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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549


Form 10-K

     
(Mark One)
   
þ
  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
    For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003
 
or
 
o
  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
    For the transition period from           to

Commission File Number 001-13957


WestCoast Hospitality Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
     
Washington
  91-1032187
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
 
201 W. North River Drive, Suite 100
Spokane Washington
(Address of principal executive offices)
  99201-2293
(Zip Code)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (509) 459-6100

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

     
Title of each class Name of each exchange on which registered


Common Stock, par value $.01 per share
  New York Stock Exchange
Guarantee with Respect to 9.5% Trust Preferred Securities (Liquidation Amount of $25 per Trust Preferred Security)
of WestCoast Hospitality Capital Trust
  New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None

      Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     Yes þ          No o

      Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.     o

      Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).     Yes o          No þ

      The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates was $45.5 million as of June 30, 2003. There were 13,045,549 shares of the Registrant’s common stock outstanding as of March 22, 2004.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

      Portions of the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for its 2004 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days of the end of the Registrant’s 2003 fiscal year, is incorporated by reference herein in Part III.




TABLE OF CONTENTS

             
Item No. Description Page No.



 PART I
   Business     2  
   Properties     15  
   Legal Proceedings     18  
   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders     18  
 
 PART II
   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities     19  
   Selected Financial Data     20  
   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations     22  
   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk     34  
   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data     35  
   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure     66  
   Controls and Procedures     66  
 PART III
   Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant     66  
   Executive Compensation     70  
   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters     70  
   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions     70  
   Principal Accountant Fees and Services     70  
 PART IV
   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports on Form 8-K     71  
     Signatures     75  
 EXHIBIT 3.1
 EXHIBIT 21
 EXHIBIT 23
 EXHIBIT 31.1
 EXHIBIT 31.2
 EXHIBIT 31.3
 EXHIBIT 31.4
 EXHIBIT 32.1
 EXHIBIT 32.2

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PART I

      This annual report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements. We have based these statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. When words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “seek,” “should,” “will” and similar expressions or their negatives are used in this annual report, these are forward-looking statements. Many possible events or factors, including those discussed in “Risk Factors Relating to Our Business” beginning on page 9 of this annual report, could affect our future financial results and performance, and could cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this annual report.

      In this report, “we,” “us,” “our,” “our company” and “the company” refer to WestCoast Hospitality Corporation and, as the context requires, its wholly and partially owned subsidiaries, and “WestCoast” refers to WestCoast Hospitality Corporation. The term “the system” or “system of hotels” refers to our entire group of owned, leased, managed and franchised hotels.

Item 1.     Business

Introduction

      We are a NYSE-listed hospitality and leisure company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development and franchising of mid-scale, full service hotels under our WestCoast and Red Lion brands. In addition to our hotel operations, we are engaged in entertainment and real estate operations. As of December 31, 2003, our hotel system contained 71 hotels located in 12 states and one Canadian province, with more than 12,300 rooms and 579,000 square feet of meeting space. We managed 48 of these hotels, consisting of 27 owned hotels, 15 leased hotels and six third-party owned hotels. The remaining 23 hotels were owned and operated by third-party franchisees.

      For the year ended December 31, 2003, we reported net income of approximately $1.2 million, compared to net income of approximately $8.0 million in 2002. This decrease of $6.8 million between years includes a $3.7 million decline between periods in operating income for hotels and restaurants.

      A number of repositioning initiatives impacted year-on-year financial comparisons, including the following: results from the first quarter of 2002 included a $3.0 million pre-tax gain on the sale of an office building; 2003 results included more than $794 thousand of conversion expenses including a non-cash write down of signage related to the re-branding of hotels to the Red Lion name; we completed the refinance and replacement of our revolving credit facility in the second and third quarter of 2003, resulting in a non-cash write-off of $927 thousand in loan fees; in the second quarter of 2003 we realized a loss on disposition of a partnership interest of $443 thousand; and, during 2003 we recaptured approximately $2.1 million of non-cash depreciation expense associated with assets that were reclassified in 2003 as no longer held for sale. The above items combined to account for $7.3 million of the decline in income before taxes in 2003 compared to 2002.

      For the year ended December 31, 2003, we recorded a loss applicable to common shareholders of $1.3 million or $0.10 per common share. For the years ended December 31, 2002 and 2001 we recorded income applicable to common shareholders of $5.4 million and $7.6 million, respectively, or $0.42 and $0.59 per share, respectively. Included in those amounts for the years ended December 31, 2003 and 2002 are $2.5 million and $2.6 million, respectively, of preferred stock dividends.

      In the first quarter of 2004 we completed a public offering of $46 million of trust preferred securities through WestCoast Hospitality Capital Trust, a Delaware statutory trust sponsored by WestCoast. This transaction is discussed further in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

      A comprehensive discussion of net income for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, individual operating unit performances, general corporate expenses and other significant items can be found in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Consolidated Financial Condition and Results of

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Operations, as well as the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included elsewhere in this annual report.

Overview and Company Strategy

      As discussed above, we are a hospitality and leisure company. We intend to grow our hotel operations primarily by expanding the number of hotels franchised under the Red Lion and WestCoast brands. We are focusing our growth in the western United States and Canada by pursuing a “hub and spoke” pattern of establishing brand penetration in key cities, followed by expansion into adjoining markets. We intend to increase the number of management agreements we have with third-party hotel owners by aggressively marketing our management services, and we will also seek opportunities to grow through acquisitions of whole or partial interests in hotels.

      Through our entertainment division, which includes our TicketsWest.com, Inc. subsidiary (“TicketsWest”), we engage in activities complementary to the operation of the hotels in our system. TicketsWest provides event ticket distribution services and promotes and presents a variety of entertainment productions in communities we have targeted for hotel market penetration. TicketsWest offers ticketing inventory management systems, call center services and outlet and electronic channel distribution, and has developed an electronic ticketing platform that is integrated with our electronic hotel distribution system, allowing us to cross-sell leisure and entertainment packages to promote occupancy in system hotels.

      Our real estate division engages in the traditional real estate related services that we have pursued since we were originally founded, including developing, managing and acting as a broker for sales and leases of commercial and multi-unit residential properties. This division provides services that we utilize for our hotels and other real estate that we own and lease. Our real estate division also derives a substantial part of its revenues from fees it generates from services it provides to third parties.

      We trace our history back to 1937, with the founding of our predecessor as a general commercial real estate development and management business. In the 1970s, our predecessor began focusing on the development and management of hotels. Our company was incorporated in the State of Washington on April 25, 1978 as its successor. We continued to grow our hotel business under the brand name Cavanaughs throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1998 we completed the initial public offering of our common stock. We acquired WestCoast Hotels, Inc. on December 31, 1999, which added more than 4,800 rooms in 20 cities to our system of hotels, enhanced our presence in certain key western “hub” markets, including Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Southern California, and launched our company into the franchise business. Following this acquisition, we rebranded our Cavanaughs hotels to the WestCoast brand and changed our name to WestCoast Hospitality Corporation. On December 31, 2001 we acquired Red Lion Hotels, Inc., which added more than 7,400 rooms in 40 cities to our system of hotels, further enhanced our presence in a number of “hub” markets and afforded us the opportunity to expand our franchise business to include the Red Lion brand.

      Our senior management team, led by our President and Chief Executive Officer, Arthur M. Coffey, brings an experienced and innovative approach to the management of our operations. Our senior management team has extensive relevant business experience, and five members of the team have been with our company for more than 20 years. Our senior management team’s strengths include hotel development, ownership and management; franchising, sales and marketing; food and beverage management; entertainment production and real estate services. Their extensive expertise, along with their diverse working backgrounds provides our company with a broad perspective from which we can make strategic management and operational decisions.

      A substantial portion of our assets are held by three of our subsidiaries: Red Lion Hotels, Inc., WestCoast Hotels, Inc. and WestCoast Hospitality Limited Partnership, which we refer to as WHLP. We are the sole general partner and approximately 98% owner of WHLP. We own 100% of the outstanding capital stock of both Red Lion Hotels, Inc. and WestCoast Hotels, Inc.

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Hospitality Industry Performance Measures

      We believe that the following performance measures, which are widely used in the hospitality industry and appear throughout this annual report, are important to our discussion of operating performance:

  Total available rooms represents the number of rooms available multiplied by the number of days in the reported period. We use total available rooms as a measure of capacity in our system of hotels. Rooms under significant renovation are excluded from total available rooms.
 
  Average occupancy represents total paid rooms occupied divided by total available rooms. We use average occupancy as a measure of the utilization of capacity in our system of hotels.
 
  Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, represents total room and related revenues divided by total available rooms. We use RevPAR as a measure of performance yield in our system of hotels.
 
  Average daily rate, or ADR, represents total room revenues divided by the total number of paid rooms occupied by hotel guests. We use ADR as a measure of room pricing in our system of hotels.

      Comparable hotels are hotels that have been owned, leased, managed or franchised by us for more than one year. Throughout this annual report, unless otherwise stated, RevPAR, ADR and average occupancy statistics are calculated using statistics for comparable hotels.

Business Segments

      For financial accounting purposes, we divide our operations into four business segments: hotels and restaurants; franchise, central service and development; entertainment; and real estate. In addition, corporate services consist primarily of miscellaneous revenues and expenses, cash and cash equivalents, certain receivables and certain property and equipment that are not specifically associated with an operating segment. Management reviews and evaluates the operating segments exclusive of interest expense, income tax expense and other income and expense items. Therefore, these items are not allocated to the segments.

      The following table illustrates, for the periods indicated, revenue per reportable business segment and the percentage of total revenue generated by each segment. For additional information regarding segments, please refer to “Business Segments” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements that are part of this annual report (in thousands).

                         
Year Ended December 31,

2003 2002 2001



Revenues:
                       
Hotels and restaurants
  $ 163,101     $ 173,320     $ 99,495  
Franchise, central services and development
    3,642       4,137       3,213  
Entertainment
    7,980       7,430       7,497  
Real estate
    8,914       9,001       10,114  
Corporate services
    337       283       314  
     
     
     
 
Total revenues
  $ 183,974     $ 194,171     $ 120,633  
     
     
     
 

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Year Ended December 31,

2003 2002 2001



Revenues:
                       
Hotels and restaurants
    88.7%       89.3%       82.5%  
Franchise, central services and development
    2.0%       2.1%       2.7%  
Entertainment
    4.3%       3.8%       6.2%  
Real estate
    4.8%       4.6%       8.4%  
Corporate services
    0.2%       0.2%       0.2%  
     
     
     
 
Total revenues
    100.0%       100.0%       100.0%  
     
     
     
 

Hotel Operations

      Hotel operations include our hotels and restaurants business segment, as well as our franchise, central services and development segment.

 
Owned Hotels

      We owned or had an ownership interest in and operated 27 hotels with a total of 4,952 rooms and more than 244,000 square feet of meeting space as of December 31, 2003. The number of owned properties includes three hotels for which the underlying land is leased. The lease expiration dates range from 2014 to 2062, with one lease containing a renewal option. Under these land leases, we are responsible for repairs and maintenance, operating expenses and management of operations. For additional information, refer to “Operating Lease Commitments” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements. We operate restaurants in 22 of our owned hotels. Two of these 22 hotels also contain a restaurant space under lease to a third party.

 
Leased Hotels

      As of December 31, 2003 we leased 15 hotels with a total of 2,536 rooms and more than 113,000 square feet of meeting space. Under these leases, we are responsible for hotel operations and management. We recognize revenues and associated expenses with leased hotel operations. Furniture, fixtures and equipment are generally the owner’s responsibility; however, under certain leases we are obligated to replace these items on an as needed basis. Lease terms typically require us to pay fixed monthly rent and variable rent based on a percentage of revenue if certain sales thresholds are reached. In addition, we are responsible for repairs and maintenance, operating expenses and management of operations. Refer to “Operating Lease Commitments” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements for additional information. We operate restaurants in 13 of our leased hotels. Each of the remaining two leased hotels has a restaurant under lease to a third party.

 
Managed Hotels

      As of December 31, 2003, we managed six third-party owned hotels with a total of 1,199 rooms and more than 87,000 square feet of meeting space. We refer to these hotels as managed hotels. Under the typical management agreement, we manage virtually all aspects of the hotel’s operations, while the hotel owner is responsible for operating and other expenses. Our management fee is normally based on a percentage of the hotel’s gross revenue plus an incentive fee based on operating performance. We are generally reimbursed for out-of-pocket costs. The duration of our management agreements varies, and hotel owners in some cases have renewal options. Five of the managed hotels operated as Red Lion or WestCoast franchisees.

 
Franchised Hotels

      As of December 31, 2003, we had franchise arrangements with 23 hotels that were owned and operated by third parties under our licensed brand names. These hotels, which we refer to as franchised hotels, had at that date a total of 3,636 rooms and more than 134,000 square feet of meeting space. We do not have management or operational responsibility for franchised hotels. However, we do provide certain services to those hotels, including reservation systems, advertising and national sales, a guest loyalty program, revenue

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management tools, quality inspections and brand standards. We typically receive royalty payments for use of the brand names and contributions to the central services programs we administer for our franchisees.
 
Hotel Brands

      The hotels in our system primarily operate under our WestCoast and the Red Lion brands. In February 2003, we re-branded 22 hotels to Red Lion Hotels, bringing the 62 hotels then under the Red Lion brand to its largest size in the history of the brand. Our Red Lion brand is nationally recognized and is typically associated with three- and four-star full-service hotels. As discussed below, we plan to focus our growth strategy on conversion of new hotels to our Red Lion brand. Our WestCoast brand is associated with distinctive and independently recognized hotels that are known apart from their WestCoast affiliation and are located in the western region of the United States.

 
Statistical Information

      The following table provides certain information about our system of hotels as of December 31, 2003.

                                                 
Total Meeting
Available Space Average
Hotels Rooms (sq. ft.) Occupancy ADR RevPAR






Owned or leased
    42       7,488       357,413       55.1%     $ 68.35     $ 37.65  
Managed
    6       1,199       87,534       71.1%       82.98       59.02  
Franchised
    23       3,636       134,923       54.8%       66.59       36.46  
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
Total
    71       12,323       579,870       56.7%     $ 69.92     $ 39.65  
     
     
     
     
     
     
 

Hotel System Growth Strategy

      We intend to grow our hotel operations primarily by increasing the number of hotels franchised and managed under our Red Lion and WestCoast brands, with an immediate focus on the western region of the United States and Canada. As we expand the number of franchised hotels in our franchise system, we expect our royalty fee income to increase.

      We anticipate that most of our growth will come through conversion of three-and four-star hotels to the nationally recognized Red Lion brand. Our expansion of the Red Lion brand will follow our “hub and spoke” expansion model. Initially, we will seek to achieve market penetration in a hub. After establishing a critical mass in the hub, we will seek to expand into surrounding areas to increase brand penetration in the market.

      We plan to focus our expansion of the WestCoast brand by targeting distinctive and independently recognized hotels located in the western region of the United States. We believe the WestCoast brand will be attractive to independent hotels that desire to maintain their own identity while obtaining the benefits of a larger hotel system.

      We intend to increase the number of management agreements we have with third-party hotel owners by aggressively marketing our management services. We believe that our experience in managing our own hotels and those of third parties gives us a competitive advantage to obtain such agreements. We also intend to seek opportunities to sell reservation and distribution management services to hotels that want to remain independent.

      We have recently upgraded the technology for our central reservation and distribution management system to make the system more effective for existing, and more attractive for prospective, participants in our hotel system. The new system gives us greater access to current information about our room inventory and allows us to change rates in real time, thereby affording us greater managerial control over our occupancy and ADR. We believe this new system will have a positive financial impact on the hotels in our system and will therefore be attractive to other hotels that might desire to join our system.

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      We expect to receive a progressively higher percentage of our reservations through third-party internet channels such as Travelocity.com, Expedia.com and Priceline.com, which we refer to as alternate distribution systems or ADS. It is important to carefully manage our reservations through ADS channels because they are typically at lower rates than through other channels. To help manage distribution on these channels, we have signed fixed-charge markup agreements with nine ADS providers that typically entitle the provider to keep a fixed percentage of the price paid by the customer for each room booked. Our recent technological upgrades allow us to manage the yield on these ADS channels on a real-time, hotel-by-hotel basis. We have the ability to change our prices on these channels at any time for any hotel, which allows us to seek to maximize our return on these channels in accordance with the then prevailing market conditions.

      We also will seek opportunities to grow through acquisitions of whole or partial interests in hotels. We plan to leverage our management and marketing services capabilities to enter into joint venture relationships to own, operate, market and/or manage additional hotels. We expect these relationships will allow us to expand our system of branded hotels and derive revenues from expanded hotel ownership and from management and marketing activities.

      We have positioned our company to take advantage of an economic recovery by increasing our market penetration through an expanded sales force, the implementation of technology upgrades and the establishment of a new guest loyalty program, GuestAwards. Specifically, we have made a significant investment to upgrade our central reservations and distribution management system and expanded our national sales team in an effort to increase the cross-selling of our products and services. Additionally, our GuestAwards program enhances customer retention by providing a single guest loyalty program for our customers across all brands. We are also in the process of standardizing our food and beverage services across all of our owned and many of our other hotels, which we believe will help create a consistent guest experience at a reduced cost.

      During the year ended December 31, 2003, we spent a total of $7.3 million on capital improvement programs, including $5.6 million on our hotels and restaurants. During 2004, we expect to spend approximately an additional $11.5 million on capital improvements with a focus in our hotels and restaurants segment, primarily in guest contact areas. In addition to our owned hotels, we are proactively working with our franchisees to ensure that they continue to meet Red Lion and WestCoast standards.

Guest Loyalty Program

      In February 2003, we integrated the best features of our Red Lion Club and WestAwards guest loyalty programs in order to enhance guest services with a single expanded guest loyalty program, GuestAwards. We are continuing to promote guest loyalty by providing our guests the flexibility to earn air miles with each qualifying hotel stay or points for every eligible dollar charged to the guest room. GuestAward points are redeemable for complimentary hotel stays, air miles or travel, car rental, merchandise, entertainment and other incentives.

E-Business

      In February 2003, we launched a new hotel reservation system that allows us to manage single image inventory through our distribution channels and execute rate management strategies through channels of distribution including voice, global distribution systems and Internet sites.

      In addition, we provide effective and efficient guest service including online hotel reservations, GuestAwards enrollment and ticketing of TicketsWest events, through our various websites, www.redlion.com, www.westcoasthotels.com, www.guestawards.com and www.ticketswest.com.

Team Red

      In February 2003, we launched “Team Red”, an innovative community outreach program designed to benefit local communities while rewarding employees and guests for volunteer work. We continue to build on our long-term commitment to assist and support our local communities through Team Red and other civic initiatives.

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Marketing

      Our marketing strategy provides quality and value to the hotels in our system through our national reach and regional focus. Through consistent messaging in high visibility markets, we target the majority of market segments and distribution channels for our system of hotels. In addition, we offer intelligence tools such as rate management strategies, competitive set benchmarking and market demand reports to the majority of the hotels in our system to increase our regional reach with individuality, focused on the property’s customer base.

Competition

      The lodging industry is comprised of numerous national, regional and local hotel companies. We compete against these companies in the mid-scale full-service hotel segment of the industry, primarily in downtown locations. Competition for occupancy is focused on three major segments of traveler: the business traveler, which is a significant occupancy driver for our hotel system; the convention and group business traveler, which utilizes room nights, meeting space and food and beverage operations; and the leisure traveler. Leisure travelers occupy approximately the same number of rooms as the convention and group business travelers, however, their travel is seasonal in nature. Marketing efforts throughout the year are geared towards these three major segments.

      We also compete with other hotel operators and management companies for hotels to add to our system. Our competitors include management companies as well as large hotel chains that own and operate their own hotels and franchise their brands.

Trademarks

      We have registered the following trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Red Lion, WestCoast, WestAwards, TicketsWest and G&B (G&B Real Estate Services is the name used by our real estate division). We have also registered some of these trademarks in Canada and Mexico. We also own various derivatives of these trademarks, each of which is registered with or has a registration application pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. We have also applied to register GuestAwards as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Our trademarks and the associated name recognition are valuable to our business.

Non-core Asset Sales

      We continue to focus on our hotel operations and, as a result, may from time to time seek to opportunistically divest our interests in non-core assets, such as office buildings, to reinvest in our hotel business. We are currently actively marketing for sale two office buildings in Spokane, Washington.

Seasonality

      Our business is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Significant portions of our revenues and profits are realized from May through October. Our results for any quarter may not be indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full fiscal year. In addition, results are affected by our rapid growth; national and regional economic conditions, including the magnitude and duration of the current economic slowdown in the United States; actual and threatened terrorist attacks and international conflicts and their impact on travel; and weather conditions.

Employees

      As of December 31, 2003, we employed approximately 4,300 persons on a full- and part-time basis, with 3,900 in hotel operations and the remainder in our administrative office and our entertainment and real estate divisions. Approximately 300 persons in hotel operations were covered by various collective bargaining agreements providing, generally, for basic pay rates, working hours, other conditions of employment and orderly settlement of labor disputes. We believe our employee relations are satisfactory.

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Risk Factors Relating to Our Business

 
Our operating results are subject to conditions affecting the lodging industry.

      Our revenues and our operating results are subject to conditions affecting the lodging industry. These include:

  —  changes in the national, regional and local economic climate;
 
  —  actual and threatened terrorist attacks and international conflicts and their impact on travel;
 
  —  local conditions such as an oversupply of, or a reduction in demand for, hotel rooms;
 
  —  the attractiveness of the hotels in our system to consumers and competition from other hotels;
 
  —  the quality, philosophy and performance of the managers of the hotels in our system;
 
  —  increases in operating costs due to inflation and other factors such as increases in the price of energy, healthcare or insurance;
 
  —  changes in travel patterns, extreme weather conditions and cancellation of or changes in events scheduled to occur in our markets; and
 
  —  the need periodically to repair and renovate the hotels in our system.

      Changes in any of these conditions could adversely impact hotel room demand and pricing and result in reduced occupancy, ADR and RevPAR or could otherwise adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. We have a limited ability to pass through increased operating costs in the form of higher room rates, so that such increases could result in lower operating margins.

 
If we are unable to compete successfully, our business may be materially harmed.

      The lodging industry is highly competitive. Competition in the industry is primarily based on service quality, range of services, brand name recognition, convenience of location, room rates, guest amenities and quality of accommodations. We compete with other national limited and full service hotel companies as well as various regional and local hotels. Many of our competitors have a larger network of locations and greater financial resources than our company. Additionally, new and existing competitors may offer significantly lower rates, greater convenience, services or amenities or superior facilities, which could attract customers away from our hotels, resulting in a decrease in occupancy rates, ADR and RevPAR for our hotels. Changes in demographics and other changes in our markets may also adversely impact the convenience or desirability of our hotel locations thereby reducing occupancy, ADR and RevPAR and otherwise adversely impacting our results of operations and financial condition.

 
Due to the geographic concentration of the hotels in our system, our results of operations and financial condition are subject to fluctuations in regional economic conditions.

      Of the hotels in our system, 53 are located in Oregon, Washington, Idaho or Montana. Therefore, our results of operations and financial condition may be significantly affected by the economy of the Pacific Northwest, which is dependent in large part on a limited number of major industries, including agriculture, tourism, technology, timber and aerospace. These industries may be affected by:

  —  changes in governmental regulations and economic conditions;
 
  —  the relative strength of national and local economies; and
 
  —  the rate of national and local unemployment.

      In addition, companies in these industries may decide to relocate all or part of their businesses outside the Pacific Northwest. Any of these factors could materially affect the local economies in which these industries operate and where we have a presence. Other adverse events affecting the Pacific Northwest, such as economic recessions or natural disasters, could cause a loss of revenues for our hotels in this region, which may

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be greater as a result of our concentration of assets in these areas. In addition, we operate or market multiple hotels within several cities including Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Spokane and Yakima, Washington; Kalispell, Montana and Boise, Idaho. A downturn in general economic or other relevant conditions in these specific markets or in any other market in which we operate could lead to a decline in demand in these markets and cause a loss of revenues from these hotels.
 
Our expenses may remain constant even if revenues decline.

      The expenses of owning property are not necessarily reduced when circumstances such as market factors and competition cause a reduction in income from a hotel. Accordingly, a decrease in our revenues could result in a disproportionately higher decrease in our earnings because our expenses are unlikely to decrease proportionately. In such instances, our financial condition and ability to service debt could be adversely affected by:

  —  interest rate levels;
 
  —  the availability of financing;
 
  —  the cost of compliance with government regulations, including zoning and tax laws; and
 
  —  changes in government regulations, including those governing usage, zoning and taxes.

 
Our inability to sell real estate when appropriate may adversely affect our financial condition.

      Real estate assets generally cannot be sold quickly. We may not be able to vary our portfolio of hotels or other real estate promptly in response to economic or other conditions. This inability to respond promptly to changes in the performance of our assets could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to service debt, including the debentures. In addition, sales of appreciated real property could generate material adverse tax consequences, which may make it disadvantageous for us to sell certain of our hotels.

 
If we are unable to effectively integrate new hotels into our operations, our results of operations and financial condition may suffer.

      We intend to grow our hotel operations partly by acquiring whole or partial interests in hotels. However, we cannot assure you that:

  —  we will be able to successfully integrate these new hotels or new hotel products into our operations;
 
  —  these new hotels or new hotel products will achieve revenue and profitability levels comparable to our existing hotels; or
 
  —  to the extent integration occurs, our business will be profitable.

      Based on our experience, newly acquired, developed or converted hotels typically begin with lower occupancy and room rates, thereby resulting in lower revenue. Our expansion within our existing markets could adversely affect the financial performance of our existing hotels in those markets and thus negatively impact our overall results of operations. Expansion into new markets may also present operating and marketing challenges that are different from those we currently encounter in our existing markets. Our inability to anticipate all of the changing demands that expanding operations will impose on our management and management information and reservation systems, or our failure to quickly adapt our systems and procedures to the new markets could result in lost revenue and increased expenses and otherwise have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

 
If our franchisees terminate or fail to renew their relationship with our company, our franchise revenue will decline.

      As of December 31, 2003, there were 23 hotels in our system that were owned by others and operated under franchise agreements with us. Although these agreements generally specify a fixed term, they typically contain various early termination provisions, such as the right to terminate upon notice by paying us a

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termination fee, or the right to terminate if we fail to contribute a negotiated level of revenue to the franchisee through our reservation systems. We cannot assure you that these agreements will be renewed, or that they will not be terminated prior to the end of their respective terms. If these franchise agreements are not renewed, or are terminated prior to the expiration of their respective terms, the resulting decrease in revenue and loss of market penetration could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
 
We may be unsuccessful in identifying and completing acquisition opportunities, which could limit our ability to implement our long-term growth strategy and result in significant expenses.

      We intend to pursue a full range of growth opportunities, including identifying hotels for acquisition, development, management, rebranding and franchising. We compete for growth opportunities with national and regional hospitality companies, some of which have greater name recognition, marketing support, reservation system capacity and financial resources than we do. Our ability to make acquisitions is dependent upon, among other things, our relationships with owners of existing hotels and certain major hotel investors, financing acquisitions and renovations and successfully integrating new hotels into our operations. We may be unable to find suitable hotels for acquisition, development, management, rebranding or franchising on acceptable terms, or at all. Competition with other hotel companies may increase the cost of acquiring hotels. Even if suitable hotels are identified for acquisition, we may not be able to find financing to acquire the hotels on acceptable terms. Further, we may not have adequate cash from operations to pursue such growth opportunities. Our failure to compete successfully for acquisitions, to obtain suitable financing for acquisitions we have identified or to attract and maintain relationships with hotel owners and major hotel investors could adversely affect our ability to expand our system of hotels. An inability to implement our growth strategy could limit our ability to grow our revenue base and otherwise adversely affect our results of operations.

 
Hotel and entertainment acquisitions could fail to perform in accordance with our expectations, and our hotel development, redevelopment and renovation projects might be more costly than we anticipate.

      We intend to acquire additional hotels and we may acquire additional ticket and entertainment operations in the future. We also intend to continue the redevelopment and re-branding of other acquired hotels into “WestCoast” and “Red Lion” hotels. In addition, we expect to develop new hotels in the future, depending on market conditions. Hotel redevelopment, renovation and new project development are subject to a number of risks, including:

  —  construction delays or cost overruns;
 
  —  risks that the hotels will not achieve anticipated performance levels; and
 
  —  new project commencement risks such as receipt of zoning, occupancy and other required governmental permits and authorizations.

      As a result of these risks, we could incur substantial costs for a project that is never completed. Further, financing for these projects may not be available or, even if available, may not be on acceptable terms. Any unanticipated delays or expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition, development, redevelopment or renovation of the hotels in our system could impact expected revenues, negatively affect our reputation among hotel customers, owners and franchisees and otherwise adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 
Risks associated with real estate ownership may adversely affect revenue or increase expenses.

      As of December 31, 2003, our hotel system contained 71 hotels located in 12 states and one Canadian province, with more than 12,300 rooms and 579,000 square feet of meeting space. We managed 48 of these hotels, including 27 owned hotels, 15 leased hotels and six third-party owned hotels. The remaining 23 hotels were owned and operated by third-parties franchisees. We also own several other commercial and multi-unit residential properties. Accordingly, we are subject to varying degrees of risk that generally arise from the

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ownership of real property. Revenue from our hotels and other real estate may be adversely affected by changes beyond our control, including the following:

  —  changes in national, regional and local economic conditions;
 
  —  changes in local real estate market conditions;
 
  —  increases in interest rates, and other changes in the availability, cost and terms of financing and capital leases;
 
  —  increases in property and other taxes;
 
  —  the impact of present or future environmental legislation and adverse changes in zoning laws and other regulations; and
 
  —  compliance with environmental laws.

      An increase in interest rates or property and other taxes could increase expenses and adversely affect our cash flow. Adverse conditions such as those discussed above could cause the terms of our borrowings to become unfavorable to us. In such circumstances, if we were in need of capital to repay indebtedness in accordance with its terms or otherwise, we could be required to sell one or more hotels at times that might not permit realization of the maximum return on our investments. Unfavorable changes in one or more of these conditions could also result in unanticipated expenses and higher operating costs, thereby reducing operating margins and otherwise adversely affecting our results of operations and financial condition.

 
Due to the shareholdings of our Chairman together with other members of the Barbieri family, we may be limited in our ability to undertake a change of control transaction requiring shareholder approval.

      As of March 22, 2004, Donald K. Barbieri, our Chairman of the Board, had sole or shared voting and investment power with respect to 26.4% of our outstanding shares of common stock. His brother, Richard L. Barbieri, who is also a director, beneficially owned 4.2% of our outstanding shares of common stock as of that date. David M. Bell, who is one of our executive officers and the brother-in-law of Messrs. Barbieri beneficially owned 4.6% of our outstanding shares of common stock as of that date. In addition, we believe that other members of the Barbieri family who are not directors, executive officers or 5% shareholders may hold individually or in the aggregate significant amounts of our outstanding common stock. As long as these holders own a substantial portion of the outstanding common stock, they may have the ability as a group to approve or block actions requiring the approval of our shareholders, including a merger or a sale of all the assets of our company or a transaction that results in a change of control. In some circumstances, such actions could be against the interests of the other common shareholders and holders of our other securities.

 
We are subject to governmental regulations affecting the lodging industry; the costs of complying with governmental regulations, or our failure to comply with such regulations, could affect our financial condition and results of operations.

      We are subject to numerous federal, state and local government regulations affecting the lodging industry, including building and zoning requirements. Increased government regulation could require us to make unplanned expenditures and result in higher operating costs. Further, we are subject to laws governing our relationship with employees, including minimum wage requirements, overtime, working conditions and work permit requirements. An increase in the minimum wage rate, employee benefit costs or other costs associated with employees could increase expenses and result in lower operating margins. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA”), all public accommodations are required to meet certain federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. We may be required to remove access barriers or make unplanned, substantial modifications to our hotels to comply with the ADA or to comply with other changes in governmental rules and regulations, which could reduce the number of total available rooms, increase operating costs and have a negative impact on revenues and earnings. Any failure to comply with ADA requirements or other governmental regulations could result in the U.S. government imposing fines or in private litigants winning damage awards against us.

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Our business is seasonal in nature, and we are likely to experience fluctuations in our results of operations and financial condition.

      Our business is seasonal in nature, with the months from May through October generally accounting for a greater portion of annual revenues than the months from November through April. Therefore, our results for any quarter may not be indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full fiscal year. The seasonal nature of our business increases our vulnerability to risks such as labor force shortages and cash flow problems. Further, if an adverse event such as an actual or threatened terrorist attack, international conflict, regional economic downturn or poor weather conditions should occur during the months of May through October, the adverse impact to our revenues could likely be greater as a result of our seasonal business.

 
Failure to retain senior management could adversely affect our business.

      We place substantial reliance on the lodging industry experience and the institutional knowledge of members of our senior management team. Mr. Coffey and Mr. Taffin are particularly important to our future success due to their substantial experience in the lodging industry and their long history with our company. The loss of the services of either of these members of our senior management team could hinder our ability to effectively manage our business and implement our growth strategies. Finding suitable replacements for Mr. Coffey or Mr. Taffin could be difficult, and competition for such personnel of similar experience is intense. We do not carry key person insurance on any of our senior management.

 
If we are unable to locate lessees for our office and retail space our revenues and cash flow may be adversely affected.

      We own and lease to others approximately 500,000 square feet of office and retail space in Spokane, Washington and Kalispell, Montana. We are subject to the risk that leases for this space might not be renewed upon their expiration, the space may not be relet or the terms of renewal or reletting such space (including the cost of required renovations) might be less favorable to us than current lease terms. Vacancies could result due to the termination of a tenant’s tenancy, the tenant’s financial failure or a breach of the tenant’s obligations. We may be unable to locate tenants for rental spaces vacated in the future or we may be limited to renting space on unfavorable terms. Delays or difficulties in attracting tenants and costs incurred in preparing for tenants could reduce cash flow, decrease the value of a property and jeopardize our ability to pay our expenses.

 
We are subject to risks associated with managing and leasing properties owned by third parties.

      We plan to continue to manage and lease properties owned by third parties. Risks associated with these activities include the risks that:

  —  related contracts (which are typically cancelable upon 30-days’ notice or upon major events, including sale of the property) will be terminated by the property owner or will be lost in connection with a sale of such property;
 
  —  contracts might not be renewed upon expiration or might not be renewed on terms consistent with current terms; and
 
  —  rental revenues upon which management and leasing fees are based will decline as a result of general real estate market conditions or specific market factors affecting properties managed or leased by us, resulting in decreased management or leasing fee income.

 
The performance of our entertainment division is particularly subject to fluctuations in economic conditions.

      Our entertainment division, which comprised 4.3% of our total revenues in 2003, engages in event ticketing and the presentation of various entertainment productions. We have in the past attracted additional hotel guests by cross-selling to them products of our TicketsWest subsidiary. Our entertainment division is vulnerable to risks associated with changes in general regional and economic conditions, the potential for significant competition and a change in consumer trends, among others. In addition, we face the risk that

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Broadway shows and other entertainment productions will not tour the Pacific Northwest or that such productions will not choose us as a promoter.
 
We face risks relating to litigation.

      At any given time, we are subject to claims and actions incidental to the operation of our business. The outcome of these proceedings cannot be predicted. If a plaintiff were successful in a claim against our company, we could be faced with the payment of a material sum of money. If this were to occur it could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

 
We may experience material losses in excess of insurance coverage.

      We carry comprehensive liability, public area liability, fire, flood, boiler and machinery, extended coverage and rental loss insurance covering our properties. There are, however, certain types of catastrophic losses that are not generally insured because it is not economically feasible to insure against such losses. Should an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occur with respect to any particular property, we could lose our capital invested in the property, as well as the anticipated future revenue from the property and, in the case of debt which is with recourse to us, would remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the property. We cannot assure you that material losses in excess of insurance coverage will not occur in the future. Any such loss could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

 
We are subject to environmental risks that could be costly.

      Our operating costs may be affected by the obligation to pay for the cost of complying with existing environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, as well as the cost of compliance with future environmental legislation. Under current federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on, under or in such property. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. In addition, the presence of contamination from hazardous or toxic substances, or the failure to remediate such contaminated property properly, may adversely affect the ability of the owner of the property to borrow using such property as collateral for a loan or to sell such property. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which a property may be used or transferred or in which businesses may be operated, and may impose remedial or compliance costs. The costs of defending against claims of liability or remediating contaminated property and the cost of complying with environmental laws could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. We have not performed Phase II environmental assessments on two of our owned properties for which Phase II assessments were recommended, because we determined that any further investigation was not warranted. We cannot assure you that these properties do not have any environmental concerns associated with them. While we have not been notified by any governmental authority and we have no other knowledge of any material noncompliance, liability or claim relating to hazardous or toxic substances or other environmental substances in connection with any of our properties, we have not performed Phase I environmental assessments on all of our leased property, and we cannot assure you that we will not discover problems that currently exist but to which we have no current knowledge, that future laws, ordinances or regulations will not impose any material environmental liability, or that the current environmental condition of our existing and future properties will not be affected by the condition of neighboring properties (such as the presence of leaking underground storage tanks) or by third parties (whether neighbors such as dry cleaners or others) unrelated to us.

 
We have incurred debt financing and may incur increased indebtedness in connection with future acquisitions.

      Our outstanding indebtedness as of December 31, 2003 was $151.4 million. Subsequent to that date we completed a trust preferred offering for $46 million. Much of our outstanding indebtedness is secured by individual properties, including our owned hotels. Borrowings under our existing credit facility may

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be used by us to repay existing indebtedness, to fund the acquisition of hotels, to fund renovations and capital improvements to hotels and for general working capital needs. Our credit facility is collateralized by our personal property and five of our owned hotels and interest is based, at our option, upon either the bank’s prime rate or certain LIBOR rates. At December 31, 2003, our outstanding indebtedness had a weighted average annual interest rate of 7.3%. At December 31, 2003, our ratio of long-term debt (including current portion) to equity was 1.00:1. Neither our Articles of Incorporation nor our Bylaws limit the amount of indebtedness that we may incur. Subject to limitations in our debt instruments, we expect to incur additional debt in the future to finance acquisitions and renovations and for general corporate purposes. Accordingly, we could become highly leveraged, resulting in an increase in debt service that could adversely affect our operating cash flow. Our continuing indebtedness could increase our vulnerability to general economic and lodging industry conditions (including increases in interest rates) and could impair our ability to obtain additional financing in the future and to take advantage of significant business opportunities that may arise. Our indebtedness is, and will likely continue to be, secured by mortgages on our owned hotels. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet our debt service obligations and, to the extent that we cannot, we risk the loss of some or all of our assets, including our hotels, to foreclosure. Adverse economic conditions could cause the terms on which borrowings become available to be unfavorable to us. In such circumstances, if we are in need of capital to repay indebtedness in accordance with its terms or otherwise, we could be required to sell one or more hotels in our system at times that may not permit realization of the maximum return on our investments. Economic conditions could result in higher interest rates, which would increase debt service requirements on variable rate debt and could reduce the amount of cash available for various corporate purposes.
 
The increasing use of third-party travel websites by consumers may adversely affect our profitability.

      Some of our hotel rooms will be booked through third-party travel websites such as Travelocity.com, Expedia.com and Priceline.com. If these Internet bookings increase, these intermediaries may be able to obtain higher commissions, reduced room rates or other significant contract concessions from us. Moreover, some of these Internet travel interme