Hotels Spend Big on Renovations and Expansions

The DJIA rose 40 points, Nasdaq was down 13, the S&P 500 was up 3 points, the 10-year treasury yield was up .02 to 3.98% and lodging stocks were mixed. SVC traded up to a new high, SOND jumped 13%, which was only to $1.11, HGV rose 5% but SLNA was down -7% and HT fell -5%.

Truist lowered their price target on Park Hotels & Resorts to $19 from $20 while maintaining their Buy rating. They maintained their Buy on Ryman Hospitality and upped their price target to $115 from $104. Playa Hotels & Resorts now has a $13 target price, up from $11 while Truist kept their Buy rating while Hilton Grand Vacations is still a Buy, according to Truist, while their price target was upped to $75 from $62.

Nebraska developer Olsson is proposing an 80,000-square-foot mixed-use building that would cover an entire block in Lenexa City Center in Lenexa, Kansas. The building would be three stories on the west side and five stories on the east. It would house 11,000 square feet of retail space as well as a 132-room AC Hotel and a 128-room Residence Inn. The hotels would share an entrance and lobby space, in addition to a drop-off lane. Amenities include a private courtyard and outdoor seating, in addition to a hotel restaurant. The developer plans to build a 283-space parking garage and 32 surface stalls. There will also be 11 bike stalls. Midas Hospitality is working with Olsson on the project.

BRE Hotels & Resorts and The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua are celebrating the recent success of the property following a $100 million transformation. Completed in December 2022, the renovations added more outdoor living space, more privacy, and more luxury to the iconic Hawaiian hotel located in Kapalua, Hawaii. While The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua property received a substantial upgrade overall, there was a particular emphasis on the enhancement of outdoor spaces. The Aloha Pavilion, a large event venue, has been transformed through extensive architectural upgrades and a new pre-function garden. The pool complex has been remade into the focal point of the property with full rim flow perimeters at all three levels, and cascading black rock waterfalls to connect them. New sun shelves provide lounge space within the water itself. A signature addition to the property is the new Fire Lanai Collection, a series of ground-floor rooms with private garden-style living areas.

The iconic Fairmont Hotel in downtown Vancouver, Canada, is looking to expand with an annex tower, but it will not provide any additional hotel rooms. Hotel owner Larco Hospitality submitted a new rezoning application to build a 12-story, mixed-use tower immediately south of the hotel building. The hotel’s existing mid-block annex structure and covered driveway entrance would be demolished and replaced with a building that would be activated by a two-story retail space, including a basement retail level, for a total of 5,500 square feet of retail space. The lower floors also include a new 10,000-square-foot ballroom and 5,400 square feet of meeting space. Directly above the ballroom level there will be two restaurants. These will all be accessible from the interior of the main hotel building. The remaining upper levels of the new tower would be dedicated as office space which will be accessible from a dedicated office lobby entrance. 

Aimbridge Hospitality’s specialized operating division, Evolution Lifestyle, has been selected to manage The Benbow Inn, located in Garberville, California, recently acquired by The Parklane Group. The historic property will undergo a renovation and upgrade to include 65 luxurious guestrooms with fireplaces, multiple restaurant outlets, a speakeasy, and a spa.

A hotel planned for the Oxbow neighborhood of Napa, California, has a new developer who would like to nearly double the number of rooms previously approved at the downtown site. Formerly called the Foxbow hotel, the project is now known as the First and Oxbow Gateway. Napa developer JB Leamer was originally listed as the developer but that has been changed to Stratus Development. In 2020, plans for a total of 74 rooms and two four-story buildings was approved by the City Council. According to Stratus Development, to make the project economically feasible and to attract a national franchise firm, more rooms are required. Stratus’ new application for the project asks for 123 rooms and two four-story buildings, one on either side of the railroad tracks. Stratus also asked to created 154 parking spaces instead of the original 121. JB Leamer and Tim Herman are the property owners.

In downtown Charleston, South Carolina, site plans for a 175-room hotel where The Alley operates are ready to be reviewed by the city. North Park Ventures and MCZ Development paid $10 million in October for the structure. It has previously been approved for a 175-room hotel under its previous owner. While details are limited, similar plans appear to be in the works. 

Bella Vista Hotel & Suites is now open on Candlers Mountain Road in Lynchburg, Virginia. Formerly known as the Kirkley Hotels, the five-story property has undergone a $7.2 million renovation including infrastructure updates, new technology and conveniences, and a remodeling of its 83 rooms and 45 suites. Among other renovations, the hotel’s kitchen complex has been reworked to make way for a new restaurant that will feature public and private dining spaces. The hotel’s ballroom and three adjacent salons have been revamped. Bella Vista Hotel is owned by Runk & Pratt Companies. While sections of the hotel still are temporarily under renovation, newly remodeled rooms and suites are available. 

A long-awaited Chula Vista Bayfront resort is finally taking shape, with the first of 22 floors constructed. The first development phase includes the construction of the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center in Chula Vista, California. Construction began in July 2022 and is expected to wrap up in May 2024 with a sprawling hotel with 1,600 rooms, a spa, and a lazy river. A convention center, park, new roads, parking structure and new public infrastructure, were also slated to be included in the construction.

After a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a local developer is moving forward with plans to restore the old Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge on Grand Avenue, in Des Moines, Iowa, to its former use as a mid-century modern hotel. The building that most recently served as the Terrace Hill Apartments will have 85 rooms, an outdoor courtyard with fire pits, games and beverage services, and a possible a restaurant in an adjacent building. It will feature the iconic orange-pitched roof that was synonymous with Howard Johnson’s chain of hotels with restaurants and ice cream parlors. A courtyard on the southwest side of the building will have a water feature and a bar. Another bar will be located in the Gatehouse building connected to the hotel. Developers also plan to renovate a 3,400-square-foot commercial building located next to the hotel into a restaurant. 

The historic El Jardin Hotel in downtown Brownsville, Texas will undergo a $17 million renovation. The renovation project is scheduled to begin on April 3, with an expected completion date of December 31, 2024.

Fairmas and their long-term partner STR announced the transfer of Fairmas’ specific business division “Hotel Benchmarking” to STR (a CoStar Group Company). Over the last 18 years up until now, both partners mutually conducted market research based on the daily data of more than 2,200 hotels throughout Germany. Fairmas will continue to focus on the growth of its primary business, as a software provider for Financial Planning & Management Reporting. 

Blossom Hotel Houston near the Texas Medical Center has secured a $22.5 million C-PACE loan, to cover the cost of previously installed energy-conservation systems. PACE Loan Group issued the loan, which will be paid back over the next 25 years. Lone Star PACE was the administrator for this project. The 16-story Blossom Hotel Houston marked the first U.S. development for the Blossom Holding Group. The hotel has 267 guestrooms with amenities including restaurants, a lobby library, an outdoor pool deck, a fitness center, a karaoke room and thirteen event spaces. Blossom Hotel Houston currently has a cocktail bar in its lobby and plans to open a number of other dining concepts later this year.

The Incentra Village House, one of Manhattan’s oldest small hotels, is for sale. The 12-room guest house is located in the center of the Greenwich Village Historic District.

Sonder Holdings Inc. announced the appointment of Dominique Bourgault as Chief Financial Officer. Bourgault joins Sonder as the company continues to execute on its Cash Flow Positive Plan to achieve profitability without additional fundraising. Prior to Sonder, Dominique was CFO at Blue Nile, Inc. and prior to that, Bourgault spent 18 years with Expedia Group, Inc. 

Hyatt Hotels Corporation shared that 45% of the properties that joined Hyatt’s system in 2022 were based in European markets and the region’s contribution to the Hyatt growth journey continues into 2023 through a strong pipeline with 10% of Hyatt’s 117,000 rooms record pipeline expected to join the portfolio in Europe and the Middle East. Notable drivers for the expected regional growth include several large-scale leisure portfolio integrations, adding a substantial number of rooms to the World of Hyatt program and the hyatt.com booking flow as well as organic growth for the Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brands slated for 2023 and the years ahead. Hyatt offers one of the largest portfolios of luxury all-inclusive resorts in the world. Following the integration of more than 20 European resorts into the World of Hyatt program in December 2022, additional properties are expected to join the program in the near future with plans for five Inclusive Collection resorts to open in Bulgaria in 2023 and 2024, as well as the expected debut of the Dreams brand in Portugal, with Dreams Madeira Resort Spa & Marina slated to open in 2024. The JDV by Hyatt brand is slated to arrive in Germany in the near future with the planned integration of more than “Lindner Hotels & Resorts” and “me and all hotels” properties into the World of Hyatt loyalty program. The properties will expand Hyatt’s lifestyle brand footprint in Europe by 5,500 rooms. Supported by a healthy pipeline in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Hyatt is stepping into new leisure destinations. The Park Hyatt brand is set to reestablish itself in South Africa with Park Hyatt Johannesburg in late 2023 and make its entrance into Morocco with Park Hyatt Marrakech. Notably, Park Hyatt London is in the pipeline for 2024. In 2023, the Grand Hyatt brand will be introduced to Spain with Grand Hyatt La Manga Club and Resort in the second half of 2023 and expand its presence in Kuwait with Grand Hyatt Kuwait Residences. The Hyatt Regency brand is set to expand its resort footprint in Europe with Hyatt Regency Pravets Resort in Bulgaria and Hyatt Regency Resort Kotor Bay in Montenegro in summer 2023. The Unbound Collection by Hilton will receive two new additions in 2023, with Hotel Flüela Davos and a project in development in Crans Montana, both in Switzerland, closely followed by the Grand Hansa Hotel in Finland, slated to join the portfolio in early 2024.

Chinese hotel firm H World Group, formerly Huazhu, sold its remaining 3.7% stake in Accor for an undisclosed sum to concentrate on its core activities. The news comes a little more than a month since Accor sold its remaining 3% stake in H World for $460 million. Neither company now owns a stake in the other, but both sides clarified that they intend to continue working together to open and operate hotels.

Accor co-founder, Gerard Pelisson, passed away at the age of 91.