The DJIA rose 525 points, Nasdaq was up 288, the S&P 500 was up 79 points and the 10-year treasury yield jumped .10 to 3.53%. Lodging stocks were modestly higher, with not much of a comeback from yesterday’s sell off. SOND traded down to another all time low. VCSA was up just over a dime, which is 15%.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts received a much better response to their earnings report than Hilton did yesterday. They beat and raised, just like HLT and said they don’t see any signs of a slowdown ahead of the seasonally strong summer season. Net room growth was 4% year over year with an 11% increase in the pipeline with 35 new ECHO Suites contracts in there, giving them 205 hotels for the new brand. WH also bought back $54 million of stock in 1Q and even the fact that wasn’t even half of what they bought back in the second half quarters of 2022. WH was up $1.24.
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust kicked off the Lodging REIT earning season with Hersha Hospitality. PEB gives monthly updates but even with that, 1Q23 EBITDA was better than expected plus they had $2 million in insurance proceeds. RevPAR was near the high end of guidance. They surprised the Street a bit with a lower than expected amount of share repurchases at 2.9 million shares for $41 million. Given the heavy insider buying, most were expecting the company to buy alongside. PEB said they will be selling two hotels in Seattle this quarter, the 189 room Monaco and 125 room Vintage which gets them completely out of the state.
Hersha Hospitality revenue was in line, EBITDA was lower than expected. Renovations and some higher than expected expenses impacted results but the stock had been weak going into the print so that may be why they didn’t have a big drop.
Hilton Grand Vacations had a better than expected quarter and even guided better than expected but if you see HLT and the other C-Corps hit like they were yesterday on macro concerns, there is no way the Street is throwing caution to the wind on timeshare companies. HGV was down $1.03 on the report.
According to the latest United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, construction pipeline projects in the U.S. continue to increase, standing at 5,545 projects/658,207 rooms at the close of Q1 2023. Up 9% by both projects and rooms YOY, project totals at Q1 ‘23 are just 388 projects or 5.7%, behind the all-time high of 5,883 projects recorded in Q2 2008. At the close of the first quarter, projects currently under construction stand at 1,051 projects/140,365 rooms, each showing 9% growth YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 2,060 projects/241,568 rooms, each up 8% YOY. Projects in the early planning stage account for 44% of the projects in the total U.S. construction pipeline at Q1. Early planning projects increased 10%YOY, setting an all-time high of 2,434 projects/276,274 rooms. At the Q1 close, 62% of projects in the total pipeline are concentrated within the upscale and upper midscale chain scales, both continuing to dominate the pipeline. Renovation and brand conversion activity in the U.S. continues to boom in early 2023, reaching record project counts of 1,953 hotels/253,533 rooms, a 38% YOY increase by projects and a 37% YOY increase by rooms. A total of 103 new hotels/11,762 rooms opened in the U.S. in the first quarter. LE forecasts another 493 new hotel projects/59,355 rooms to open for the remainder of the year. LE analysts expect the upward growth in new hotel openings to continue with an additional 699 new hotel projects/81,574 rooms anticipated to open in 2024.
Canada’s hotel occupancy was its highest since October 2022, according to STR’s March 2023 data. March 2023 (percentage change from 2019): Occupancy: 62.6% (+4.2%); ADR: CAD177.72 (+19.6%); and RevPAR: CAD111.23 (+24.6%). Among the provinces and territories, Manitoba recorded the highest March occupancy level (76.7%). Among the major markets, Vancouver reported the highest occupancy level (77.5%). New Brunswick (51.5%) saw the lowest occupancy among provinces. At the market-level, the lowest occupancy was reported in Calgary (56.3%). Of note, Prince Edward Island hotels benefited from hosting the Canada Winter Games, resulting in an increase across occupancy (51.9%); ADR (CAD149.01); and RevPAR (CAD77.36).
Crestline Hotels & Resorts announced the completion of a major renovation at the Hampton Inn & Suites El Paso Airport in Texas. The hotel’s 94 guestrooms and 45 suites have been refurbished, as well as the hotel’s 888 square feet of meeting space and workout room. The newly re-imagined hotel also features a redesigned lobby, and the outdoor pool areas has been updated with the addition of a fire pit.
avid hotels from IHG is celebrating its sixtieth open property with the debut of the new avid hotel Atlanta – Conyers I-20. The hotel marks the sixth avid hotels property in Georgia. Owned by COMFORT WORLD USA LLC, the avid hotel Atlanta – Conyers I-20 offers 95 rooms and a large fitness center. With 11 new openings in 2022, and an addition 145 in the pipeline across the Americas region, including 16 under construction, avid hotels is on pace to nearly quadruple in size in the coming years.
Merete Hotel Management and Hanna Hospitality LLC have partnered to open a new Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Roseburg, Oregon. The property will offer 102 guestrooms, an indoor pool, a fitness center, business center and a small meeting room.
The Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel and Conference Center is getting refresh as part of a multimillion-dollar renovation which includes renovated guest rooms, a new restaurant and an expanded gym. The hotel and conference center which is owned by the city of Coralville, is one of the anchors of the growing IOWA River Landing. The renovation includes a complete makeover of the 286 guestrooms and the addition of two suites, bringing the total room count to 288. There will be a new Regency Club lounge, expanded gym, family lounge and a resurfaced pool and spa. Renovations began in February and are expected to be completed in late summer. The hotel, which is managed by Marcus Hotels and Resorts, remains open during renovations.
VAI Global Development announced plans for Arizona’s new VAI Resort in 2024. Upon opening, VAI Resort will not only be the largest hotel resort destination in the state of Arizona, but will also be the most dynamic. Ideally set in Glendale, the $1 billion resort oasis will boast four towers; over 1100 rooms, suites and villas; VAI music and entertainment venue featuring a $40 million VAI stage; Konos Island and Beach Oasis; luxury spa; nightclub venue; 12 upscale restaurants; 10 bars and lounges; a shopping corridor; the world’s first Mattel Adventure Park; and more.
TradeWinds Island Resorts and its owner, 1754 Properties, submitted an application for a conditional permit to the St. Pete Beach, FL City Commission for a hotel expansion. The plan includes a few new buildings with more than 500 new rooms, 33,000 square feet of conference space, nearly 18,000 square feet of new retail space, three new pools and three new parking garages. According to 1754 Properties, 629 rooms will be new and 21 current rooms will be renovated, totaling 650.
Nobu Hotel Los Cabos, in Mexico, announced the opening of Nobu Residences Los Cabos with 60 exclusive residential-style accommodations on the Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur. Nobu Residences Los Cabos will feature Esencia Onsen, a spa and wellness space, and a fitness center. Residence guests will also have access to the adjacent Nobu Hotel Los Cabos facilities, including its four pools, the Esencia Wellness spa, two new pickle ball courts and a myriad of fine-dining venues. In addition to the Residences, Nobu Hotel Los Cabos will also unveil a new rooftop dining concept, Muna Restaurant.
Cronheim Hotel Capital has secured $9,350,000 for the Hampton Inn & Suites in Wesley Chapel, Florida. The Sponsor is a subsidiary of Nimbus Investment Fund, LP. The loan was provided by a regional bank and allowed the Sponsor to lock a fixed rate below 6% while also providing a return of capital that was committed during the pandemic.
Leisure Real Estate Advisors, LLC has successfully negotiated the sale of the Super 8 Urbandale and the Microtel Inn & Suites Colfax, both located in Iowa. The 60-room Super 8 Urbandale was purchased by Urbandale Extended Stay, LLC. Leisure Real Estate Advisors, represented the Seller, Jai Ashapuri Ma, LLC, in the transaction. The local buyer will renovate the hotel and operate it as an independent extended stay property. Leisure Real Estate Advisors represented the Seller, Shekar Properties, LLC, in the marketing and sale of the 39-room Microtel Inn & Suites. The Buyer was Colfax Lodging, LLC, a regional owner.
Personnel Move
Excel Group announced that Matt Wexler, a seasoned real estate investor and developer, has joined the firm as Principal. Most recently, Wexler founded Cascadilla Partners and prior to that served as Managing Partners at Foxhall Partners. In conjunction with Wexler joining Excel Group, the firm is launching a structure investment strategy that will provide flexible and tailored capital solutions to partners and borrowers in the form of mezzanine debt and preferred equity for hotel assets.
Olympia Hotel Management named Karl McElligott the company’s Director of Food & Beverage. McElligott was previously the Director of Food & Beverage at Fathom Companies.
Europe Highlights
A news report from Bloomberg citing STR data notes London is slated to overtake Las Vegas as the city with the largest hotel supply outside of China. The news agency reports that China’s two largest markets, Shanghai and Beijing, dwarf other global markets in terms of room count, but with London’s rooms supply slated to grow by roughly 18% in the next few years to 183,600, it would be able to slightly edge out both Las Vegas and Tokyo. Other top room-supply markets include Dubai, Orlando, Hangzhou, New York, and Guangzhou.
Banyan Tree Group is set to debut in Europe with the upcoming Banyan Tree Varko Bay in Western Greece. The new luxury resort is the result of the collaboration between Banyan Tree and Accor. Targeting a 2026 opening, the five-star resort will consist of approximately 116 villas and 43 branded residences, Banyan Tree Spa, a water sports center, several venues for meetings and events, a beach club, several bars and three restaurants.
Radisson Hotel Group announced the debut of the Radisson RED brand in Serbia with the signing of Radisson RED Belgrade, set to open later this year. Radisson RED is the first Radisson RED Branded hotel to be operated by PPHE Hotel Group’s subsidiary Arena Hospitality Group. The property will offer 88 rooms including three suites and an all-day restaurant on the ground floor. The property’s top floor is home to a co-working space, flexible event spaces including game areas and a rooftop bar.
