Meghan Cocci

Expertise

Meghan Cocci is an advisor to top hotel and resort owners, investors and operators around the globe, she works hand-in-hand with her clients to help them successfully negotiate transactions involving the management, acquisition and development of hotels, resorts, spas, restaurants, golf courses and mixed-use projects in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Her clients rely on her because she understands the key role that business, operations and legal issues play in long-term management and license agreements for hotel and leisure projects, especially in the upscale and luxury sectors of the industry. With hotel projects in the upper-upscale, luxury and ultra-luxury sectors becoming more complex each and every day, having a legal advisor who truly understands the industry is a must for any transaction. Meghan has guided her clients through the unique aspects of the hotel industry and the special legal challenges of owning a hotel, whether the client is a lender who has stepped into the shoes of a hotel owner for the first time or a new investor making an initial foray into the hotel world. Meghan regularly handles transactions that involve specialty areas of hotels and resorts, such as golf, spa, and food and beverage management and licensing arrangements. These leisure facilities have an added complexity, because they must work seamlessly with the hotel operations. Meghan understands how all the pieces and parts fit together—whether a matter involves a celebrity chef licensing his name for use on a single restaurant in a luxury hotel or involves a master mixed-use resort project with responsibility divided among multiple niche operators—and is able to help guide her clients through the details to ensure the legal structure achieves their business objectives. She also works with clients and their local lawyers around the world to provide hotel industry proficiency in connection with structuring complex mixed-use projects with hotels, resorts, branded residential and other leisure components. The legal structures for these projects differ from country to country, and often there is no legal precedent for the type of project contemplated. Meghan's experience dealing with vastly diverse and complex projects enables her to provide creative ideas to address her clients' business objectives while taking into account the applicable legal framework.