 'It's one thing I really admire about the NFL. If we were going into a Super Bowl, and it was Packers against Steelers, you guys would be celebrating that. Nobody would be talking about how Pittsburgh is a small market.' Advertisement This is where I have frustrations with the commissioner and his approach to this subject. Silver is too nice of a guy sometimes, and he tries to be so accommodating to all who want to bring up 'issues' for the league. If I were him and someone wanted me to address the small-market problem for ratings in the NBA Finals, I'd grab one of those money shooting guns from under the desk, make it rain and remind everybody I just negotiated a $76 billion deal for the league amidst all of these conversations about low ratings hurting the league. There's no need to address this stuff sometimes. Sell your league. Don't sell the NFL. Someone asks if you're worried about the ratings of the upcoming NBA Finals? Start spittin' about how dominant SGA is and neg them into believing they don't actually like sports or competition if they don't want to watch him play basketball. As for the press conference before the finals began, Silver addressed the idea of expansion, as people are still clamoring for a return for the Seattle SuperSonics – apropos considering the OKC Thunder are in these Finals. This was his response regarding expansion: 'It depends on your perspective on the future of the league. You know, as I said before, expansion in a way is selling equity in the league, and, if you believe in the league, you don't necessarily want to add partners.' Sounds like some current owners simply don't want to give up a cut of that revenue. That doesn't bode well for the expansion into the assumed destinations of Seattle and Las Vegas. At least not any time soon. As for the All-Star format with the game headed to NBC in a post-TNT world? Silver said the league was still determining the exact format and how to break up the teams, which he said would likely be wider and more specific than a simple 'USA versus World' format. Advertisement So, they're going to try some version of the NHL 4 Nations Cup? That's going to be a great fix to the format until it isn't. Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump the real estate developer eyes Gaza as his next project
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump the president was once Donald Trump the real estate mogul, and in his new term the two roles are starting to blur. First he targeted Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal. Now he is eyeing Gaza as America's next great acquisition. The tiny strip of land in a Middle East war zone, hard by the Mediterranean Sea, is a potential French 'Riviera,' something that would be worth a 'long-term ownership position,' Trump said Tuesday remarks, focused on his plan to 'own' Gaza, stunned even congressional Republicans. 'I thought we voted for America First,' Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Wednesday on X. 'We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers' blood.' After having spoken on the campaign trail about the folly of sending U.S. troops into far-flung conflicts, Trump sounded prepared to do just that if the reward was transforming the bombed-out territory into a luxe destination site. But as jarring as Tuesday's announcement may have been, it wasn't necessarily surprising given Trump's biography. He came of age as a real estate developer, taking the Commodore Hotel in Manhattan and remaking it into the more fashionable Grand Hyatt. His family and social circles include other real estate developers, and his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, was a billionaire real estate executive. To this day, Trump pays attention to the inherent dollar value of land, be it a parcel or a country. One condition he is setting on U.S. aid to Ukraine, for example, is that the money be secured by Ukraine's rare earth minerals. 'He is a real estate guy,' Jack O'Donnell, former president of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, said in an interview. 'So, any time there's [waterfront property] he's going to say this is a great place to develop.' That was how Trump saw North Korea in the first term. 'Think of it from a real estate perspective,' he told reporters as he explained how North Korea could become a seaside paradise if only its dictatorial leader would open his isolated country to the West. Part of his pitch to Kim Jong Un in trying to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons was that the country was a hidden jewel ripe for redevelopment. In 2018, the White House National Security Council came up with a slick video showing what North Korea could become through a rapprochement with the United States. The montage included images of Miami high-rises overlooking the ocean. Trump showed the video to Kim on an iPad at a summit in Singapore that year, though he didn't bite. North Korea retained its nuclear weapons. 'I didn't expect [Kim] to take it, but we wanted to show him as clear as we could that there was an alternative,' John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, said in an interview. At the end of the summit, Trump told reporters that he tried to sell Kim on a vision of North Korea as a popular destination spot. 'They have great beaches,' Trump said. 'You see that whenever they're exploding their cannons into the ocean, right? I said: 'Boy, look at that view. Wouldn't that make a great condo behind?' And I explained, I said, 'You know, instead of doing that, you could have the best hotels in the world right there.'' Bolton said he didn't recall Trump ever discussing plans to redevelop Gaza, though other aides studied the idea. Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser in his first term, Jared Kushner, helped write a report for a comprehensive Middle East peace plan that explored ways to make Gaza and the West Bank 'rich potential tourism opportunities' that would lift living standards. The report, released in 2020, said that 'over 40 kilometers of coastline in Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea could develop into a modern metropolitan city overlooking the beach, drawing from examples like Beirut, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore and Tel Aviv.' Kushner spoke about Gaza's potential last year at an event at Harvard University. Gaza's 'waterfront property,' he said, 'could be very valuable if people would focus on building up livelihoods.' Trump echoed that theme in an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt in October, a month before the presidential election. 'You know, as a developer, [Gaza] could be the most beautiful place — the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate,' he said. 'It could be so beautiful. It could be the best thing in the Middle East, but it could be one of the best places in the world.' A perennial question is whether Trump's pronouncements are sincere or merely a negotiating ploy. His message that the United States will step in and take over Gaza may be the sort of "extreme" position that forces other Middle East countries — Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia among them — to take notice and come up with an alternative solution, said Tarek Masoud, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School. "Maybe he's saying, 'If you're not going to do this, I'm going to take ownership of it, and you're not going to like what happens,'" Masoud said. Still, he added, "when you're talking about a territory that's just been subject to a pretty gruesome bombing campaign and has been for the last 17 years or so controlled by a religious mafia — Hamas — maybe talking about moving these people out and developing it into the Riviera is not the best look for the president of the United States."This article was originally published on
