Hotel Recovery Is Uneven Worldwide

The DJIA ended the day and month down 135 points while Nasdaq was down 82, the S&P 500 fell 26 points and the 10-year treasury yield was down .06 to 3.64%. Lodging stocks were mixed again. SOND was up 11%, SLNA was up 6% and everyone else seemed to be up or down 1% to 2%.

Piper Sandler cut their price target on Sotherly Hotels to $2 from $2.50. They maintained their Neutral rating on the stock.

STR’s global “bubble chart” update through May 20, 2023 shows 85% of markets with growth in RevPAR compared to 2019. More notably, the gains included a more significant contribution from occupancy growth, as half of all markets surpassed their 2019 comparables. Among all countries with a room supply of more than 50,000 rooms, Israel, Singapore, Greece, Italy, and Ireland led in RevPAR on an actual basis. Occupancy rates in general are moving upward as summer approaches for most of the world, with 40 out of 48 counties in the 50,000-room ground reporting occupancy rates above 60%. Among the bottom five performers in terms of RevPAR, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, faced significant declines compared to 2019, with drops of 26% and 20% respectively. Excluding markets with fluctuating exchange rates, the top five performers in terms of RevPAR included the Italian Islands, Italy Central, Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Rio de Janeiro.

Simon announced construction has commenced on a new Residence Inn by Marriott at Northgate Station in Seattle, Washington. The first hotel in the mixed-use development, the 167-room Residence Inn, joins the newly upgraded Northgate Sound Transit light rail bus station and Kraken Community Iceplex. The multi-stage development will continue this year, including a new recreational area scheduled to open this summer.

OTO Development announced the Hilton Garden Inn Ocean City Oceanfront has reopened in Ocean City, Maryland, following an extensive renovation. The 12-story, 170-room property features two onsite F&B venues, an indoor pool, fitness center, oceanfront rocking chair porch and 3,000 square feet of meeting/event space with a ballroom.

Beal House Fort Walton Beachfront, Tapestry Collection by Hilton made its debut in the Florida Panhandle. Owned and operated by OTO Development, the six-story, 100-ley hotel reopened on the sand of Okaloosa Island, following a down-to-the-studs renovations and rebrand. Beal House Fort Walton Beachfront offers an outdoor pool, a library, onsite restaurant, and a fitness center. 

Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC announced the management of two iconic hotels: The Delphi in Downtown Los Angeles, California and Waldorf Towers Hotel Miami Beach, Florida. The 207-room Delphi Hotel includes 10,000 square feet of event space and will be introducing five new restaurant and bar concepts over the next 12 months. The Waldorf Towers features 43 guestrooms, a signature rooftop lighthouse, and onsite restaurant. 

Pendant Capital has acquired the Senza Hotel in Napa, California with Cienda Partners. The new owners of the 48-room boutique hotel intend to further activate the property by renovating common areas and expanding food and beverage offerings. The property offers a pool, hot tub, fitness center and private guest spa.

CoralTree Hospitality is growing its collection of hotels and resorts in Texas with the addition of The Peninsula Beach Resort. The 110-acre property in Port Bolivar is scheduled to offer 90 single-family homes, 114 rental cottages with a clubhouse and two pools, 50 recreation vehicle sites and more than 160 beachside condominiums, several dining options and a private airport. The first phase of the project will open next year. 

HEI Hotels & Resorts assumed management of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Staybridge Suites Hotel, a dual-branded hotel complex in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. The property is owned by affiliates of Ramsfield Hospitality Finance and funds managed by AB CarVal. The Crowne Plaza provides 360 guestrooms, an outdoor pool, fitness center and 17 meeting rooms that comprise nearly 31,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The hotel’s food and beverage facilities include a restaurant, a lobby lounge, and a grab & go coffee shop. The Staybridge Suites provides 102 units and shares recreational facilities and amenities with the Crowne Plaza Renovations of the hotels meeting and banquet space are underway with completion anticipated in summer 2023. 

Iron Point Titan Management sold the 293-room Holiday Inn St. Louis Downtown hotel, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Vidhi 8 LLC for $11.5 million. 

Sonesta announced the grand opening of Red Lion Inn & Suites Philadelphia, located in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 45-room, select-service property features grab & go food service, a lobby coffee station and bikes for guest use. 

Loge Camps purchased The Mountaineer Inn, in Asheville, North Carolina, for $6.1 million from the Moutos family. Loge plans to refresh the 1939 motel and adopt it into its outdoor recreation-oriented brand. 

Kalahari Resorts and Conventions announced an expansion to their Zambezi Outdoor Waterpark in Sandusky, Ohio. New additions include a 50-foot free fall jump tower, a zipline experience and a new 15,000-square-foot pool with premium poolside lounging. 

Personnel Moves

Melia Hotels International announced changes to its senior executive team, effective June 5, 2023. Melia has appointed Sonia Jerez Chief Financial Officer, replacing Pilar Dols. At the same time the Company announced that the Group’s Chief Real Estate Officer, Mark Hoddinott, is leaving the Company. He is being replaced by Melia’s Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Juan Ignacio Pardo. The Chief Legal & Compliance role will be taken over by Mariano Perez de Caceres, until now VP of the Group’s Legal Area. The final move announced by the Company concerns the new Chief Strategy Officer, a newly created position that will be filled by Carlos Gonzalez, previously Vice President of Strategy. 

Highgate appointed Mike Uwe Dickersbach to Chief Digital Officer. In this newly created role, Mike will be responsible for leading Highgate today, and into tomorrow, in identifying and implementing cutting-edge technologies to further position the organization as a best-in-class hospitality leader for associates, guests and partners. Dickersbach re-joins Highgate after serving as the Company’s Chief Technology Officer from 2015-2017. Most recently, he was Vice President, Global Hospitality services at Infor.

Europe Highlights

The ibis Styles brand announced the groundbreaking for a new hotel at Munich Airport. The 358-room hotel is due to open in Spring 2025. The owner of the building is Munich Airport, while Accor will operate the hotel under a management contract. The hotel will offer an open-plan lobby with a breakfast area, bar, restaurant and co-working space, as well as a gym, children’s area, self-service food market and dedicated parking. 

Tivoli Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of Tivoli Alvor Algarve Resort, its first all-inclusive property and fifth resort in the Algarve in the south of Portugal. Tivoli Alor Algarve Resort all-inclusive resort offers 491 guestrooms, five outdoor pools, an indoor pool, four restaurants, two bars, a Wellness Centre, and Pluma Junior Club.