Waldorf-Astoria to Open Residences in Colorado

The DJIA ended Friday down 260, but Nasdaq was up 103, the S&P 500 was down 2 points, and the 10-year treasury yield was up .03 to 4.23%. Lodging stocks were mixed, with WH trading up to another all-time high and SOND down another -9%.

Ashford Hospitality Trust announced it had completed another reverse stock split, this time at a ratio of 1-for-10. The common stock will continue to trade under the AHT symbol.

The Singer Oceanfront Resort, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, celebrated its grand opening on the south end of Singer Island in Florida. The resort boasts 223 guestrooms and suites, two exceptional dining venues, a market, and over 10,000 square feet of function space.

Developer PMG and Hilton announced the Waldorf Astoria Residences Denver Cherry Creek development, marking the first time the Waldorf Astoria brand has entered the Colorado market. The luxury condominium consists of 37 residences and offers a lounge, a rooftop pool with bar and lounge areas, a wellness center, a fitness studio, and a signature restaurant. Hilton Management Services will oversee the facilities.

Hall Group announced the first Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel is now open and accepting reservations in Frisco, Texas. The 14-story Hall Park Hotel offers 224 guestrooms, two ballrooms, a fitness center, a rooftop pool, an outdoor event space, and a restaurant, which is set to open beginning November 1.

The Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission voted to approve plans for a Tempo by Hilton hotel on W. Third Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The hotel will offer 141 guestrooms with restaurants, bars, meeting rooms, and other amenities. At the top of the hotel's 96-foot tall tower, the plans call for a rooftop bar and small-scale restaurant.

Developer Satya Inc. plans to break ground on the St Regis Resort Residences in Houston, Texas. The 37-story branded condo tower will include 93 units and over 40,000 square feet of amenities. It will be managed by Marriott International. According to hotelprojectleads.com, construction will begin in mid-2025 and take 30 months to complete.

In New York, the first two hotels of the Onondaga County Hotel Initiative have been announced by County Executive Ryan McMahon. One hotel will be in Salina on Elwood Davis Road and the other is in DeWitt on Collamer Road. In a year's time, the city of Syracuse has lost nearly 600 hotel rooms. Now, with this new program, Onondaga County will be gaining 200 of those rooms back over the next couple of years.

A historic mansion in the north Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, was renovated and is now open as a hotel and bar. Urban Cowboy told FOX31 that GBX Group offered them the property in Denver to renovate and convert it into a hotel, as they did in Nashville. The building is about 20,000 square feet. They added 22 bathrooms, renovated 16 rooms, added hand-pressed custom wood block wallpaper and hand-picked decorations from all over the country. Each room is equipped with a hand-hammered copper bathtub and no TV. Toward the back of the property is a building that used to serve as a carriage house. Urban Cowboy converted it into the Public House bar, which opened earlier this month.

Colorado's famous Stanley Hotel will experience some big changes after the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority approved documents to issue bonds to fund the purchase of the property. The bonds will be managed by SPACE, LLC (a subsidiary of CECFA), who will assume ownership of the property when the bonds are retired, according to a release from CECFA. It is expected that the $425 million issued in bonds will be used to pay an existing debt for the Stanley Hotel, purchase the property and expand and renovate buildings while adding several new areas. Not ready to step away yet, the current owner, John Cullen, alongside RevPAR International and Sage Hospitality, will be brought in by SPACE, LLC to manage the property. The hotel will be undergoing renovations to its main structure which will include updates on current rooms, a restaurant and the addition of more guestrooms.

HREC Investment Advisors and Ten-X Commercial Auction arranged the sale of the Courtyard Mobile located in Mobile, Alabama. Ten-X Commercial Auction facilitated the sale. The 78-guestroom property was acquired by a private buyer. HREC Investment Advisors exclusively represented the seller on this transaction.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced the grand opening of Hyatt Centric Santo Domingo, marking the debut of the Hyatt Centric brand in the Caribbean. The property features 130 modern guestrooms and suites, four distinct dining venues, versatile event spaces with 12,976 square feet of flexible meeting and event areas, a rooftop pool and a fitness center.

Personnel Move

VERANO Hotels & Resorts announced the appointment of Pierre-Alex Maillard as Area General Manager. Pierre-Alex will lead the team at VERANO San Juan, which is the first of three new luxury lifestyle hotels slated for Puerto Rico by VERANO. Pierre-Alex brings twenty years of leadership in delivering exceptional guest experiences and driving operational success. His most recent role was general manager of Hyde Midtown Miami.

Europe Highlights

UK hotel investments have skyrocketed, with transaction volumes reaching £4.7 billion in Q3 2024, marking an impressive 181% increase from the same period in 2023. According to Cushman and Wakefield, this momentum is expected to continue, will full-year 2024 deal volumes predicted to surpass £5 billion. Most of the Q3 deals were single-asset transactions in London, representing 51% of the total deals. Edinburgh and other UK regions also contributed to this growth. Investor confidence remains high, buoyed by continued demand growth and deal activity projections. Forecasts suggest a RevPAR growth of 4.5% in London and 5.1% UK-wide over the next 12 months. The outlook for the rest of the year remains strong. The anticipation of more quality stock on the market, declining interest rates, and improving clarity in pricing is expected to fuel momentum into 2025.

According to a recent Deloitte survey of industry executives, the UK hotel industry is gearing up for a potentially mixed year ahead in 2025. Top priorities include managing cash flow, improving performance, and dealing with inflationary pressures. Despite these challenges, growth through acquisitions is expected to accelerate, and demand for hotels remains healthy, indicating a positive outlook for investors. Investment in the UK hotel market is expected to grow, with 59% of respondents believing it will increase significantly over the next five years. Edinburgh and Oxford remain the most attractive cities for hotel investment, while co-living is gaining traction as an attractive asset class. Despite economic uncertainty, most respondents expect growth in RevPAR and GOPPAR in London and the UK regions.

Pygmalion and CBRE IM have put nine Silken hotels across Spain on the market. Following a repositioning program, the hotels - Al Andalus Palace in Seville, Amara Plaza in San Sebastian, Indautxu in Bilbao, Juan de Austria in Valladolid, Puerta Madrid in Madrid, Alfonso X in Ciudad Real, Coliseum in Santander, Rio in Santander and Atlantida in Tenerife - have now been put up for sale.

The full-scale renovation of Budapest's historic Hotel Gellert has officially begun, aiming to restore the building's former glory. Owned by BDPST Group, the Hotel Geller is undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment, adhering to strict heritage preservation guidelines. The goal is to reopen this as a landmark in Budapest, marking it as the first Hungarian property managed by Mandarin Oriental. The refurbished hotel is expected to feature 134 guestrooms, including 34 suites. Key interior spaces like the lobby, the Danube room, and the Gobelin room will be restored to their original grandeur based on archival photos and plans.