The DJIA was up 0.61%, Nasdaq was up 1.5%, and the S&P 500 notched its 17th record close of the year while the 10-year Treasury yield ended at 4.154%, its largest one-day gain in a month. Wyndham was up 5.8% over where it was on Monday before Choice Hotels gave up on its merger bid for it. CHH is up 4% since the announcement.
Baird hosted a group investor meeting last week with Hyatt’s management team. While they maintained their Neutral rating following the meeting, Baird raised their price target to $160 from $150. Reading through the report, one would be surprised there would be a Neutral rating rather than a Buy since the report was very positive about the meetings and what was discussed.
Rosewood Hotel Group continues to expand its global footprint and evolve its four brands: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, New World Hotels & Resorts, Asaya, and Carlyle & Co.; and residential business, Rosewood Residences. Following a monumental 2023, 2024 promises to deliver new deal signings, property openings and enriching experiences in the world’s most inspiring destinations. Rosewood Hotel Group’s combined portfolio now consists of 48 hotels, resorts, and residences across 23 countries. 2024 will see the opening of Rosewood Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Rosewood Schloss Fuschl in Austria, followed in 2025 by new properties in Greece, Venice, Milan, Rome and a second London hotel, The Chancery Rosewood. Building upon its current presence in Abu Dhabi and Jeddah, Rosewood Doha will open its doors in Qatar this year. In the Middle East, future growth is focused on Saudi Arabia with three new hotels set to debut in the coming years: Rosewood Diriyah in 2025, alongside the future openings Rosewood Red Sea and Rosewood Amaala. The pipeline for Rosewood Hotel Group also continues to grow in Asia Pacific, and in 2024 will see the opening of Rosewood Miyakojima, marking Rosewood’sentry into Japan. New World Chongqing Hotel in China will also debut in the foreseeable future. Looking further ahead, future openings in China include Rosewood Shenzhen, Rosewood Hangzhou, Rosewood Shanghai, Rosewood Chongqing, Rosewood Ningbo, and Rosewood Xi’An. In the greater AP region, anticipated destinations include Rosewood Hoi An, Rosewood Seoul and Rosewood Ranfaru in the Maldives.
In the Americas, development stretches across the U.S., Mexico, and The Caribbean. 2025 will add Rosewood Mexico City and Rosewood Mandarina to the growing portfolio of properties in Mexico. Rosewood The Raleigh in Miami Beach will include 44 Rosewood Residences. Also consisting of both a resort and residential experience will be Rosewood Barbuda, opening in 2028. Rosewood Residences currently consists of 14 properties across ten countries. A pipeline of six standalone residential properties includes Rosewood Residences Hillsboro Beach in Florida, Rosewood Residences Turtle Creekin Dallas, Texas, Rosewood Residences Naples and Rosewood Residences Lido Key, both in Florida; Rosewood Residences Kamala in Phuket, and Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills in California, slated to open this year.
Alongside these standalone properties in the pipeline are four Rosewood Residences that will be co-located within a hotel or resort property, including Rosewood Residences Mandarina, Rosewood Residences Miami Beach, Rosewood Residences Doha, and Rosewood Residences Barbuda. Asayawill flourish in 2024 with new launches and unique experiences. Today there are 19 Asayas in the pipeline at both future and existing Rosewood properties. In the coming year, seven will debut. All four Rosewood Hotels & Resorts’ new 2024 openings: Rosewood Doha, Rosewood Miyakohjima, Rosewood Schloss Fuschl, and Rosewood Amsterdam, will feature Asaya, marking the brand’s entry to The Middle East and Japan and double its count in Europe. In 2023, Rosewood further strengthened its retail proposition through an exclusive partnership with The Webster, a luxury multi-brand retailer offering fashion, accessories, beauty and homeware. In celebration of the 2023 festive season, the partnership further included a retail edit to shop online. This will be expanded upon in 2024, with Rosewood looking to launch unique product collaborations with leading brands across the categories of fashion, wellness, home design and more.
AC Hotels by Marriott opened its newest property, bringing the signature AC Hotel experience to Florida’s First Coast. AC Hotel by Marriott Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center is developed by OTO Development in partnership with Simon. The four-story hotel comprises 118 modern guestrooms; a fitness center; 1,500 square feet of flexible meeting space, including a private boardroom; an activated AC Lounge; and an outdoor oasis with a patio, pool and game space.
Aqua-Aston Hospitality announced the opening of 83-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Tempe and 65-room TownePlace Suites Tempe, two brands under one roof in Tempe, Arizona. Led by EKN Development, the four-story property shares common spaces including a restaurant and bar, outdoor pool and hot tub and a fitness center.
Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. closed on the sale of the 144-room Residence Inn located in Salt Lake City, Utah. All of the proceeds from the sale were used to pay down debt.
A new 6-story hotel is set to join the row of hotels on Haywood Street and Carter Street in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The new Courtyard by Marriott, with 115 rooms, a restaurant and bar and an underground parking area, received approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
A developer is rethinking plans for a luxury hotel and convention center in East Naples, Florida after facing neighborhood opposition. Columbia Sussex proposed a 400,000 square foot Marriott hotel with 438 rooms, on a 4.25-acre site. As originally proposed, the destination hotel would have included a parking garage, spa and fitness center, restaurant and bar, shops, meeting rooms and auditoriums. In its application for a commercial planned unit developed, Columbia Sussex sought approval for a zoned height of 124 feet, and an actual height of 136 feet. The commercial zoning of C-4 on the property allows for a zoned height of 75 feet. However, the site is located in the Bayshore Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment are where height is restricted to 56 feet. The average height of about a dozen adjacent buildings is 19.5 feet.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced an update on the anticipated renovation of The Confidante Miami Beach and its complete transformation into the new Andaz Miami Beach, which is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2024. The new hotel, which is owned by Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc., will feature two reconceptualized pools and outdoor recreation experiences, an exhilarating spa, inspiring guestrooms and suites and three new distinct dining experiences. The property will boast 25,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space from ballrooms to a pool equipped with technology that converts the space to a hard surface for gathering and activations within minutes. As part of the hotel’s transformation, the iconic oceanfront property will temporarily suspend operations starting March 25, 2024, through the completion of the renovation.
Soul Community Planet Hotels announced the opening of the Laguna Surf Lodge by SCP, a classic beachfront experience located in the heart of Laguna Beach, California. The newly reimagined, 41-room eco-surf lodge offers a range of water sports, a serene garden pool, sun deck, courtyard, outdoor lawn, and oceanfront fire pits and seating. Also located in Laguna Beach is SCP Seven4One, an eco-contemporary boutique hotel equipped with 12 rooms and suites, just a minute’s walk away from Laguna Surf Lodge.
Red Roof announced the opening of the Red Roof Inn Haltom City, Texas. The 70-room hotel features a coin laundry, seasonal outdoor pool and a snack center. Owner SYB Hospitality LLC completed a number of renovations to the property including enhancing the entry façade, updating guestroom bathrooms and adding new bedding, guestroom furniture, lobby furniture and ice and vending machines.
Nickelodeon is gearing up to re-enter the Orlando space in 2026. The new hotel would be coming to Everest Place, a new luxury community being built in Orlando, Florida that will be filled with hotels, residences, shopping, dining, nightlife, medical centers and more. The concept plan and renderings of the Nickelodeon hotel include a pool area featuring a splash pad, swimming pool, and deck equipped with cabanas; a lazy river, an amphitheater, an aqua bites café, and of course, Nickelodeon’s famous Slimunator.
In York, Maine, the finishing touches are being put on the Nevada Motel as owner Joe Lipton, prepares for its June reopening. Lipton’s Crane Grouppurchased the motel for $1.6 million to revitalize it. The motel originally had two stories, and Lipton is now building a third. He is also reducing the number of units, making each room more spacious. The work also includes a new elevator shaft.
For the first time in almost half a century, the historic Sleeping Bear Inn within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in Glen Haven, Michigan, is once again opening its doors. The 19th-century inn recently underwent extensive restoration work and is reopening this summer as an eight-room bed-and-breakfast lodge. The inn is now accepting guest reservations for stays beginning July 28, 2024, through April 28, 2025. The non-profit Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation oversaw the restoration and will be operating the inn on a 40-year lease from the National Park Service.
Steven Ellingsen is pleased to announce the launch of a distinct, full-service, multiple-brand approved hotel and asset management company in which he serves as president and founder, Somnium Hospitality Group. The venture, comprised of a diverse collection of branded hotels, full-service resorts, golf experiences, and boutique properties, is committed to providing a forward-thinking platform, transcending the conventional hotel management model. The present collection of Somnium-managed and asset-managed hotels and resortsincludes Chicago Oak Brook Hills Resort and Conference Center; Holiday Inn Fairborn, Ohio; Homewood Suites Fairborn, Ohio; Moxy Portland; Pali Hotel Seattle; Pali Hotel San Francisco; and Pali Hotel Santa Monica.
Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. closed on a property-level mortgage financing for the 96-room Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach in Dorado, Puerto Rico. The $62 million non-recourse loan has a two-year term. The loan is interest only and provides for a floating interest rate of SOFR +4.75%.
CIM Group announced that its CIM Real Estate Debt Solutions business closed an $18.3 million loan on behalf of a CIM-managed fund to PEG Companies for the acquisition of the Residence Inn Salt Lake City Cottonwood. PEG Companies plans to transition operations to their in-house hotel management platform and execute a next-buyer PIP addressing guestrooms and common areas. The two-building, three-story property provides 144 guestrooms, an indoor pool, fitness center, meeting space and parking.
JLL has regained its ranking as the leading hotel investment advisory firm globally for 2023, as based on total investment volumes in the asset class. Data analyzed and published by MSCI Real Capital Analytics has confirmed that JLLadvised on $7.7 billion in transactions, representing a global market share of 25% of all hotel investment deals. In the Americas, the largest hotel investment geography globally, JLL advised on approximately $3.0 billion, capturing a market share of 19% for 2023. In EMEA, the firm closed $2.7 billion in transactions, or 30% of the market. In APAC, JLL’s 35% market share equated to $2.0 billion in hotel investment transactions.
Personnel Moves
Aqua-Aston Hospitality appointed Andrea Mue its new Managing Director. Mue succeeds Denis Ebrill, who recently retired. Mue leads a specialized team of strategic operations and commercial specialists to support Aqua-Aston’s diverse business model. Before joining Aqua-Aston, Mue served as EVP and CFO at The Chartres Lodging Group and Kokua Hospitality.
Vail Resorts, Inc. has expanded its board of directors with the appointment of Reggie Chambers. Chambers brings a wealth of experience from his current role as executive vice president and chief transformation officer at TIAA, and previous positions with JP Morgan Chase, including CFO for the commercial banking division. Chambers is now the twelfth member of the Vail Resorts board.
Mint House announced the appointment of Judy Turchin as Independent Director to its executive board. Judy, former Equinox Chief Operating Officer, brings more than two decades of real estate and operations knowledge to propel Mint House’s vision forward and complement its accomplished executive board. Consisting of seven members, Mint House’s Board of Directors brings together a wealth of hospitality, real estate, operations, and investing expertise.
