Ashler Hospitality Corporation

The engagement was as ‘expert witness’ for a litigation involving a successful, internationally-branded hotel located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

The Limited Partners within a General/Limited Partnership hotel ownership structure requested Ashler’s assistance regarding the reasons causing a very low level of return from their investment in this otherwise successful property.

In conjunction with a firm of forensic accountants, we determined that the developer and the operator of the hotel had obtained excessive fees for the duties performed and thereby negated the property’s financial performance. In an ‘out-of-court’ settlement, all Limited Partners were reimbursed for their original investment.

Ashler was engaged by a Chartered Accountant, representing a major off-shore investor, to undertake a pre-purchase due diligence investigation of a significant full-service hotel. The property involved was a recently constructed, full-service 4-Star hotel plus an adjacent older motel which the purchaser intended to redevelop through an extension of the main building.

Ashler’s task was three-fold: To commission and co-ordinate the various building professions required to assess the physical condition of all structures; to identify and confirm all contracts related to the operation and maintenance of the hotel; and to conduct a detailed review and audit of the financial performance of the property.

Our findings indicated that the property was physically sound and well-suited for the expanded development intended by the purchaser, and that the stated financial performance was, indeed, reasonable. The sale was completed to the satisfaction of both parties.