July 19, 2012 – Despite a good second quarter overall, the CEO of LaSalle Hotel Properties says the cost of switching hotel operators at its Sax Chicago was “more than we expected.”

On April 17, it was announced that Access Hotels & Resorts had taken over management of LaSalle’s 353-room hotel at Marina City. Thompson Hotel Associates had managed the hotel since November 30, 2009.

Sax was singled out in a news release on Wednesday by LaSalle’s Michael Barnello, along with Donovan House in Washington, D.C., which switched this year from Thompson to Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group.

Net income for the three months ending on June 30 was $24.8 million, up 48 percent from a year ago, from total revenue of $242.1 million, up 19 percent. Room revenue per available room was up 3.8 percent to $180.14. Average daily rate was up 5.8 percent to $215.92. Occupancy, however, was down slightly – two percent – to 83.4 percent.

The company says without the management transitions and renovations at two other hotels, revenue per available room was up 5.9 percent. With 10,200 guest rooms at 38 hotels in 13 markets, the impact would be approximately $847,000.

This is the first net profit for the year for LaSalle. In the first quarter, it lost $16.1 million. In the fourth quarter of 2011, net income was just $600,000.

Access has yet to hire a general manager for Hotel Sax. John Price, who once managed the hotel when House of Blues owned it, was back as general manager from November 7, 2011, to April 17, 2012. He replaced Michael Carsch, who had been with Sax since December 1, 2009. Price is now managing director at Sutton Place in Chicago. Carsch is now regional general manager for Grand Heritage Hotel Group based in Colorado.

 Related story: Hotel Sax joins Access Hotel family