Kim Woinski

Equity investors were once again willing to give the Federal Reserve Board the benefit of the doubt on the 0.75% rate hike today but then Fed Chief Powell held a press conference and it got ugly pretty quickly. STR reported US lodging data for the week ended 9/17. US hotel RevPAR was up 30.6% year over year. RevPAR was up 12.7% versus the same week in 2019. A group of hotel franchisees has filed a lawsuit against IHG Hotels and Resorts , claiming a cyber attack on its booking system earlier this month cost them millions of dollars in lost revenue, according to various news sources.

The DJIA  fell another 313 points, Nasdaq was down 110, the S&P 500 was down 44 points and if you thought mortgages were high before, the 10-year treasury yield was up another .08 to 3.57%. Playa Hotels & Resorts announced its board of directors reauthorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of the company’s outstanding shares. According to Hodges Ward Elliott's Q2 report , the New York City hospitality sector continues its recovery as travel surges and hotels reopen.

The DJIA  rose 197 points, Nasdaq was up 87, the S&P 500 rose 27 points and the 10-year treasury yield was up .04 to 3.49%. Hersha Hospitality is the latest lodging REIT to announce they have reinstated their quarterly cash dividend on the common shares. According to CBRE , Canadian hotels will return to pre-pandemic revenues next year, two years ahead of its previous forecast.

The  DJIA  fell 139 points on Friday while  Nasdaq  was down 104, the  S&P 500  fell 28 points and the  10-year treasury yield  was down .01 to 3.45%. Citigroup cut its rating on IHG Hotels & Resorts to Sell from Neutral. Citi believes the incomplete recovery in corporate travel will weigh on IHG’s RevPAR. Berenberg , on the other hand, sees hotels as the top travel play . The brokerage firm says concerns about the hotel industry are overblown and the outlook for RevPAR for 2023 and 2024 will strengthen further.

The DJIA  rose 30 points while Nasdaq was up 86, the S&P 500 rose 13 points and the 10-year treasury yield was down .01 to 3.41%. Truist reported on a call they held with the CEO of hotelAVE . The takeaways included that they saw leisure demand start to slow in May while group and corporate recovery is now benefiting from urban and convention hotels. JP Morgan reported on meetings held with Wyndham Hotels’ CEO and SVP, IR. JPM said the meetings were generally upbeat, reflective of strong demand and pricing trends as well as steady new development and conversion signings.

Any hope the Fed would be slowing down interest rate hikes just went right out the window with today’s inflation numbers. Lodging stocks were hit rather hard. According to Atlas Hospitality Group , during the first half of 2022, the total dollar volume for hotels bought in the Bay Area market in California was $660.5 million, down 66.8% from the $1.99 billion in hotel purchases during the first six months of 2021. Sonesta International Hotels Corporation announced several key developments to support future expansion in Latin America and the Caribbean , including the renewal of its ongoing master franchise relationship with GHL Hoteles.

The  DJIA  rose 230 points while  Nasdaq  was up 154, the  S&P 500  rose 43 points and the  10-year treasury yield  was up .04 to 3.36%. Lodging stocks were modestly higher. IHG’s hack appears to be a lot worse than the ones at other hotels as the ransomware attack may very well impact their 3Q results as they continue to have their online reservation system crippled by the attack. Watermark Lodging Trust  said the proposed acquisition of the company by private real estate funds managed by  Brookfield  was approved by its stockholders.

The  DJIA  ended Friday with a gain of 377 points while  Nasdaq  was up 250, the  S&P 500  rose 61 points and the  10-year treasury yield  was up .03 to 3.32%. Lodging stocks were modestly higher. USA Today published a story, actually a prediction that new hotel fees may be popping up . The St. Joe Company and InterMountain Management, LLC announced the commencement of construction on a new hotel in Panama City Beach, FL .

The  DJIA was up 193, Nasdaq was up 70, the S&P 500 was up 26 points and the 10-year treasury yield was up .03 to 3.29%. According to the D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the hotel industry in Washington, D.C. , has largely returned to pre-pandemic business and most of that bounce back has come only in recent months. Accor and SHe Travel Club announced a partnership aiming to re-imagine the female travel and hospitality experience.

The DJIA was up 436 points, Nasdaq was up 247, the S&P 500 was up 72 points and the 10-year treasury yield was down .08 to 3.27%. Truist Securities published their RevPAR tracker, saying based on their analysis, they have yet to observe any “recession-driven” pullbacks and see the greatest degree of booking and pricing momentum coming from the corporate group segment. Hotels in the top 25 markets across the U.S. were the hardest hit by the pandemic-induced demand downturn but have come back with a vengeance.