Design Hotels Announces 10% Global Portfolio Growth

Sunstone Hotel Investors reported a 3Q miss with guidance also reduced thanks to the labor strikes. Maui continues to be a drag on results as well while SHO said the reopening and rebranding of the Andaz Miami Beach will be pushed to February with an increase in the renovation budget to $95 million. SHO bought back 2.3 million shares in 3Q for $22.8 million.

Oppenheimer upped price targets on RLJ Lodging Trust and Wyndham while keeping their Outperform ratings on both. RLJ’s PT went to $12 from $11, while Oppenheimer boosted WH’s target to $115 from $90.

Mizuho upped their price target on Marriott Vacations to $117 from $110 while lowering their Hilton Grand Vacations target to $55 from $57. They maintained Outperform ratings on both.

Design Hotels announced 29 signed agreements and 10% growth of its global portfolio within the last 12 months. With significant new hotel signings, Design Hotels strengthens its work with Firmdale Hotels and Grupo Habita and introduces new agreements with Drift Hotels and ASH, including The Warren Street Hotel, Firmdale’s 69-key property in Tribeca, New York, opening in February 2024. ASHcreates cinematic experiences at each of its hotels. Properties joining the Design Hotels portfolio include Ulysses, Baltimore, and The Dean, Providence. Thanks to owner Philip Bate’s vision, Drift Hotels boasts stunning boutique hotels in San Jose del Cabo, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, and Nashville, all now part of Design Hotels. Drift Nashville, which opened in July of this year, features 104 rooms and suites and three food and beverage outlets. The signings of the coveted Hotel 850 SVB in West Hollywood, imagined by hotelier and restaurateur Jeff Klein, and the upcoming Granger Hotel Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, anticipated to open this year, will bring Design Hotels’ portfolio to 14 in California, including the new additions of Drift Santa Barbara and Palm Springs. With these new signings, Design Hotels will boast 26 hotels in its open portfolio and signed pipeline across Mexico. Design Hotels signed the forthcoming Tinte Hotel, expected to open in 2025 in the south of the Yucatan Peninsula. Hotel Sevilla, a restored colonial villa in the city center of Merida, and Hotel Humano, a boutique hotel in Puerto Escondido, are expected to join Design Hotels, both part of Grupo Habita and poised to open in 2025. Design Hotels will add three hotels in Switzerland, bringing the brand’s portfolio to 15 hotels in the country; welcome its fifth hotel in Georgia; and introduce hidden gems in Istanbul, Singapore, and Bali, including The Home Hotel Zurich, which opened this August with 132 rooms and suites, lobby and lounge, bistro and collaborations. Poised to open by the end of this year, Hotel Borsari will feature 51 rooms and suites and a subterranean Roman bathhouse. Rooms Batumi Hotel marks Design Hotels’ fifth hotel in Georgia and its first in the resort destination on the Black Sea. The hotel features nearly 120 rooms and suites, a rooftop pool, a cocktail bar, and a restaurant.

NexGen Hotels announced the acquisition of The Maritime Hotel Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruiseport. The boutique hotel will undergo renovation and be rebranded as the Moor Hotel at Marina Bay, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel. The hotel is expected to be fully converted by Q3 of 2025. The 150-room hotel is nestled in the 25-acre Marina Bay Resort.

Dimension Hospitality announced the 79-room Fairfield Inn and Suites - Bay City Texas has joined the company’s growing portfolio of managed hotels.

Vision Hospitality Group has opened the Element Atlanta Perimeter Center at Campus 244. The 145-room eco-focused hotel offers modern wellness amenities, including a bar and a leased full-service restaurant.

Brick Hospitality announced the addition of the Hampton Inn San Marcos to its portfolio, marking a significant step in Brick Hospitality’s continued expansion within Southern California.

The Omni Grove Park Inn, located in Asheville, North Carolina, is set to reopen the doors to its historic Main Inn on November 15, following Hurricane Helene. While the recently refreshed Main Inn is ready to welcome guests alongside its world-class Spa, which reopened on November 8, the full property’s reopening is still in progress. The 513-room resort features four signature restaurants, a historic 18-hole golf course, and a Sports Complex with indoor and outdoor tennis courts. The Omni Grove Park Inn is well suited for meetings, weddings, and events, with 26 meeting rooms and two ballrooms totaling over 58,000 square feet, including the Skyline Room and Mountain View Terrace.

A 55-room hotel is proposed in the vacant historic Oddfellows Hall building on 95 South Main Street in New Hampshire. According to the Portsmouth Herald, Cardinal Development presented the conceptual plan to the city Planning Board on behalf of New England Hospitality and Choice Hotels, a New Hampshire-based parent company that would operate the hotel.

A new Hampton Inn & Suites will be built on Highway 17 in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. According to WMBF News, the hotel plans include 145 rooms, an indoor pool, and conference space. The hotel is scheduled to have a groundbreaking in the spring of 2025 and open before the 2027 summer season.

Skyridge Glamping, a one-of-a-kind luxury glamping resort set in the Canmore Kananaskis region in Alberta, is opening in January 2025. The year-round resort is located near some of the region’s most sought-after attractions such as The Kananaskis Nordic Spa and The Stewart Creek Golf Course.

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. entered into a 90-day forbearance period for its Morgan Stanley Pool loan secured by 17 hotels. The loan had a final maturity date of November 9, 2024. The Company is in active discussions with the lender regarding a multi-year extension of the loan and expects to have that finalized during the 90-day period.

Personnel Moves

Patricia Costa is returning to the Accor Group as the new Sales and Marketing Director for the Luxe RJ Cluster. She will also lead the groups and events team. Costa’s focus will be on driving revenue growth and executing strategic sales initiatives across the Luxe RJ Cluster, which includes the Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana, Santa Teresa MGallery Rio de Janeiro, the upcoming Sofitel Ipanema, and the beach clubs Tropik and Sel d’Ipanema.

Newbond Holdings announced the recent hire of Jackson Rice as a Senior Analyst on the asset management team. His responsibilities include investor reporting, financial modeling, due diligence, and developing strategic investment analyses. Before joining Newbond, Jackson was an Analyst on the investments and asset management teams at Host Hotels & Resorts.

Europe Highlights

Travelodge announced the acquisition of Genesis House, an office building in St Pauls, London. The acquisition is part of a self-funded freehold deal by the Travelodge OpCo Group. Once planning permission is secured, the building will be converted into a 95-room Travelodge hotel with a restaurant. Work on the conversion is expected to begin in early 2026, with the hotel scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2027.

Whitbread PLC has joined forces with Riverstone Hotels Ltd to establish a new hotel at Edinburgh Airport in the UK. The proposed five-story, 200-bedroom Premier Inn will house the brand’s latest integrated restaurant and social space, The Social, on its ground floor. The hotel will also offer 100 onsite parking spaces.

Grosvenor and EIH London Investments Ltd have announced that South Molton, in London’s prestigious Mayfair, will be home to the Indian luxury hospitality Group’s first Oberoi Hotel in the UK. Grosvenor secured planning permission for the restoration of the building as part of its wider South Molton development. This landmark project, currently the West End’s largest mixed-use development, will include the hotel, new office space, housing, cafes, shops, restaurants, and community and leisure spaces.

Dalata Hotel Group announced the lease of a new hotel in London, taking its footprint in the city to six properties. The group exchanged an agreement for a lease for a new four-star Clayton hotel to be developed on the Tower 42 estate. The hotel is due to open in the second half of 2028, subject to planning approval. The all-electric building, which will incorporate 154 bedrooms, a restaurant, a bar, and a gym, will include state-of-the-art heat pump technology. On completion of construction, Dalata will start operations in the hotel through a 25-year operating lease, which will be subject to five-year rent reviews linked to the Consumer Price Index.