Wells Fargo Changes Lodging Coverage

The DJIA fell 184 points, Nasdaq was down 124, the S&P 500 was down 27 points and the 10-year treasury yield was up .08 to 3.11%. That was enough to tell you it wasn’t a good day for lodging stocks even before Wells Fargo made their changes to their coverage that you will see below. While nearly every lodging stock we follow was in the red today, the real damage was contained to two stocks. VCSA was down -10%, and SOHO was down -9%.

Wells Fargo made a few changes to their coverage of lodging names. They cut their ratings on Hersha Hospitality, DiamondRock Hospitality and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust to Equal Weight from the previous Overweight ratings with price targets of $11.50, $10 and $20, respectively. Host Hotels was upped to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight with a $21 price target, up from $20. Choice Hotels was cut to an Underweight rating from Equal Weight with a $123 price target. Wells Fargo is maintaining their Overweight ratings on Ryman Hospitality Properties Trust and Xenia Hotels & Resorts. RHP’s price target was lowered to $101 from $107 while XHR’s price target fell to $20 from $21. WF maintained their Equal Weight rating on RLJ Lodging Trust but lowered their price target to $13.50 from $15 and they maintained their Underweight rating on Service Properties Trust while cutting their target price to $6.75 from $6.25.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts unveiled its new brand creative platform, Luxury Is Our Love Language, celebrating the brand’s unique and energetic perspective on the definition of luxury. Developed by Publicis Groupe’s NYC-based creative collection, Le Truc, the work highlights the exceptional experiences delivered only by Four Seasons through the deep understanding of their guests and the genuine care of their people. The collective approach between Four Seasons, Le Truc, Starcom, Publicis Canada, and Four Seasons CRM Agency of Record, Hawkeye Canada, was designed to deliver a full 360 platform for the brand’s creative re-launch. The creative debuts Four Seasons’ new branding, which is set to roll out across the entire brand portfolio and lines of businesses, from its Hotels and Resorts to Restaurants and Bars to Residential to Retail and to its Private Jet over the next year. According to Four Seasons, the future of luxury will be driven by data and insights and defined by human connection and imagination. It’s about creating a meaningful sense of belonging through acts of unscripted care and the simple elegance of empathy.

Marriott Columbia announced the completion of its guest rooms and suites renovation. Owned and managed by Columbia Sussex, the Marriott Columbia is located in the heart of downtown Columbia, SC. The complete redesign of the hotel’s guest rooms included the appointment of entirely new furniture and furnishings. The full-service hotel offers a restaurant and adjoining lounge and boasts 24,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event spaces. The Marriott Columbia also features three concierge levels and a Concierge Lounge. 

Concord Summit Capital LLC arranged $232.5 million of total construction financing for the Kindred Resort, a mixed-use development directly adjacent to the Keystone Ski Mountain River Run Gondola. Concord Summit sourced a $140 million senior construction loan, $55.47 million in CPACE financing, and a commitment for $30 million of preferred equity investment for the projects. Rounding out the capital stack is a $7 million Co-General Partner investment from Pure Development. The project will transform the base of Keystone providing a hotel, new ski school, several new dining options, a private ski club, and 95 luxury residential condo units. The Kindred Resort hotel will be the first of its kind in Keystone, CO, offering a modern luxury ski-in-ski-out experience. The 107-key luxury hotel will be managed by Rock Resorts, a subsidiary of Vail Resorts. The development team is a joint venture between Scott Russell, Shervin Rashidi, and Ryan Geller, and the institutional development expertise of Pure Development. Pre-construction work is underway with an estimated completion in 2025. 

Condor Hospitality Trust, Inc. has made provision for the settlement of all claims and liabilities and payment of the final liquidation dividend and that is dissolution articles have been filed with the State of Maryland. The Company has engaged in a shareholder-approved plan of liquidations and winding up in connection with the Company’s prior sale of all its hotel operating assets. In accordance with the plan of liquidation, the Company previously paid a special dividend liquidation distribution of $7.94 per share of common stock to its shareholders. The final liquidation dividend of approximately $0.12 per share of common stock will be distributed on September 2, 2022.

Sage Hotel Management announced Robert Butler will return to the company on September 12^th as executive vice president, directly overseeing the Upscale and Premier Collection. Butler left Sage in 2018 after 14 years in various operational leadership positions, culminating in his role as senior vice president of operations. He returns to Sage after spending nearly four years at Crescent Hotels as executive vide president of operations. At Sage, he will now have total oversight of the Upscale and Premier Collections, which encompass more than 40+ soft-branded, branded full service and branded upscale hotels in 14 states.

Hard Rock International announced the appointment of Patricia Lerner as account director, global business transient sales. Lerner’s most recently role was senior account executive at Marriott International.

Preferred Hotels & Resorts announced the appointment of Lori Strasberg to Senior Vice President of Marketing. Effective immediately, Lori will work with the brand’s global marketing and loyalty teams to deliver new e-commerce initiatives, cooperative hotel marketing programs, like-minded brand partnerships, and exclusive bank card rate programs to contribute to Preferred’s development and revenue goals. Previously, Lori was Vice President of Field Marketing for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. After the acquisition of Starwood, Marriott selected Lori to become Vice President of Marriott Bonvoy Member Marketing. 

Bermuda’s next hotel overlooking South Shore in Warwick is now slated to open on June 1 instead of March. Previously the Grand Atlantic affordable housing complex, the 110-key Bermudiana Beach Resort will be part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection. 

Baille Lodges has acquired a majority share in Chile’s Tierra Hotels, whose intimate collection includes luxury lodges in three of South America’s most extraordinary wilderness destinations. Tierra Patagonia is located in Torres del Paine National Park, Tierra Atacama is set high in the northern desert of Chile, and Tierra Chiloe overlooks the coastline on Chiloe Island. The Purcell family, which developed and operated Tierra Hotels since 2008, will retain an ownership stake in the portfolio, and the three properties will keep the Tierra Hotels branding. Baille Lodges intends to invest in the Tierra properties to ensure they maintain their unique market position as pre-eminent boutique hotels in Chile. In addition, Baillie Lodges plans to expand the Tierra hotel platform in the years to come through acquisitions and new greenfield developments.