Shipping Container Hotel Coming to Indianapolis

The DJIA rose 130 points on Friday while Nasdaq was down 69, the S&P 500 was down 11 points and the 10 year treasury yield took a breather, down -0.4 to 3.83%. Lodging stocks were lower. ABNB was the only real mover of note, down -8%.

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was up 16.4% in January from December. The Hotel Brand sub-index was up 16.2% and the Hotel REIT sub-index rose 17.1%.

Hilton, Easton’s Group of Hotels and the Gupta Group announced the opening of Canopy by Hilton Toronto Yorkville, marking the brand’s Canadian debut. The 184-rooom hotel boasts 3,500 square feet of meeting space, a transfer lounge, two on-site dining options, a fitness center and an indoor pool. 

Brandt Hospitality Group announced the opening of Residence Inn by Marriott Portland Clackamas. The extended stay property, located in Clackamas, Oregon, is the eighteenth addition to the group’s portfolio. The Brandt Hospitality Group Development Team has multiple projects in their pipeline. Upcoming projects include entering two new markets: the Home2 Suites Poughkeepsie, New York and Residence Inn Grand Prairie, Texas both under construction and the next in their portfolio to open. 

The 88-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in North Conway, New Hampshire, situated at the base of Cranmore Mountain Resort, is now open. The property will operate as a Marriott franchise, managed by Lafrance Hospitality. Hotel amenities include meeting space, an on-site lobby bar, outdoor patio with multiple firepits and a hot tub, an indoor pool, fitness center, and storage lockers for ski and hiking equipment.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the completion of the first phase of a multi-stage renovation at its Holiday Inn Washington-Central/White House property. The initial project included a reimagining of the hotel lobby along with the addition of a Johnny Rockets and Hurricane Wings restaurant, with ongoing renovations of guest room bathrooms scheduled to conclude in Q3 2023. Located in the heart of the nation’s capital, the hotel is owned by RI Associates and managed by Coakley & Williams Hotel Management.

Trepp Developments has expanded from South America to Florida’s West Coast with the development of SOTA Hotel & Residences, a mixed-use project in downtown Sarasota, FL. SOTA will include a 16-story tower that includes 35 condominium residences, a 120-room Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel and a ground floor restaurant. 

Remington Hotels announced its management agreement for La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Lakeway located in Lakeway, Texas. The property marks the fifth hotel in the Austin, area. Remington will manage the hotel’s sales, marketing, operations, revenue management, and overall customer satisfaction results. The property offers 104 guestrooms, 763 square feet of event space, a gym, and outdoor pool.

Indianapolis, Indiana is about to experience a different hotel experience this summer when a hotel created out of shipping containers opens. Ville Haven, a Tiny Urban Escapes Boutique Hotel, is the brainchild of Robin Staten. Her Black-owned business, Tiny Urban Escapes, transforms utilitarian containers into glam suites, with semi-glass walls in the ultimate up-cycling endeavor. Along with a communal space for small intimate gatherings, there are four suites connected along a private walkway in a lush green courtyard. The units will have keyless access and permit you to check yourself in and out. The hotel will also focus on wellness rituals like yoga in the courtyard, journaling and bathing rituals. The suites are in the city’s Haughville neighborhood.

Placemakr announced the launch of its newest pop-up hotel, WhyHotel by Placemakr, Columbia. The new pop-up is located in Marlow in Downtown Columbia, Maryland and will begin welcoming guests in March. In partnership with The Howard Hughes Corporation, the property features a resort-style pool, co-working and conference spaces, a penthouse lounge, fitness center, and a rooftop terrace. This pop-up includes 115 furnished units for daily, weekly, or annual stays and will remain open for booking throughout 2023.

The OYO Hotel, in downtown St. Louis, Missouri is being marketed ahead of an online auction on March 20. The auction will be conducted by Ten-X with starting bids set at $3 million. The 13-story building, the former Edison Brothers warehouse, also house the Edison Condos. Those luxury condominiums are individually owned. The hotel part of the building, with 288 rooms, is owned by Acres Capital, which took over the building after the previous owner filed for bankruptcy. The auction will offer fee-simple condominium interest in the hotel side of the building. Former hotel owner Joseph Gillespie III, through Consolidated Land Holdings LLC, filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Along with Acres Capital, the list of creditors files as part of that bankruptcy case included St. Louis Parking Co. and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Personnel Moves

The American Hotel & Lodging Association announced the promotions of two longtime hotel industry leaders. Troy Flanagan was promoted to executive vice president of external government affairs and industry relations. In this role, Flanagan will serve as the strategic leader of AHLA’s integrated outreach to public officials, while strengthening the association’s partnership with allied groups. He will also lead AHLA’s engagement and lobbying with state and local governments, legislatures, gubernatorial offices and related organizations. Flanagan previously served as the organization’s senior vice president of government affairs & industry relations. Chirag Shah was promoted to executive vice president of federal and political affairs & counsel. In this role, Shah will lead the strategic outreach, engagement and alignment of AHLA’s lobbying activities, advocacy priorities, and political affairs. Shah will manage the federal lobbying and political affairs teams with oversight on congressional relations, regulatory issues, and political engagement. Shah previously served as AHLA’s senior vice president of federal affairs & policy counsel. 

Europe Highlights

After four years on top, London has lost its crown as the five-star hotel capital of the world - instead, it’s Macau, China, that now boasts the most top-rated hotels. In Forbes Travel Guild’s 2023 Star Awards Macau - a city and region nicknamed the “Las Vegas of Asia”, is recognized as having 22 five-star hotels overall, which now includes the Grand Lisboa Palace Macau, The Karl Lagerfeld and the Londoner Hotel. Second-place London has 21 five-star hotels, including the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park and the Langham, with no new five-star hotel additions this year. The 65^thannual list features 360 five-star, 585 four-star and 433 “recommended” hotels - with 48 brand-new five-star hotels in total. Spas and restaurants have also been awarded, with 119 five-star and 195 four star spas worldwide and 79 five-star, 113 four-star and 67 recommended restaurants.

A Cheshire hotel has entered liquidation after the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns and increased competition impacted its trading. Paddington House Hotel in Warrington was run by OPH Hotels, which has appointed Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery to oversee the process.

Dalata Hotel Group plc announced the addition of a new 192-bedroom hotel at 240 Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, North London to its hotel portfolio. Under the transaction, Dalata has acquired the entire issued share capital of Tide Developments (4) Limited for a total consideration of CBP44.3 million from Furadino Holdings Limited. The total consideration will be financed from Dalata’s existing cash and banking facilities. The newly finished hotel, which has never traded, consists of 192 bedrooms, ground floor lobby and a restaurant and bar. Prior to open in summer 2023, Dalata will invest in excess of GBP2 million to enhance the property and launch under the Maldron brand. The hotel will be Dalata’s first Maldron hotel in London and its 18^th hotel in the UK.

PGIM Real Estate’s European Core Plus strategy has raised over $400 million, with the newly-launched strategy eyeing investment in the hotel sector. PGIM Real Estate will target Europe’s most liquid markets, investing in sectors such as logistics’ residential including rental, senior and student housing; and new generation of office. It will also target opportunities in mispriced sectors, such as hotels or self-storage.