Marriott Officially Adds Its 31st Brand City Express

The DJIA was down 46 points while Nasdaq was down 14, the S&P 500 fell 2 points and the 10-year treasury yield was up .12 to 3.57%. Lodging stocks were mixed. SHCO was up 9% and AHT was up 6% to lead the groups big movers.

Marriott International, Inc. said Monday it had completed its acquisition of the City Express brand portfolio from Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V.. With this acquisition, Marriott International has entered the affordable midscale segment and is launching its 31st brand, City Express by Marriott. The existing City Express hotel portfolio of approximately 150 properties includes urban, suburban, and extended stay offerings in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Chile. The transaction has increased Marriott’s presence in the CALA region by approximately 45 percent, to over 480 properties across 37 countries.     

A solid beat and raise was repeated over and over again today by analysts when commenting on Park Hotels & Resorts’ earnings report. It is not like it is all back to normal as their exposure in San Francisco continues to hold back their recovery but this was one of the best reports we have seen from PK since the pandemic hit. Hawaii RevPAR was up 26% in the quarter even without a lot of Japanese demand. PK said they repurchased $105 million worth of stock in 1Q, also higher than expected. For 2023, PK is expecting RevPAR growth of 7% to 14%, something we suspect they will narrow as the year rolls on.

Vacasa Inc. has become the second new-age lodging SPAC to receive notice from Nasdaq that if they don’t get their stock price above $1, they could be delisted. VCSA did mention they may just do a reverse split to get where they need to be, pointing to their proxy statement where they have a proposal to amend their company documents to effect a reverse split in a ratio ranging from 1:5 to 1:20 That latter should be able to keep them from getting another Nas