The DJIA fell 98 points, Nasdaq was down 67, the S&P 500 fell 6 points, the 10 year treasury yield was up .04 to 4.22% and lodging stocks were hit with some profit taking. Before that happened, new highs were set by PK, RLJ, H, HST and ABNB but CHH and SVC both fell to new lows. SOND was up 15% at the close but that was the extent of the real good news. VCSA fell -15%, AINC gave back -14% and AHT was down -9%.
B.Riley downgraded Xenia Hotels to Neutral from Buy, while raising their price target to $17 from $16. B.Riley also cut their price target on Service Properties Trust to $10 from $12 while maintaining their Buy rating.
Travel + Leisure Co. has closed the acquisition of the vacation ownership business of Accor. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Travel + Leisure Co. earnings. The deal means the Accor Vacation Club will now be integrated into the Travel + Leisure Co. business structure. The company has assumed responsibility for the development and marketing of Accor Vacation Club, along with the servicing of nearly 30,000 club members and management of 24 club resorts in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. The acquisition increases the international portfolio of Travel + Leisure Co., outside North America, to more than 100,000 members and its club resort count to 77. As part of the agreement, Travel + Leisure Co. has the ability to develop new vacation ownership clubs and products utilizing the Accor Vacation Club brand across a region including Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Turkiye. Current Accor Vacation Club CEO Craig Wood will stay on and oversee day-to-day operations of that business and will report to Barry Robinson as part of the Travel + Leisure Co. structure.
Tharaldson Hospitality Management announced the grand opening of its newest property, the TownePlace Suites Pleasanton, marking the company’s 87th hotel in operation. Conveniently located in Pleasanton, California, the 110-room hotel offers versatile meeting spaces and a fitness center.
JCI Contractors, in collaboration with the SPIRE Institute and Marriott, has unveiled the 88-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott Geneva at SPIRE, in Geneva, Ohio.
Desert Hospitality Management announced a new strategic partnership with Embassy Suites by Hilton Oklahoma City Downtown/Medical Center, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Marcus Hotels & Resorts, Hempel Real Estate, and Robinson Park have closed on the acquisition of the Loews Minneapolis Hotel. The property will be managed by Marcus Hotels & Resorts and will be rebranded immediately as The Lofton Hotel under the Tapestry Collection by Hilton flag, making it the first Tapestry Collection hotel in Minnesota. The full-service lifestyle hotel features 251 guestrooms and suites, more than 15,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, a restaurant, bar and lounge and a fitness center.
The trendy Santa Barbara Funk Zone, in Santa Barbara, California, may see land owned by the Wright Family H. Limited Partnership, become a new 250-room hotel. In addition to the hotel there would be six affordable housing units. Amenities would include a library, bar, lounge, market, media salon, meeting rooms, living room, breakfast area, outdoor seating areas, with courtyard, pool and spa, fitness room and a 7,500 square foot roof deck.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, together with Rio Hotel & Casino, announced that World of Hyatt members can now earn and redeem points for stays at the Hyatt-affiliated hotel, which is in the midst of a multi-phased, $340 million transformation. Phase one of the hotel’s two-phase renovation is expected to be completed in fall 2024, when the re-imagined all-suite hotel will move into Hyatt’s Independent Collection under the Destination by Hyatt brand. Rio Hotel & Casino, which is owned and operated by Dreamscape, marks the first Destination by Hyatt hotel in Nevada and the third Hyatt hotel in the Las Vegasarea. Phase one renovations began in 2023 and are near completion with extensive upgrades and enhancements to the 1,501-room Ipanema tower, arrival area, building exterior, lobby, gaming floor, sports book, multiple food and beverage outlets, meeting spaces and outdoor pool area. Phase two will include a full renovation and redesign of the hotel’s 1,012 Masquerade Tower guestrooms and associated public areas. The hotel will meet the demand of Las Vegas’burgeoning meetings and events business with more than 220,000 square feet of renovation function space and state-of-the-art meeting facilities.
IHG Hotels & Resorts, in conjunction with owner Ridgeland Lodging LLC, announced the recent opening of a Holiday Inn Express in the Jackson, Mississippi suburb of Ridgeland. The newly built Holiday Inn Express Jackson – Ridgeland features 108 guestrooms, 700 square feet of meeting space, a business center, heated outdoor pool and a fitness center.
Pinnacle Hospitality Group announced the summer grand opening of a Cambria Hotel in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The four-story, 114-room hotel will offer a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, poolside cabanas, a tiki bar, firepits, 3,800 square feet of meeting and event space, and an onsite restaurant and bar.
There are two new resorts opening, in the Wildwoods in New Jersey, ahead of the 2024 Summer Season . The property opening first will be Madison Resort Wildwood Crest, with two properties being combined. Madison Resorts first acquired Oceanview Motel in 2022 and Royal Hawaiian in 2023. The two properties have been undergoing multi-million dollar renovations with the projected grand opening for Madison Resort in Wildwood Crest on May 1st.
The combined resort property will feature 200 hotel rooms, three restaurants, two pools, two fitness centers and rooftop event spaces. The former properties are being renamed Royal Tower (formerly Royal Hawaiian) and Ocean Tower (formerly Oceanview Motel). The second resort property opening this summer with The Vibes Hotel in Wildwood. Similar to the Madison Resort project, The Vibes will be combining two older properties, the Binns Motor Inn and the Bonito Motel.
Hotel Penticton, in Penticton, BC, Canada, is poised to undergo a significant transformation with plans to add three floors and 52 rooms to its current structure. The ambitious expansion aims to more than double the hotel’s capacity, bringing its total room count to 87. The expansion plan also includes the installation of 13 electric vehicle charges and the provision of several bicycle parking spaces.
B&B Hotels is venturing into the U.S. hospitality market with its first property set to open in Orlando, near Universal Studios. The chosen location on International Drive, a takeover of the Floridian Express motel, signifies the ambitious plans of B&B Hotels to replicate their European success in the U.S. market. With the 218-room property undergoing a comprehensive renovation to align with the brand’s standards, B&B Hotels’ vision for the brand is not limited to Florida; the company aims to become a leading player in the U.S. hospitality sector, with ambitious plans to reach 3,000 hotels globally within the next decade.
The Capital Hotel, in Little Rock, Arkansas, will temporarily close while the hotel starts renovations. The hotel, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, announced it will close on May 7 and reopen to the public on May 27. The restaurants are also set to close and reopen on May 27th also.
A new boutique hotel has officially opened in Georgetown, South Carolina. The George offers 56 rooms and a restaurant, and also provides guests with direct access by boat.
Owl’s Nest Resort has completed construction of its newest lodging property, and only hotel, the Lafayette Lodge. The 33-room boutique hotel is modern in design, in keeping with the resort’s brand and style. Owls’ Nest Resort, located in Thornton, New Hampshire, offers modern rental homes, a restaurant, lake, a golf course, 25-court racquet complex, heated outdoor pool & deck and a 25 person hot tub at Owl’s Next Boat House. They also offer long term rentals and rent-to-own opportunities in their brand new South Lake Townhomes. New amenities coming to the resort in the near future include new rental homes, additional event space, several new restaurants, a new golf course, pool & gym complex, and new homes for sale.
The historic Fairmont Breakers Hotel in Long Beach, California has received $122 million in refinancing for the refurbishment and reopening of the property. X-Caliber Funding and its affiliate, CastleGreen Finance, provided the loan. Roughly $64.5 million of that financing are bridge loans, secured by a first mortgage and historic tax credits, while the rest comes from C-PACE financing.
The renovated Breakers Hotel, which has been rebranded under the Fairmontbrand, features 185 guestrooms, a rooftop pool, several restaurants and a transformation of the hotel’s sky room. The 15-story property is expected to reopen this spring.
The Hotel Mousai in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, has made headlines again as it unveils its second tower, with a third in the pipeline, and announces plans to extend its luxury brand to Cancun. The new South Tower offers 72 new rooms equipped with individual plunge pools and new amenities including an infinity pool and a new restaurant. Guests at Hotel Mousai have the privilege of accessing facilities across both towers and the sister resort, Garza Blanca. The new tower promises more dining options and an expansive spa, while the Cancun venture is poised to introduce Hotel Mousai’s signature luxury to Mexico’s Caribbean coast.
Later this year, Hilton will be opening its first-ever hotel on the Atlantic island of Bermuda. The new Bermudiana Beach Resort is targeting a November 2024 launch and will be part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton portfolio. It’s a re-imagining of the former Grand Atlantic property in Bermuda with plans for around 120 rooms or so, a pool, fitness center, and an onsite eatery.
Europe Highlights
CITY Developments Ltd is close to sealing a deal to buy the Hilton Paris Opera hotel from Blackstone for 244 million euros. The group is currently engaged in discussions on the potential acquisition of the 268-key hotel, according to The Business Times. If the deal is completed, this will be the third hotel CDL has acquired in Paris.
A cash-strapped council is preparing to buy an unfinished hotel in order to recoup the money it has already put into it. In 2017, Peterborough City Council loaned Propiteer Hotels £15m to build the Hilton Garden Inn in Peterborough, England. Work stalled in 2020 and the council brought in administrators to look at the hotel’s developers in 2023. It may need to invest further in the hotel’s completion and has already earmarked an extra £10m for this.
