Hotel Asset Sales Pick Up

The DJIA fell 128 points on Friday while Nasdaq was down 194, the S&P 500 fell 43 and the 10-year treasury yield bounced higher by .14 to 3.53%. Lodging stocks were mostly lower. MCG was the mover of note, up 5%.

Jefferies said the looming recession and stabilizing credit market could be positive for the prospects of timeshare, but with a harder landing not off the table, they see stocks trading at rich valuations. They maintained their Buy rating on Marriott Vacations but cut their target price to $184 from $195. They downgraded Hilton Grand Vacations and Travel and Leisure to Hold from Buy. HGV’s PT was cut to $52 from $68 and TNL’s PT was lowered to $49 from $71.

Truist said with earnings season about to kick into gear for the lodging sector, they continue to see macro over micro. They see the main driver/wildcard coming from the economic impact of interest rates and inflation with investor sentiment around these being the most important. They do expect most companies to have at least modest 4Q earnings beats and talk positively about expectations for the year with management teams having more conviction for the first half of the year than the back half due to limited visibility. Specifically for hotel REITs, Truist said 4Q results should not be much of a surprise as many gave earnings updates in late December and early January. For C-Corps, they expect most to come out with optimistic tones with the greatest degree of optimism derived from international strength in 4Q, mostly from Europe, Caribbean, and Canada, the resiliency of leisure travel, group/convention strength, the relative stability of new unit pipelines and their ability to return capital to shareholders.

Park Hotels and Resorts Inc. closed on the sale of the 508-room Hilton Miami Airport, located in Miami, Florida, for $118.25 million. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay off the outstanding $50 million revolver balance and for general corporate purposes. MCR purchased the 14-story hotel, marking the company’s second hotel in the Miami airport submarket following the acquisition of the Hyatt Place Miami Airport East, and its tenth hotel in Florida. The Hilton Miami Airport Blue Lagoon features four food and beverage outlets, an outdoor pool and hot tub, outdoor tennis and basketball courts, a fitness center, 32,000 square feet of meeting space and a business center.

Trinity Investments and Credit Suisse Asset Management, have agreed to purchase the Diplomat Beach Resort, in Hollywood, Florida, for $835 million. The 1,000-room oceanfront property has approximately 200,000 square feet of meeting space. The new owners plan to make renovations, and the hotel will be managed by Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. under its Curio brand. JLL brokered the sale.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced the grand opening of Hyatt Centric Congress Avenue Austin, marking the second Hyatt Centric property in Texas. Located in the heart of downtown Austin, the 246-room property features an 8th-floor lobby, a restaurant, bar and fitness center. The hotel’s third floor is dedicated to 2,560 square feet of flexible event spaces, while an additional 1,400 square feet of event space can be found in the hotel’s 31st-floor penthouse.

Churchwick Partners purchased the Sonesta Suites ES hotel in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, for $4.17 million. The seller was HPT IHG2 Properties Trust. Maryland Heights officials approved the developer’s zoning request to turn the hotel, which is still in operation, into a garden-style apartment complex. The hotel has seven buildings and 106 units, which would be converted to 106 one- and two-bedroom apartments under the plan. 

Curator Hotel & Resort Collection announced the addition of South Congress Hotel in Austin, Texas; Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, California; and Saybrook Point Resort & Marina in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, as their newest members. With these additions, Curator has grown to 98 members. 

Mazili Hotel Group has put the 200-room Ramada by Wyndham Augusta Downtown Hotel and Conference Center, in Augusta, Georgia, on the market for $10.2 million. The property offers a restaurant, bar, outdoor pool and a lounge on the penthouse level.

Cobblestone Hotels is proposing a four-story, 62-room hotel for the corner of Egg Harbor Road and Twelfth Avenue in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The city’s Finance/Purchasing and Building Committee recommended that the Common Council approve a development agreement with incentives for the project. Of the total projected cost of $9,426,000, 70% of the total would be financed with a loan. Cobblestone Hotels would have until the end of this year to obtain portions of two parcels near the intersection to build the hotel, which would have to be substantially completed by December 31, 2024, under the development-agreement terms. 

Kempinski Hotels now has its first spot in North America with the Grand Hotel Cancun, also known as Kempinski Hotel Cancun. The 363-room hotel is the successor to The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun, which Kempinski Hotels acquired in September 2022. The property features 315 rooms and 48 suites, a Club Lounge, tennis center, beauty salon, fitness center with a sauna and steam room, a spa, and five dining venues.

JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group closed the sale of 525 Lexington Avenue, a 35-story, 655-key, full-service hotel in New York City’s Midtown East neighborhood. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. JLL represented the seller, Deka Immobilien, in the sale to a joint venture of Hawkins Way Capital and Värde Partners. The hotel, formerly branded as the Marriott New York East Side, was closed at the time of the sale and was offered unencumbered by brand and management.

Colliers Hotels and Eastdil Secured ILC announced the sale of the InterContinental Montreal on behalf of Pandox AB to Groupe Mach. The 357-key luxury hotel is complemented by two upscale food & beverage outlets, over 25,000 square feet of event space, an indoor pool, fitness center, business center and Club InterContinental Lounge. Grope Mach plans to implement a major investment plan over the coming months. 

HREC Investment Advisors has arranged the sale of the 94-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott Arrowood-Charlotte located in Charlotte, North Carolina. HREC Investment Advisors exclusively represented 3H Group, Inc. on this transaction. 

Hodges Ward Elliott arranged the sale of the Hamilton-Turner Inn, an ultra-luxury, 17-key inn located in the heart of the historic District of Savannah, Georgia. The HWE team brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller. Amenities at the Hamilton-Turner Inn include an ornate parlor/sitting room as well as a dining room.

At the close of Q4 2022, the total construction pipeline stands at 536 projects/87,827 rooms for Latin America, according to the recently released Latin America Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics. Throughout 2022, Latin America opened 88 new hotels/15,091 rooms. The LE forecast for 2023 will likely see 98 new hotel openings with 19,014 rooms and in 2024, LE analysts forecast another 97 new hotels, accounting for 13,985 rooms to open in Latin America.

Latin American Hotel Pipeline Q4 2022

Latin American Hotel Pipeline by Country

Latin American Hotel Pipeline by City

Latin American Hotel Pipeline by Company

Latin American Hotel Pipeline by Brand

Personnel Move

Inspire, a global event solutions company owned by Ashford Inc., announced the appointment of Sayi Puligandla as Chief Operating Officer. In this position, Puligandla will oversee human resources, hospitality operations, information technology, and other projects to support the entire organization. Puligandla was an executive vice president and founding member of Nor1 (acquired by Oracle in 2020).

Europe Highlights

IHG Hotels & Resorts signed Alte Post in Reit im Winkl in Germany, a market debut for Vignette Collection, the company’s newest luxury brand. Alte Post Vignette Collection is set to open in 2026 under a franchise agreement with Odyssey Hotel Group. The hotel will be developed by DAIxKo Group in a joint venture between Derichs and Konertz project development and Aixact real estate in a lease brokered by Hotel Affairs Consulting GmbH. The luxury hotel will feature 150 bedrooms, two restaurants, underground parking and a wellness area with fitness studios, saunas and a pool. IHG will further bolster its luxury offerings by bringing the global boutique luxury hotel brand Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants to Germany in 2025 with the opening of Kimpton Frankfurt. The luxury boutique hotel will feature 155 rooms, two large meeting rooms, an onsite gym, signature restaurant and a sky-bar and restaurant on the roof terrace.

The Peninsula Hotels group will add two new properties to its collection this year, the Peninsula Istanbul on February 14th and The Peninsula London in early 2023. Encompassing four buildings, The Peninsula Istanbul boasts 177 rooms and suites, private gardens, marina, spa, indoor and outdoor pools, a rooftop restaurant and bar and a lobby restaurant. The Peninsula London offers 190 guest rooms and an indoor pool.

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas announced the opening of Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel following an extensive two-year renovation. Reopening with 151 rooms including 38 suites, the 175-year-old building features a seminar space with six meeting rooms and a ballroom, and a rooftop restaurant and bar. The new Anantara Spa at Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel features five treatment rooms, a hammam and a sauna. 

Radisson Hotel Group is bringing its Radisson Individuals brand to the heart of Berlin. The Hotel Berlin, Berlin will become a member of Radisson Individuals from April 2023, expanding the Group’s international Radisson Individuals portfolio to 56 hotels in operation and under development worldwide. The property boasts 701 rooms and suites, 4,000 square meters of conference space across 21 meeting rooms and a ballroom, a restaurant and fitness and wellness area. Hotel Berlin, Berlin is owned and operated by Pandox AB.