Wyndham Hotels’ Instant Group Booking Windows

The DJIA rose 126 points but Nasdaq was down 48, the S&P 500 fell 5 points and the 10 year treasury yield was down .02 to 4.17%. Lodging stocks were higher. ABNB jumped 4% to a new 52 week high. IHG also hit a new high while AHT was up 13%, SHCO was up 11% and VAC rose 5%. SOND was down -9% and SLNA fell -5% on the day.

Baird added Hyatt Hotels as a Bullish Fresh Pick designation. They are expecting a positive update later this week on Hyatt’s asset sales. Baird said the transaction and financing backdrops are improving and they believe the asset-lighter narrative will regain momentum in 2024, especially given hotel brand and REIT peers’ valuation multiples that have re-rated higher in recent months. Their more favorable near term and tactical view of H shares is also based on Baird’sview that investor sentiment could improve as dispositions are announced and/or completed.

A second hotel is being planned for the parking lots around Roosevelt Field mall in Uniondale, New York. Simon Property Group and OTO Development want to construct a 170-room hotel across the street from the Residence Inn by Marriott hotel, which the two companies own. The $75.6 million hotel would be part of the AC by Marriott chain. Expected to open in the fall of 2026, the hotel would have space for social events and weddings, a bar and a restaurant.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of a new Holiday Inn Express hotel in New Rochelle, NY. The Holiday Inn Express New Rochelle is owned by 43 Church Street LLC and managed by Kana Hotel Group. The hotel features 80 guestrooms, 700 square feet of meeting space and a fitness center.

Pelican Beach Resort by Colasan, a beachfront destination in the heart of Destin, Florida, has completed a comprehensive renovation project aimed at enhancing the overall guest experience. The resort has revamped its beachfront vacation rentals, and features a newly designed lobby, and a new zero entry pool area. Pelican Beach Resort also introduced an upgraded fitness center with a steam room and sauna, and electric vehicle charges. The resort is owned by Yavuz Colasan who owns Destin Breaks LLC.

The owner of the former Plaza Hotel site in Victoria, BC, is proposing a new 12-story hotel. Ocean Gate Developments has plans for a 198-room hotel with a two-story commercial space on the ground level, a large outdoor public plaza and four levels of underground parking. The Plaza Hotel was reduced to rubble by a deliberately set fire in 2019.

A 220-room hotel, residences, ballroom/conference space, a wellness spa and medical building are part of a conceptual proposal for the former Doral-Arrowwood Resort in Rye Brook, New York. Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation’s plans for the vacant property include the removal of the deteriorating building and the addition of a building that could include 115 residential units, a 220-room hotel with amenities, three restaurants, a lawn area for private events, pool(s), tennis courts and a lake house for wellness activities.

Disney has finally released dates informing guests when they can book a brand-new cabin at Disney’s Fort Wildness Resort. These new cabins will be opening on July 1, 2024, at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Walt Disney World Annual Passholders can start booking rental reservations on March 20, with bookings opening up to all guests on March 21.

A new rendering was posted for 319-321 West 38th Street, an upcoming 26-story Best Western Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The structure will have an undisclosed number of hotel rooms and a collection of amenities, rising from two adjoining interior plots between Eight and Ninth Avenues. Recent photographs show the two former residential buildings gutted and braced by steel beams as crews work to restore their brick facades. 319-321 West 38th Street’s anticipated completion date is slated for summer 2025.

Group bookings across the industry’s largest portfolio of economy and midscale hotels will soon take minutes, not days, thanks to Groups360 and the rapid rollout of over 5,600 Wyndham hotels to the GroupSync-Marketplace. Through GroupSync, travel planners and managers can browse real-time rates and availability at participating hotels and directly book 10 to 50 rooms without needing to contact the hotel or engage in a traditional RFP, saving valuable time. Meeting space for events can also be booked at hotels when needed and where available. Wyndham’s collaboration with Groups360 is the latest in a list of efforts to help its hotels tap into a multi-year, infrastructure-related travel boom and what it believes is a $3.3 billion revenue opportunity for franchisees. Groups360 and GroupSync are also a part of Wyndham’s innovative Wyndham Business program which, through a suite of tools and resources, aims to help make business travel easier for all. The majority of Wyndham hotels in the U.S. are anticipated to be available for instant booking on GroupSync this week with the last remaining hotels expected to go live before end of month.

Personnel Moves

The American Hotel & Lodging Association announced five promotions among its leadership team. Matt Carrier was promoted to senior vice president of federal affairs, policy, and research. In this role, Carrier will lead AHLA’s federal advocacy team, with a focus on congressional engagement and regulatory issues. Additionally, he will continue to oversee the association’s industry research efforts. Sarah Bratko was promoted to vice president, state & local government affairs & policy counsel. In this role, Bratko will help develop and expand AHLA’s state & local policy team, which has been a critical component of AHLA as it works to deliver advocacy results for hoteliers across the country. Olivia Klipa was promoted to vice president, conferences and events. In her new role, Klipa will assume expanded responsibilities for the overall strategy, management, and execution of all AHLA and AHLA Foundation programs, meetings, and special events and will continue positioning these engagement points as a key source of non-dues revenue for both entities. Lauren Pravlik was promoted to vice president, committees & member engagement. In this newly created role, Pravlik will be responsible for strategy and growth of AHLA’sCommittee portfolio, content-focused groups to drive member engagement through industry alignment on time-sensitive topics, peer networking and the creation of industry resources. Kat Fonda was promoted to senior director, federal affairs, This promotion recognizes her ongoing contributions to AHLA’sfederal advocacy work in areas such as labor regulations, industry coalition leadership, and expanding AHLA’s political influence in Washington D.C.

International News

Preferred Hotels & Resorts added 13 new member properties in the fourth quarter of 2023, in such destinations as Costa Rica, Italy, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Equatorial Guinea, the Dominican Republic, Canada and the U.S. The new member properties include Azul Hotel & Retreat in Guanacaste, Costa Rica; The Camp Creek Inn in Inlet Beach, Florida; The Editory Boulevard Aliados Porto in Porto, Portugal; Almar Giardino di Costanza in Mazara del Vallo, Italy; Entre Cielos Wine & Wellness Hotel in Mendoza, Argentina; Grand Hotel Djibloho in Ciudad de la Paz, Equatorial Guinea; Tembo Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain; and SoHo Residences Toronto, Canada. The new Preferred members also include five new members from Catalonia Hotels & Resorts.

Melia Hotels International announced the opening of its first Melia collectionhotel in Madrid in May. Casa de las Artes, Member of Melia Collection offers 137 guestrooms, an innovative restaurant-theater concept, cozy library, private cinema room, a landscaped inner courtyard with a glass roof and a thermal pool. In addition, the hotel, which comprises four interconnected buildings, is equipped with several meeting rooms and a fitness center.

Less than three years after it was sold for €65 million, Dublin’s luxury Morrison Hotel could be close to changing hands once again for more than €100 million. According to The Irish Times, Morrison’s owners, Zetland Capital, have just instructed CBRE to quietly gauge the interest of investors in acquiring the five-star property. The property offers 145 guestrooms and suites, seven meeting and events facilities, a fitness center, and a range of bar and restaurant facilities. The Morrison Hotel is part of Hilton Worldwide’s Curio Collection brand.

SIA-led real estate firm DoubleDragon Corp said its hotel subsidiary received the ticker symbol HBNB on the US Nasdaq market. Hotel101 Global Pte Ltd will be the first Filipino company to list via SPAC on Nasdaq. It is a bit backwards, getting a Nasdaq symbol while saying they will sign the definitive SPAC business combination with its chosen SPAC sponsor by March, particularly since the past year has seen more SPAC deals blow up than be completed. Hotel101 is a Philippines-based condotel chain who said they want to battle Airbnb’sunregulated hotels. They believe the US listing will help them raise money to support their ambitious plans to build 500,000 hotel rooms in 101 countries by 2024. The company said they are still finalizing the amount of proceeds to be raised.