Business Travel Shows No Sign of a Recession

The DJIA fell another 0.6% on Tuesday, Nasdaq was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the 10-year treasury yield rose to 3.963%, its peak since 2010.

Truist reported on a conference call it held with corporate travel data company Tripbam. Takeaways included that any indications of a recession have not yet shown up in business travel bookings and pricing data. Tripbam believes 15% of business travel may never fully recover but that is better than the 20% they had forecast back in January. Global booking volumes as of mid-September have been stagnant the past several months and are running down 15% versus comparable 2019 levels and closer to down 25% for the US. Room rates are tracking up 5% from 2019 levels. Looking forward to 2023, Tripbam thinks corporate rate negotiations could wind up with a 5%-8% year-over-year increase. Finally they think the technology sector remains a substantial drag on the overall pace of recovery, especially in the US and even more specifically for the San Francisco hotel market.

Evercore ISI Group upped its rating on Hyatt to Outperform from In Line. Their price target is $100.

Crescent Hotels & Resorts has added The Muse New York to its Latitudes: Lifestyles by Crescent collection of independent lifestyle hotels. The former Kimpton property is located just one block from Times Square and offers 200 guest rooms including 19 "specialty" suites, a fitness center and the Muse Bar.

Remington Hotels will oversee the Crowne Plaza San Antonio Airport hotel in San Antonio, TX. Recently acquired by CP SAT Hotel LLC, the ten-story, 224-room property features an on-site bar and restaurant space. Remington was anxious to re-enter the San Antonio market and is already looking to expand its footprint in the Alamo City where it is currently involved with developing another property. The company will operate an Autograph Collection hotel in San Antonio set to open in 2024. 

The Plasencia Group has closed the sale of the 102-key Hilton Garden Inn Huntsville South/Redstone Arsenal and the 88-key Hampton Inn & Suites Athens I-65/Huntsville Area. The firm advised an affiliate of WEDGE Group in the disposition of the hotels, while Waramaug Hospitality acquired the properties, as we reported yesterday.

K2 Group announced the acquisition of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites hotel in Niagara Falls, NY. The deal marks the fifth Niagara region hotel property, and first U.S. hotel, for K2 Group’s growing hospitality portfolio. K2 Group plans to spend $3 million to improve the four-story property by renovating both the exterior and interior of the hotel, as well as upgrading all guestrooms to IHG’s latest formula blue PIP standards. The hotel features 500 square feet of meeting space, a business center, heated indoor pool, fitness center and laundry facilities.

The Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel is renovating and rebranding and is slated to reopen as The Twin Fin in November following a multi-million dollar renovation and design refresh. Changes to the oceanfront hotel will include a refresh to the 645 guest rooms while the lobby and pool deck are undergoing a complete refresh. The hotel is currently managed by Highgate, which will continue to manage the property following the rebranding.

Bristol, Virginia’s Industrial Development Authority approved the transfer of a 2.5-acre tract to KM Hotels and KM-Bristol Hotel LLC for a new 107-room hotel planned for The Falls development. The company is currently securing approvals, but the property is expected to fly the Marriott Residence Inn flag. The company expects to break ground in early 2023 on the $18 million project and open in spring 2024.

Margaritaville announced the Bolivar Beach Club & RV Resort, located in Crystal Beach, TX, is set to become Camp Margaritaville RV Resort Crystal Beach by winter 2022. The Bolivar Beach Club is currently undergoing renovations to fully embrace Camp Margaritaville’s signature experiences. The Resort offers a beachside concert venue, a swim-up bar and 60 private poolside cabanas, large turf playing field and direct access to 27 miles of Texas beaches. Renovations will include a full brand experience with the signature Margaritaville style throughout the RV resort including the addition of a Fins Bar & Grill Restaurant and a License to Chill Bar. 

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts welcomed the Wyndham Alltra Riviera Nayarit to its new, all-inclusive Wyndham Alltra brand, located in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. The 229-room family-friendly all-inclusive resort offers three pools, a spa, 12 restaurants and bars, and a Camp Alltra kids club.

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Mt. Pleasant has opened in Mt. Pleasant, TX. The hotel features 52 guest rooms including 12 suites, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, and a business center.

Membership to Aspen Lakes, part of the RHUE Resorts, the world’s first private luxury golf and destination club where memberships can be purchased on the blockchain as an NFT, officially launched with the release of 10,000 Founding Family Memberships. Aspen Lakes offers an 18-hole golf course, hiking/biking trails, restaurant, event space, lounge, and pro shop. Further luxury development plans include a hotel and conference center, a lake and campground with luxury yurts and cabins, private residences, restaurants, a music venue, a kids activity center, an indoor water park, and more. 

Cincinnati, OH’s iconic Terrace Plaza Hotel officially has a new owner after a four-year legal battle between the city and its former owner, Cincinnati Terrace Associates LLC, a subsidiary of JNY Capital. Anthony Birkla of Birkla Investment Group purchased the property through his affiliate company. Cincinnati Development III LLC, for $10 million. The Hamilton County Landbank temporarily held the property and recently transferred the deed to Birkla’s company. Plans for the 18-story building include the renovation of the ground-floor retail portion, turning floors one through seven into parking and the hotel tower into apartments. 

The proposed $240 million SoLa development project will bring condos, retail, restaurants and two hotels with a rooftop deck to downtown Michigan City, IN. Developer Tom Dakich’s plans for his latest development for the South Shore of Lake Michigan aim to be transformative. YAB Development Partners and Farpoint Development/Decennial Group are looking to break ground on the commercial development project later this year. The SoLa Development will include two hotels: Trademark Collection by Wyndham and TRYP by Wyndham. The 12-story hotel tower will have 235 rooms with a rooftop deck. SoLa will also have 145 luxury condos in a second 10-story tower, 19 duplex homes, retail space and several restaurants. The downtown development also will offer several outdoor amenities and a 395-space parking garage. The plan is for it to be open by mid-2024.

On behalf of citizenM, Newmark arranged a $210 million financing facility for a 904-key portfolio of four under construction and soon-to-be-delivered citizenM hotels. Each purpose-built hotel will offer a fitness center, societyM meeting rooms, and canteenM restaurants. Additionally, certain hotels will feature cloudM rooftop bars and expansive terraces.

RobertDouglas advised a joint venture of WBX Capital Partners and Trinity Private Equity Group in the refinancing of its existing loan for the 398-key Marriott Kansas City Overland Park located in Overland Park, KS. The new, non-recourse, floating rate senior mortgage has a five-year term. WBX Capital Partners and Trinity Private Equity Group acquired the property in August 2019 and completed a comprehensive $17 million renovation. The new design features updates to all guestrooms; public spaces, including the lobby; the M Club Lounge and meeting spaces, as well as a new restaurant and bar.

Stonebridge Cos. announced Tom Brinkman had joined the team as president and chief operating officer. In his new role, Brinkman will be responsible for the hotel operations, business development, finance/accounting, sales and marketing, human resources, risk management, information technology and legal departments. Brinkman brings more than 30 years of experience as an executive with Marriott International. Most recently, Brinkman served as chief development officer for United States full-service brands.

Mumford Company announced the sale of the Super 8 of Norton, VA on behalf of seller S&P Hotels. This is the fifth transaction in which Mumford Company has worked with the principals of S&P Hotels. The purchaser of the hotel is Shri Radheshyam LLC.

Europe Highlights

Bespoke Hotels is launching the Sun Street Hotel in October 2022, a brand new five-star property in the heart of London. The boutique hotel is forming part of One Crown Place, a new mixed-use destination between Shoreditch and the City of London. Sun Street Hotel offers 41 guest rooms including 7 suites, a restaurant and discreet service.

Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners announced the acquisition of The Dornoch hotel in Dornoch, Scotland. The property will join Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts, and AJ Capital will reposition the property as the Dornoch Stationhotel. The property is now closed for the next several months while it undergoes comprehensive renovations of all guest rooms, public spaces, exterior and ground including the installation of a putting green, fire pits, and additional outdoor amenities. When fully renovated, the 122-room hotel will offer 89 more rooms.

Lamington Group plans to open three new net zero room2 hometels in York, Glasgow and Manchester. The exciting pipeline of sustainable properties will cost approximately £100m. room2 currently has three operations locations in Southampton, Hammersmith and Chiswick. The 116-room room2 York will open in September 2024. room2 Glasgow is due to open in the first quarter of 2025 with 134 bedrooms and the 22-floor, 180-room room2 Manchester is set to open in Q1 2026. All three new hometels will offer ground floor restaurant and bar spaces as well as work and meeting spaces, gyms and laundry rooms.