Great Wolf Chooses Maryland for Its Largest Resort

The DJIA rose 285 points on Friday while Nasdaq was up 197, the S&P 500 rose 54 points and the 10-year treasury yield was down .04 to 3.82%. Lodging stocks were mixed.

Sonder Holdings was cut to Market Perform from Market Outperform by JMP Securities.

EF Hutton assumed coverage of Selina Hospitality with a Buy rating and $6 price target.

Ryman Hospitality Properties announced it closed on the previously announced acquisition of the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio, TX from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. The JW has 1,002 rooms with 268,000 total square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space. The resort includes a 26,000-square-foot Lantana Spa, eight food and beverage outlets, 9 acre River Bluff water experience and TPC San Antonio, featuring two 18-hole golf courses. The purchase price for the acquisition was approximately $800 million.

Chartwell Hospitality and Rockbridge are developing three new hotels in high-growth neighborhoods in Middle Tennessee. Construction will begin in September 22 on a 119-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Brentwood, Tennessee; a 120-guestroom TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Murfreesboro, the only hotel approved for the Clari Park mixed-use development; and the 120-room Home2 Suites hotel in Lebanon.

Innisfree Hotels and RREAF Holdings announced the opening of the all-new Fairfield Inn & Suites Pensacola Beach, FL. The $75 million, 209-room property features the Gulf Coast’s largest lazy river, an adult pool, two hot tubs, fun food and beverage outlets, and a fitness center.

IHG announced the opening of a Holiday Inn Express near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. The hotel features 200 guestrooms, nearly 3,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center and an outdoor pool. 

Great Wolf Resorts announced the grand opening of Great Wolf Lodge Maryland. The new lodge in Perryville, Maryland marks the twentieth resort in North America and its largest with 700 suites and an expansive 128,000-square-foot indoor water park featuring 22 slides. The $250 million project boasts several dining options and the Great Wolf Adventure Park family entertainment center. 

Great Wolf also announced the completion of a $12 million guestroom renovation project at its resort in Grand Mound, Washington. The refurbishment included the 298 existing guest suites and the addition of 9 new suites. This is the first phase of a $40 million renovation project for Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound that includes updates to the Grand Lobby, water park, restaurants, and more.

The SureStay by Best Western Glendive Yellowstone River has opened in Glendive, Montana, following the completion of an extensive renovation. The newly refreshed hotel features 55 guestrooms and a newly added Agate Garden where guests can search for a semi-precious stone.

One of the biggest resort developments in Florida history is almost complete. Evermore held its topping off ceremony. It also marked a major milestone as the final gallons of water were added to Evermore Bay, an 8-acre Crystal Lagoon at the heart of the entire resort which is going up at the former site of the Villas at Grand Cypress Resort near the Magic Kingdom. When finished, the resort will include the Conrad Orlando hotel, villas, 11-bedroom vacation houses, meeting space and the 20-acre lagoon complex. It will be surrounded by world-class golf courses. The entire project has a price tag of upwards of one billion dollars and is expected to open within the next year.

Urban Villages announced the that Populus, the first “carbon-positive” hotel in the U.S., has topped out. Managed by Aparium Hotel Group, the 13-story, 265-room hotel will open in Denver, Colorado in Spring 2024. Hotel amenities include a ground-floor restaurant, flexible event spaces, a coffee shop, and a signature rooftop bar and restaurant. 

Woodside Hospitality Group introduced the Woodside Collection, a distinctive group of locally owned, independent hotels and resorts found in most iconic locations of California‘s Bay Area, all featuring Woodside’s unique brand of West Coast hospitality. The Woodside Collection includes The Lodge at Bodega Bay, an 83-room retreat located along the Sonoma Coast; The Stanford Park Hotel located in the heart of the Bay Area; Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa located in the East Bay town of Lafayette; Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa, home to 285 recently renovated guestrooms and suites; the 55-room Napa Valley Lodge located in the heart of California’s Napa Valley; the 44-room Hotel Drisco located in the center of San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood; and the 81 rooms Harvest Inn in the heart of St. Helena.

The Kenwood Inn & Spa, one of the 17 California properties of the Four Sisters Inns Collection, has completed a comprehensive, multi-phase project. The Kenwood, California property features remodeled guestrooms, lush grounds and common spaces, multiple pools, firepits, and the Kenwood Inn & Spa. 

Spectrum Investment Group and Acumen Development are planning to bring a 159-room hotel to 20 High Street, in Hamilton, Ohio. Plans are to convert a former city building into an upscale hotel featuring a covered valet at the riverfront entrance, rooftop outdoor and enclosed event spaces, and corporate-style suites. An addition is required to accommodate 116 hotel rooms, as the existing building would only accommodate 43 rooms. The development team hopes to have all city agreements in place by the start of 2024 and closing on the property. Construction would start by mid-2025 and open by 2026.

In Urbana, Illinois, Hotel Royer’s website originally was taking reservations for September 28 and beyond, but now indicates reservations can be made for November 28 and beyond. City officials don’t know exactly when the hotel will open and according to Urbana Economic Development, Marquis Ventures, the property’s developer, could not be reached for comment.

NexPoint Hospitality Trust announced that, at the request of the TSX Venture Exchange, it has provided an undertaking to amend the convertible promissory notes issued to NexPoint Real Estate Opportunities, LLC and Highland Income Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the conversion term to five years from the date of issuance; establish a minimum acceptable conversion price based on market prices at the time of each particular advance; and remove the conversion of interest, such that only principal under the COVID Loans is convertible. For one of the COVID Loans, in an amount of US$8.5 million advanced on February 22, 2022, the REIT has agreed to amend the loan to remove the conversion feature altogether. The COVID Loans were in the aggregate amount of US$56,165,000. 

Summit Hotel OP, LP, as borrower, Summit Hotel Properties, Inc, as parent guarantor, and each party executing the credit facility documentation as a subsidiary guarantor, entered into a $600 million senior unsecured credit facility with Bank of America, N.A. as administrative agent. The Amended Credit Facility is comprised of a $400 million revolving credit facility and a $200 million term loan and refinances in its entirety the Original Credit Facility. The $400 Million Revolver will mature on June 21, 2027 and can be extended to June 21, 2028 at the Company’s option, subject to certain conditions. The $200 Million Term Loan will mature on June 21, 2026 and can be extended to June 21, 2028 at the Company’s option, subject to certain conditions. 

Personnel Moves

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC announced the retirement from the IHG Board of Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee Joe Harlow, effective December 2023. The company also announced the appointment of Angie Risley as Non-Executive Director, effective September 1, 2023, who will succeed Harlow as Chair of the Remuneration Committee from January 1, 2024 upon Jo’s retirement. 

NH Hotels approved the appointment of three new Independent Directors of the company: Miriam Gonzalez-Amezqueta Lopez, Tomas Lopez Fernebrand and Maria Segimon De Manzanos.

Europe Highlights

Arora Group signed an agreement to redevelop the Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa, in Bedfordshire, U.K., under the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts brand. Prior to taking on the Fairmont flag, Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa will undergo a multi-million pound redevelopment over the next few years, bringing the hotel to new levels of luxury. 

Leumi UK agreed to deliver a £26.3m loan to Zorca Holding for the acquisition and merging of two Georgian hotels in London’s Bloomsbury. Zorca Holding will refurbish the two assets into a single 74-bedroom hotel with a bar, restaurant and events space, scheduled to open in late 2024.

Z Hotels has a property in Covent Garden. The Company has secured a £15 million refinancing deal with OakNorth Bank. Z Hotels will use the facility to refinance its current loan facilities and fund the construction of 20 more rooms at its Piccadilly location, taking its total number of rooms to 132. The cash will also be used to develop new lift facilities and a new ground floor café. 

PoB Hotels has added The Elms Hotel & Spa in Worcestershire to its collection of independent hotels. The Elms is an independently owned and managed boutique. The recently refurbished hotel has 23 rooms and suites, coach houses, Badgers restaurant and The Greenhouse Spa at The Elms featuring an indoor pool, indoor-outdoor hydrotherapy pool, sauna, two steam rooms, five treatment rooms, a relaxation rooms, manicure and pedicure stations and an IV Clinic. 

A Travelodge hotel and linked Grosvenor casino in the center of Leicester City, England, have been sold for £8.75 million. The hotel has 95 rooms across four floors and houses the Grosvenor casino, which is located across the ground, first and second floors of the hotel. Savills sold the hotel and casino on behalf of Tritax to a mystery buyer.