Other Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Other Assets

Other Assets

8. Other Assets

Other assets, net consisted of the following (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2011		2010
Property and equipment, net	$	2,318	$	1,758
Intangibles, net	8,476		—
Notes receivable	394		3,950
Other receivables	4,950		4,403
Other	3,439		2,632
	$	19,577	$	12,743

Due to the purchase of the outside 50.0% equity interest in its BuyEfficient joint venture (see Footnote 6), the Company’s other assets, net as of December 31, 2011, includes BuyEfficient’s intangible assets totaling $8.5 million net of accumulated amortization related to certain trademarks, customer and supplier relationships and intellectual property related to internally developed software. These intangibles are amortized using the straight-line method over the remaining useful lives of between seven to 20 years. Accumulated amortization totaled $0.6 million at December 31, 2011, and amortization expense totaled $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2011.

In April 2011, the Company sold the Royal Palm Miami Beach hotel for net proceeds of $129.8 million, including $39.8 million in cash and the $90.0 million Royal Palm note. The Royal Palm note was included in other assets, net on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet until the Company sold the note in October 2011 for net proceeds of approximately $79.2 million. In anticipation of this sale, the Company recorded an impairment loss of $10.9 million in September 2011.

In April 2010, the Company purchased two hotel loans with a combined principal amount of $32.5 million for a total purchase price of $3.7 million. The loans included (i) a $30.0 million, 8.5% mezzanine loan maturing in January 2017 secured by the equity interests in the Company’s Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square joint venture (see Footnote 6), and (ii) one-half of a $5.0 million, 8.075% subordinate note maturing in November 2010 secured by the 101-room boutique hotel known as Twelve Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia. The Company purchased the mezzanine loan for $3.45 million and the subordinate note for $250,000. In January 2011, the Company purchased the outside 62.0% equity interests in the Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square joint venture for $37.5 million and, as a result, became the sole owner of the entity that owns the hotel. In conjunction with this purchase, the Company recognized a gain of $30.4 million on the remeasurement of its investment in the mezzanine loan to its fair market value. After this acquisition, the mezzanine loan was eliminated in consolidation on the Company’s balance sheet until the mezzanine loan was satisfied in conjunction with the Company’s refinancing of the debt secured by the Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square in October 2011.

In November 2010, the Company purchased the remaining half of the Twelve Atlantic Station subordinate note for an additional $250,000. In November 2010, the subordinate note was modified to provide for monthly interest only payments of 3.5%, with the remaining interest due at maturity, and the maturity date was extended to November 2012. As the subordinate note was in default, the borrower was required to bring the subordinate note current. As of December 31, 2011, the subordinate note secured by the Twelve Atlantic Station was not in default, however, the Company is accounting for the Twelve Atlantic Station loan using the cost recovery method until such time as the expected cash flows from the loan are reasonably probable and estimable. In 2011, the Company received $0.1 million from the loan servicer, which was applied to the subordinate note’s principal balance in accordance with the cost recovery method. No amounts were received for the subordinate note during 2010.