Cvent

Does the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort sound familiar? If you've been following the media criticism of meetings and events over the past months, it should. It's the Dana Point, California, property where insurance giant AIG sponsored a $440,000 retreat after accepting its bailout money. Now, the resort is facing foreclosure.

The Los Angeles Times just recently reported that the companies that own the resort have defaulted on a $70 million loan from Citigroup Global Markets Realty Group. If a deal cannot be worked out, it will be sold at auction on July 7.

Following AIG's event, and the subsequent outcry from the media, bookings at the St. Regis dropped by 20 percent, according to an interview with St. Regis Marketing Director Michael Mustafa in Hotels Magazine. He said that about a third of the drop-off was due to the intensely negative publicity surrounding AIG's retreat.

Certainly the St. Regis is not the only property in the area—resort or not—suffering right now. The fact that it was in the spotlight during the AIG debacle, well, it's up for debate as to how much that has affected its current situation. Do you think this foreclosure is a result of the AIG "curse," or just a sign of the times?