Choice Merger With Radisson Americas Is on Track

The DJIA fell 74 points but Nasdaq was up 36, the S&P 500 was down a point and the 10-year treasury yield was down .06 to 3.71%. Lodging stocks were mixed. SOND was up 9%, VCSA was up 6% but SHCO was down -5% on the day to top the big movers.

Choice Hotels International, Inc. is on pace to integrate the nearly 600 Radisson Americas hotels onto its reservation delivery engine and its Choice Privileges loyalty program by the end of the summer. Choice is now on pace to complete several major integration milestones ahead of schedule. Full integration is expected by the end of the year. The following key steps are expected to be completed during the third quarter, within just a year of the acquisition: Radisson Americas properties will be bookable on ChoiceHotels.com and connected to the ChoiceEDGE central reservations system. The Radisson Rewards Americas loyalty program will be fully integrated within the Choice Privileges program. Eligible Radisson Americas hotels will begin the migration to the ChoiceADVANTAGE property management system and the ChoiceMAX mobile-friendly, cloud-based revenue management system. 

Dauntless Capital Partners purchased the 216-key Hilton Garden Inn Bethesda Downtown from Bethesda Hotel Associates, LLC, an affiliate of The Donohoe Companies, Inc. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the property currently features the Garden Grill & Bar, a fitness center and four meeting rooms with 1,662 square feet of event space. It is set to undergo an immediate renovation to include refreshed guest rooms and renovated public space, allowing for modern interiors and an upgraded lobby and dining options. HHM Hotels is the manager of the Hilton Garden Inn Bethesda Downtown. 

David S. Brown Enterprises announced plans for a new lifestyle hospitality offering at Metro Centre in Owings Mills, Maryland. Crescent Hotels & Resorts, the management company for the Marriott Owings Mills Metro Centre will be managing the brand new 120-room Element as well. This summer, the developer will break ground on the five-story Element by Westin hotel. In addition to the two hotels, upon completion, Metro Centre’s South Campus will feature over 1,700 apartments, 560,000+ square feet of office space, 150,000+ square feet of retail and 5,700+ parking spaces.

Hotel Equities has been tapped to manage two Indianapolis, Indiana hotels. The Fairfield Inn & Suites, owned by JJI Group Inc., and The Residence Inn, owned by JJI Hospitality Inc., are neighboring properties located just two miles from the Indianapolis International Airport. The Fairfield Inn & Suites Indianapolis Airport includes an indoor pool, and a fitness center. The Residence Inn Indianapolis Airport offers an indoor pool, fitness center and an outdoor patio and fire pit. 

Excel Hotel Group is proposing to build a 130-room SpringHill Suites Hotel in Grover Beach, California. The hotel is expected to open in early 2025.

Renovations at the Omni in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, are already underway and are expected to last until late September. The $15 million renovation project will update its 205 guest rooms and public spaces. The Omni is also renovating its 12,400 square feet of event and meeting space and adding another three meeting rooms, pushing that to 14,000 square feet. The restaurant will include a larger outdoor space, expanding the patio and bringing the bar into a new “garden conservatory”. 

Hotel Indigo announced the opening of Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina in Panama City, Florida. Owned by The St. Joe Company, the five-story, 124-room hotel includes 1,033 square feet of event space and a 965 square foot outdoor patio, two new restaurant and bar concepts, a fitness center, marketplace, outdoor pool and a firepit.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of its newest Holiday Inn Express hotel in the northern suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri. Featuring 92 modern guest rooms, a business center and onsite meeting space, the Holiday Inn Express Kansas City North - Parkville is owned by Creekside Hotel Partners LLC and managed by Leisure Hotels & Resorts. 

The Holiday Inn & Suites across from Universal Orlando, a Universal Partner Hotel, announced the completion of its multimillion dollar renovation. The renovation encompassed modernizations to all 239 guestrooms and 151 suites, the lobby and the hotel’s 13,000 square feet of meeting and event space. 

Crescent Hotels & Resorts announced the addition of the Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre in London, Ontario and the Ivey Donald K. Johnson Centre in Toronto, Ontario to its Latitudes: Lifestyles by Crescent portfolio. Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre offers a collection of 125 hotel rooms, distinctive dining space and 25,000 square feet of event space including 31 meeting rooms and five amphitheaters. The Ivey Donald K. Johnson Centre features 7,500 square feet of meeting and event space, including two amphitheatre classrooms, two large meeting rooms and 12 boardrooms.

Waterton has partnered with Argosy Real Estate Partners on the acquisition of the Houndstooth Inn, a 13-key independent bed and breakfast in Oakhurst, California. The team plans to re-develop the site as Outbound Yosemite Resort, a 135-key, lifestyle select-service hotel consisting of 108 new vacation rental cabins, 14 hotel rooms above an expansive 12,500 square foot clubhouse, in addition to the 13-key boutique hotel currently on the site. The expansive addition will feature a lobby with a locally-themed bar/restaurant as well as meeting event spaces, a boardroom and a kitchen. A new outdoor event space with delineated seating areas will provide visitors with added opportunity to gather and socialize. The Houndstooth Inn will remain operational during the construction phase and its 13 rooms will be upgraded. 

Silver Cloud Inns & Hotels is returning to Bellevue, Washington with plans for a 10-story, 170-room hotel downtown. The downtown project is in the early design phases and will have luxury rooms and a rooftop pool. The property currently houses a Luther Burbank Savings branch. Silver Cloud Inns & Hotels exited the Eastside market last month with the sale of its property to Ignite Hotels for $28 million. 

BWH Hotels continues expansive growth of its 19 distinctive brands across every chain scale segment, from luxury to premium economy, adding several new properties to its global portfolio of hotels and resorts. Most recently, the company has expanded in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Travelers will find the increased presence of BWH Hotels properties in Austria, Canada, Dubai, Ethiopia, France, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand and the U.S. BWH Hotels has maintained its momentum through the first half of the year with plans to continue its growth and development in the third and fourth quarters. The brand looks forward to further growing is diverse portfolio, which now includes approximately 4,300 hotels in over 100 countries and territories around the world. 

Best Western Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of Best Western Laurel, in Laurel, Maryland, following a $3 million renovation. The newly renovated hotel consists of 96 guestrooms, more than 2,800 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center, business center, laundry facilities and a sundry market.

The City of Topeka, Kansas is looking for an asset manager to oversee the operations of the newly acquired Hotel Topeka. The City will take steps to find conference hotel industry experts to help it decide how to re-develop the newly acquired Hotel Topeka at City Center.

HREC Investment Advisors arranged the sale of the 138-guestroom Hampton Inn & Suites Jekyll Island on Jekyll Island, Georgia. The property was acquired by a leading Southeast-based owner/operator of upscale beach-oriented hotels. HREC Investment Advisors exclusively represented the seller, an affiliate of Peachtree Group, on this transaction.

Mumford Company completed the sale of the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Cleveland, Tennessee. Mumford Company represented an affiliate of Vision Hospitality Group in the sale to Westside Hospitality. The purchasers plan to complete the product improvement plan and continued the Marriott affiliation.

Berkadia announced the sale of the Hampton Inn & Suites Pittsburgh Meadowlands, a 103-room hotel in Washington, Pennsylvania. The hotel is adjacent to the Hollywood Casino at The Meadows and offers 648 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center, business center and indoor pool.

Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation arranged $24 million for the refinancing of the Marriott Springfield Downtown, a 266-room Marriott hotel located in Springfield, Massachusetts. MMCC in Boston secured attractive financing, including a five-year term with an interest rate of 6.25%, interest-only for the first six months, followed by 25-year amortization and 47% loan-to-value.