North America Guest Satisfaction Rankings Are In

The DJIA surged 743 points, while Nasdaq was up 37, the S&P 500 was up 36 points, and the 10-year treasury yield fell .06 to 4.17%. Lodging stocks were higher, mostly across the board. New highs were set by HLT, H and TNL, with the latter up 6% on the day. SOHO rose 5%.

CBRE released its U.S. Hotels State of the Union July 2024 Edition. According to CBRE, 2024 GDP growth was positively revised on expected strength in Q2. Employment growth slowed to 0.2% while wage growth remained roughly 4%, around 80 bps higher than inflation. CMBS borrowing rates contracted to 7.4% for the first time in 3 months. May RevPAR increased by 3.3%, owing to a 2.4% increase in ADR and 0.9% growth in occupancy. The majority of markets experienced RevPAR expansion growth in May, with only 26% of markets experiencing a decline. Adjusting for Easter, total revenues grew 1.4% in March/April combined. Short-term rentals showed 13% demand growth in May. Outbound international travel increased to 118% of 2019’s level in May, while inbound lagged at 86%. TSA throughput increased 6.3% year-over-year in June.

According to the J.D. Power 2024 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, luxury and upper upscale segments show strong guest satisfaction scores, while limited-service hotel segments have experienced declines in guest satisfaction year-over-year. Additional key findings of the 2024 study include fewer trips, longer stays, and investment in staff, service and facilities is critical. The following hotel brands rank highest in guest satisfaction in their respective segment: Luxury: The Luxury Collection (772) Upper Upscale: Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts (726) Upscale: element (707) Upscale Extended Stay: Hyatt House (696) Upper Midscale: Drury Hotels (744) Upper Midscale/Midscale Extended Stay: Home2 Suites by Hilton (695) Midscale: Tru by Hilton (688) Economy: Microtel by Wyndham (618) and Economy Extended Stay: WoodSpring Suites (603).

Coury Holdings has launched Concert Hospitality, a new hospitality management company for full- and select-service hotels from companies including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and more. Concert Hospitality will operate independently alongside Coury Hospitality and is led by industry veteran Chris Charbonnet as Regional V.P., Operations. Concert Hospitality’s portfolio will start with four hotels across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Los Angeles and Columbus, OH. Marriott Dallas/Fort Worth Westlake is one of the properties.

InnVentures, a division of Highgate, announced the addition of two hotels to its portfolio. InnVentures will assume management of the Embassy Suites Portland Washington Square, Oregon and Embassy Suites Seattle Bellevue, Washington. The hotels represent 596 keys, the company’s third and fourth Embassy Suites under management, and bring the total number of properties managed by InnVentures to 85.

The Four Queens Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada announced it is spending $24 million to completely gut and modernize the 300 rooms in its North Tower. The renovations started in June and the goal is to get them completed within 12 to 15 months.

The Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada started the initial redevelopment phase of the 539-room hotel and 25,000 square foot casino. One of the resort’s two towers has been taken offline so the improvements can be made, and the first floor of renovated rooms is expected to be available by October. The renovations are slated to be completed by 2025. The resort, previously Hard Rock Lake Tahoe, is owned by Fertitta Entertainment.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of a new-build Holiday Inn Express in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Owned by Triple Son Holdings, LLC and managed by Gary Hotels, the Holiday Inn Express Thibodaux offers 85 guestrooms, 915 square feet of meeting space, an outdoor saltwater pool and a fitness center.

The Great Wolf Lodge resort in Naples, Florida is looking to open on September 25, 2024. The 20-acre resort includes 500 suites, multiple eateries, several family-friendly attractions including the 100,000 square foot indoor water park and a 61,000 square foot adventure park.

The Perry Hotel Naples, a 160-room hotel located in North Naples, Florida, is slated to open this fall as the second location for the boutique hotel brand. The $80 million project is a new build featuring seven floors, a ground-floor pool and adjacent activity lawn, a poolside tapas eatery, a lobby coffee bar, a fitness center, and an open-air deck featuring a rooftop pool, poolside bar and restaurant.

Inspired Communities of Florida is looking to execute its long-held lease option on a parcel at Community Maritime Park in Pensacola to build a new $150 million apartment and hotel complex across the street from Blue Wahoos Stadium. Inspired Communities of Florida is partnering with EJ Smith Enterprises to build a 240- to 280-unit apartment building and a 125- to 150-key hotel building. Both buildings would be built on parking deck podiums of at least three stories, and they would be connected with a third-floor breeze-way that would also host retail or restaurant options.

Paramount Lodging Advisors announced the sale of the DoubleTree Jersey City in New Jersey. PLA transacted the 198-room asset through a receiver sale. The buyer purchased the property with an assumption of the existing CMBS debt. PLA is now also marketing the Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Weehawken in Weehawken, New Jersey. This property is also being marketed through a receiver sale.

JLL Capital Markets secured $43.8 million in bridge financing for the Courtyard by Marriott San Jose Campbell, located in the heart of Silicon Valley. JLL represented the borrower, an affiliate of Huntington Hotel Group, in securing a floating rate loan through Prime Finance with a term of up to five years, including extensions. The Courtyard San Jose Campbell offers 162 guestrooms, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, a bar and restaurant and ample meeting space.

Personnel Moves

Hotel Equities announced promotions within its Business Development and Talent Development disciplines. Jack Meakin has been promoted to Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Meakin will be responsible for identifying new opportunities for growth, enhancing owner relations, and delivering recommendations to enhance speed to market. Meakin started with HE in 2018 as part of the company’s Manager in Training program. Alex Stevens has been promoted to Director of Talent Development. Stevens joined HE in 2013 and was, most recently, a Talent Development Manager. In this newly expanded role, Stevens now serves as a department head with international responsibility. Brody Aarhaus has been promoted to Regional Director of Business Development for the Southeast U.S. region. Aarhaus joined the Business Development team in 2022 from HE’s MIT program. Aarhaus will work to identify new business opportunities, foster partnerships, and expand HE’s market presence in the Southeast.

HotelPlanner appointed Santiago Vazquez Martinez to the newly created role of Chief Investment Officer. Martinez will oversee the company’s global investment strategy and portfolio and related initiatives to accelerate growth and profitability.

International Highlights

The Stanley Hotel, in Papua New Guinea, announced their rebranding from the Stanley Hotel and Suites to the Sheraton Port Moresby Stanley Hotel and Suites. The announcement came following the official agreement signing between Rimbunan Hijau Group owned, Stanley Hotel, and Marriott International Inc.Going forward, the hotel will be managed by Marriott International with the ownership remaining with Rimbunan Hijau Group.