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IRVING, TX-FelCor Lodging Trust Inc., using a $430-million renovation plan to bolster gains, wrapped up work on 17 hotels in the first quarter. In monitoring eight that debuted their new looks at the year's start, the reinvestment has delivered double-digit RevPAR growth.

"This year, there will be some noise in our numbers. That is inevitable when you're doing this kind of work," Richard A. Smith, president and CEO of the locally based REIT, told shareholders and analysts during yesterday's conference call. To date, FelCor has completed renovations at 29 of 83 earmarked hotels. If the plan stays on track, 70 hotels will be completed by year's end. And so far, he said it is "on budget and on time."

FelCor had penciled 21 hotels to be completed in the first quarter, but four rolled to Q2 when deliveries of materials didn't reach job sites in time. Smith said there was no financial impact as a result of the delays because the team was able to "respond quickly to unforeseen issues." In the first quarter, FelCor spent $77.2 million on renovation work.