Gaylord Entertainment, operators of big-box meeting hotels like the Gaylord Opryland, has rejected TRT Holdings' bid to increase its stake in the firm to 30 percent of outstanding shares. Along with the stock purchase, TRT wanted to place three people on Gaylord's board of directors.

Gaylord's board rejected the proposal for several reasons. It claims the move would give TRT effective control over the company "without a full and fair price being paid to all Gaylord shareholders," according to a statement from the company. More egregious to Gaylord were what it called "serious conflict-of-interest issues." TRT owns Dallas-based Omni Hotels, which has meeting properties in three of Gaylord's principal markets: Orlando, Dallas and Washington, DC.

In other Gaylord news, the company released operating data for October and preliminary results for November. In October, same-store hospitality revenue declined 1.2 percent from the same month a year earlier, to $61 million. Cash flow was down by a similar percentage. Preliminary November figures show a steeper 5.4-percent decline in revenue, to $54.9 million. The company's Gaylord National property, which opened last spring near Washington, DC, posted a 70.4-percent occupancy in October.

Last month, Gaylord said it abandoned plans to build a convention hotel in Chula Vista, CA, near San Diego. The company said rising project costs and a prolonged approval process scuttled the deal.