Sarajevo's landmark hotel faces hard times amid pandemic
(AP Photo/Kemal Softic)SARAJEVO SARAJEVO, Bosnia-The bright yellow Hotel Holiday in downtown Sarajevo has seen good times and bad times in its 37-year history. Now the boxy landmark is in danger once again, with the coronavirus pandemic leaving it with few guests. Amid the pandemic, there are hardly any tourists or business travelers visiting the capital, leaving the hotel with many empty rooms. As journalists rushed to Sarajevo to cover the escalating tensions, the Holiday Inn became the place to be. The hotel survived through a lot, and I think that we will overcome this corona crisis, he said.
Wall Street-owned loans tricky for hoteliers in virus era
Commercial mortgage-backed securities loans like the one Gaekwad has for the Holiday Inn are packaged in a trust. For one thing, the rules that govern the trusts that hold the CMBS loans typically put strict limitations on any loan modifications. In May, the lodging delinquency rate rose to 19%, up from 2.7% in the previous month, according to real estate data-provider Trepp, LLC. For the Holiday Inn, Gaekwad turned to a CMBS loan after the last recession a dozen years ago when banks were tightening their belts. After struggling to make payments on the Holiday Inn loan in March, April and May, Gaekwad didnt make his $107,000 monthly payment in June.