Biden's New Budget Triggers Equity Market Drops

The DJIA fell 543 points while Nasdaq was down 238, the S&P 500 fell 74 points and the 10-year treasury yield was down .05 to 3.93%. There were a lot of reasons for the equity markets to go down today but the selling really accelerated after President Biden unveiled his budget. While the budget may have triggered selling, the concerns about banks should get a lot more attention right now. As for lodging stocks, if you own a lodging REIT that was not down -5% or more today, you did better than the majority. Overall in the lodging space, MCG and SOND took the top spot in the list, down -13% and -10% respectively. AHT was down -8%, PK and PEB were both down -7% and then we had H, VCSA, CLDT, HT, SVC, and INN down -6% each. RLJ, WH, HST, SHO, XHR and APLE were all down -5% on the day.

Baird lowered their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to $86 from $88 while maintaining their Outperform rating. Their reduced price target reflects a lower 2024 EPS estimate due to higher assumed interest expense.

Barclays cut their rating on Hyatt Hotels to Equal Weight from Overweight. They cut their price target to $125 from $130. They upped Hilton to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight while raising their target price to $168 from $151.

Travel + Leisure Co. announced their upped their quarterly dividend per share to $0.45 per share from $0.40.

The new 252-room Palmetto Marriott is set to open by February 2024. The eight-story hotel, which will be connected to the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto, Florida, will include a rooftop restaurant and pool, along with an undetermined amount of dedicated meeting space. 

CityFlatsHotel Holland, in Holland, Michigan, announced that following a round of renovations, it will be known as Tulyp. The hotel is owned and operated by 6PM Hospitality and will still be part of the Hilton-Tapestry family of hotels. Along with the re-branding, the hotel lobby and rooms are being remodeled and the restaurant, coffee shop and events portion of the hotel are all being renamed. The renovations also allowed the hotel to create additional event space.

North Michigan Hospitality Management celebrated the grand opening of a new Tru by Hilton in Traverse City, Michigan. The new hotel features a large public space for groups to gather and play games in or use as a working space; a marketplace; and a fitness center. NMHM will now move forward with a second hotel right next door to the Tru, a four-story, 95-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. The opening date for that hotel is slated for May 2024. 

The St. Joe Company announced plans to open five new hotels in the first half of 2023, including The Lodge 30A, an 85-room boutique hotel that opened in February. Over the next four months the Company anticipates opening the 255-suite Embassy Suites by Hilton Panama City Beach Resort; the waterfront 124-room Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina; the 107-room Home2 Suites by Hilton Santa Rosa Beach; and Camp Creek Inn, a 75-room boutique hotel overlooking the Camp Creek golf course. Once complete, these Florida properties will more than double the number of available hotel rooms in St. Joe’s portfolio from 531 to 1,177 rooms.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the completion of a significant, multi-phase renovation of its Holiday Inn Resort Panama City Beach property. The project, spanning the entire Florida-based resort, includes a full redesign of its 340 rooms, a newly added beachfront lazy river along with a refurbished lagoon-style pool, and a water playground for kids. The Holiday Inn Resort Panama City Beach is owned and managed by Hilton Hospitality.

The Cincinnati Ohio Center City Development Corp. (3CDC) entered into negotiations with Portman Holdings to build a new, $482 million convention center hotel in Downtown Cincinnati. 3CDC is leading the process of building a new hotel, as well as updating the convention center. The 26-story, 800-room hotel would include up to 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, junior and senior ballrooms, 15,000 square feet of retail, a pool, and outdoor amenity deck. The hotel will take 32 months to build and construction could begin as soon as the first or second quarter of 2024.

Hotel McCoy will open this summer in College Station, Texas, marking the brand’s third location nationwide. The 52-room art hotel concept will have a saltwater pool, drive-in movie screen, all-local art gallery, full-sized pickle ball court, outdoor circuit gym, adult-size playground, life-sized chess board, tree swings, and a full bar with tapas plates.

Margaritaville Hotel San Diego is expected to open in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, California, this summer. The hotel will have 235 guestrooms and suites, three Margaritaville dining concepts, a rooftop pool deck, live music, flexible meeting and events spaces and signature amenities.

LivAway Suites broke ground on its first location in Smyrna, Tennessee. The hotel is slated to open in May 2024. Anticipated groundbreakings for 2023 include Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tampa, Austin, Phoenix, Denver, Charlotte, and more.

Vista Capital Company arranged and closed $24,000,000 of financing for the Crowne Plaza Union Station located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The property is adjacent to the Indiana Convention Center and is connected via over-air walkway to Lucas Oil Stadium. The full-service Crowne Plaza features 273 rooms, including 26 original Pullman Traincar sleeping rooms. The financing was funded by an affiliate of a European-based investment bank. The 10-year, fixed-rate financing will be used to fund a significant renovation project to upgrade the hotel.

Hilton announced the opening of Hampton by Hilton Quito La Carolina Park. The new 13-story hotel, located in the heart of Ecuador’s historic capital city, features 135 guestrooms, three sunlit meeting rooms on the thirteenth floor, co-working spaces on the lobby level, a fitness center, a bar, snack shop and a rooftop garden.

Personnel Move

KSL Resorts announced the promotion of Ian Pullan to senior vice president of asset performance west. In his new role, Pullan will continue to concentrate on operations in KSL Resorts’ growing West Coast portfolio, successfully collaborating with onsite hotel teams to ensure a strong and productive company culture. Previously, Pullan worked as vice president/general manager of Monarch Beach Resort during his eight-year tenure with KSL Resorts.

Europe Highlights

Mandarin Oriental’s first luxury resort in Greece opens in Costa Navarino this summer. Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino boasts 99 suites and earth-sheltered villas with private pools and spacious terraces; five restaurants and bars; a beach club with an expansive swimming pool with relaxation decks; and The Spa featuring private treatment rooms, heat and water experiences, and a 25-metre pool that flows indoors to outdoors. Golf aficionados will appreciate the 18-hole designer gold course that surrounds the resort, as well as three further designer golf courses across Costa Navarino.

Accor is expanding its portfolio in Southeastern Europe with the signing of Pullman Resort & Residences Bar Montenegro. Through a franchise agreement with the site’s owner, the Liko-Soho Group, the premium brand’s first Montenegrin property will open by the end of 2025. Located at the Bar Riviera, Pullman Resort & Residences Bar Montenegro will be part of a mixed-use resort featuring a hotel with 165 rooms and 244 residences. The new hotel will offer a wide range of amenities for visitors and residents such as Spa swimming pools, massage and recreation rooms, a gym center, a retail area, a kids’ zone and a unique beachside pool with heated seawater. There will be plenty of dining options along with a ballroom and 3 meeting rooms.