Mr. Truelove: I would say that the lodging portion is pretty much in line with what we thought. There were difficult comparisons the first half of this year, with the Hurricane Katrina related comparisons. Urban hotels continue to outperform the industry averages by about 250 basis points in terms of same- store growth rates. That is about what we thought as well. I would say the area that we have been the most disappointed with is probably the non-hotel-related portions of the lodging business. Primarily, the timeshare business has been a continual disappointment, but not because of a demand or fundamental issue. I think it is more just the missing of earnings because of GAAP-related issues. That has probably created more headwind than anything else in terms of our outlook.
TWST: Rod, how has the group done from a business perspective relative to your
earlier expectations?
Mr. Petrik: I think from a business perspective, the performance that we have
seen has been in line with our expectations. When we look at where occupancy is
for the year, it is in line with our expectations. We are past the recovery
point of the cycle and the expansion phase. Occupancy has stabilized. Rates
still continue to go up at somewhat decelerating rates.
Tickers included in this excerpt: BEE, BX, CHH, HOT, HPT, HST, LHO, Mar
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.

