Blackstone

DJIA and S&P 500 rose, Nasdaq was up, and the 10-year treasury yield decreased. Airbnb Co-founder Joe Gebbia sold over $1 billion worth of stock, while ABNB reached a 52-week high. U.S. hotel RevPAR increased, new hotel constructions and acquisitions were announced, and a hotel opening was delayed in Portland.

Stock market performance: DJIA, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 rose while the 10-year treasury yield was down. Lodging industry updates: Sonder Holdings downgraded, EF Hutton assumes coverage of Selina Hospitality, Ryman Hospitality Properties acquires JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. New hotel developments: Chartwell Hospitality and Rockbridge developing three new hotels, Innisfree Hotels and RREAF Holdings open Fairfield Inn & Suites Pensacola Beach, Great Wolf Resorts opens Great Wolf Lodge Maryland.

The hospitality industry is experiencing optimism and cautiousness, with hotels considering divesting assets and anticipating a potential distressed sale boom. Hoteliers are optimistic about increasing demand, but face challenges such as high-interest rates, labor shortages, and decreased construction activity. The U.S. hotel forecast shows improvements in occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR, while hotels are offering incentives to combat staffing shortages. International visitor arrivals to the U.S. continue to rise, with Mexico and Canada leading the way.

Hotel industry updates: Canadian hotel RevPAR exceeds C$100 for third consecutive month, with Manitoba and Vancouver leading in occupancy rates. Renovations and expansions: Knoxville, Tennessee plans to add 350 hotel rooms, while a $12 million extended-stay hotel is set to open in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Company announcements: Hyatt Place Melbourne Airport opens in Florida, while LVMH scraps luxury hotel plans in Beverly Hills.

Blackstone announced the final close of its Blackstone Real Estate Partners X fund with $30.4 billion of total capital commitments, the largest real estate or private equity drawdown fund ever raised. Truist lowered their target price on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, saying they have concerns over 2024 San Francisco conventions along with rising hotel-level costs. Celebrating its five-year anniversary, the Hard Rock Hotel Dayton Beach in Florida debuted a multimillion renovation including refreshed guestrooms and youth club and revamped memorabilia.

Lodging stocks were mixed but the biggest movers were to the upside. VCSA and SLNA both rose 6% on the day. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index fell -10% in December. That put all of 2022 down -15% from 2021. The Hotel Brand sub-index was down -9.2% in December from November while the Hotel REIT sub-index was down -12.8% Sonesta International Hotels Corporation announced the expansion of its global development strategy to include The James brand as part of the Sonesta Franchise portfolio in the U.S. and in Latin America.

Jefferies downgraded both Marriott and Hilton to Hold , leaving only Wyndham with a Buy rating in their C-Corp coverage. They continue to favor Host Hotels and Hersha Hospitality. 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay is opening on February 15 on Kauai’s north shore. The resort will be the flagship hotel for 1 Hotels. The DJIA fell 113 points, Nasdaq was up 66, the S&P 500 was down 3 points and the 10-year treasury yield was down .05 to 3.52%. How was that for a mixed market?

Truist gave their observations on the latest forward-looking booking and pricing trends for US hotels and checks with contacts. STR’s global “bubble chart” update through November 19, 2022 showed the strongest performance of the year thus far. The U.S. Travel Association’s latest biannual travel forecast shows a downgrade in international inbound travel for the remainder of this year and for 2023.

DiamondRock Hospitality reported 3Q results, beating the preliminary results they announced two weeks ago. Jefferies cut its rating on Xenia Hotels & Resorts to Hold from Buy. Lodging stocks were mixed. SLNA plunged another -20%, quickly becoming the biggest disaster in a long line of SPAC disappointments in the past year

Fitch Ratings revised the Maldives’ outlook to Negative from Stable while affirming its Long Term Currency Issuer Default Rating at B-. Hilton announced plans to expand the presence of Conrad Hotels & Resorts through Conrad Singapore Orchard . Singapore’s Far East Organization is planning to develop a new hotel in Sydney’s Rocks district , with a proposal to redevelop the Clocktower Square with a luxury new property.