Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc.

The J.D. Power 2023 North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark reveals that hotel management companies' investments in renovations, maintenance, and staffing have led to increased guest satisfaction in areas like guest rooms and staff service. The benchmark highlights that guest anticipation of needs is a crucial factor, with 82% of interactions meeting this goal. Many guests desire modern lobby designs, but only 13% of branded hotels fulfill this criterion. Additionally, there's a demand for electric vehicle charging stations, with 19% of guests expressing interest.

Stock market indices, including DJIA, Nasdaq, and S&P 500, experienced declines on Friday, with the 10-year treasury yield also dropping notably. Some lodging companies reported mixed earnings, with Apple Hospitality , RLJ , and Sunstone Hotel Investors beating expectations, while DiamondRock Hospitality and Playa Hotels missed estimates. Several hotel chains, including Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and LuxUrban Hotels, Inc. , are making expansion deals, and various hotel properties are undergoing renovations and acquisitions in different locations.

The DJIA, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 experienced growth with varied changes in lodging stocks. Morgan Stanley adjusted price targets for numerous lodging companies, including Sunstone Hotels and Host Hotels . Major hospitality companies, such as Selina Hospitality , Whitestone Companies , and Marriott Hilton Head Resort & Spa, announced important business updates including investments, renovations, and acquisitions. EOS Hospitality , Hotel Equities , and Aimbridge Hospitality made key personnel changes. Accor plans to open 1,200 hotels in the next five years, with a RevPAR growth of 15% to 20%. Aimbridge Hospitality will manage the Alliance Palace Aparthotel in Batumi, Georgia.

InterContinental Hotels Group announced Keith Barr has informed the Board of his decision to step down from his role as Group Chief Executive Officer and from the IHG Board. Playa Hotels & Resorts reported a 1Q beat and repurchased 5 million shares for $42.6 million in 1Q as well as another 2.1 million shares for $20 million in April. During Q1 2023, RevPAR grew 13% compared to 2019 , fueled by higher ADR and growth in business and group demand as well as strong leisure travel, according to JLL’s latest U.S. Hotel Investment Trends report.

Truist said they have seen no noticeable changes to overall corporate booking and pricing trends in the first 10 days following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank . On March 20, Membership Collective Group commenced trading on the NYSE under its new name and ticker, Soho House & Co Inc. / SHCO. In a joint venture, NewcrestImage and Hospitality Capital Partners have acquired 16 hotels with a total of 2,155 rooms for $137.3 million from Service Properties Trust .

STR gave U.S. lodging data for the week ended 3/18. US hotel RevPAR rose 10.4% year over year. When compared with the same week in 2019, US hotel RevPAR was up 20.8%. We can’t tell if the markets genuinely hate U.S. Fed Chief Jerome Powell or if the guy should just have a stand-in for his press conferences. Redburn Partners lowered its rating on InterContinental Hotels Group to Sell. UBS Group downgraded shares of Melia Hotels International from a Buy rating to a Sell rating.

The earnings parade continues with REITs dominating the past 24 hours. PebbleBrook Hotel Trust reported 4Q results that matched their pre-announcement but gave 1Q guidance that was softer than expected. Sunstone Hotel Investors results came in slightly ahead for 4Q with an extra $10 million insurance gain also put in there. Park Hotels reported strong results even with San Francisco continued weakness. PK said group revenue is back to 83% of pre-pandemic levels.

Morgan Stanley changed price targets on its covered hotel companies . Hilton’s PT was lowered to $167 from $171, while Wyndham’s PT was upped to $90 from $87. Chatham Lodging Trust announced they repaid in full three mortgages with outstanding principal of $73.3 million and a weighted average interest rate of 8%. Four Seasons Resort and Residences Los Cabos at Costa Palmas will begin taking reservations for its ultra-luxury Private Retreats collection soon.

Yesterday, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust lowered guidance for 4Q results and shook up the industry a bit. Today, Ryman Hospitality did the opposite. Lodging stocks were mostly lower with a long list of new lows, many of them REITs. New lows were set by PEB, PK, AHT, SHO, XHR, ABNB and VCSA Marriott International announced that long-time executive Stephanie Linnartz is leaving the company, effective February 24, 2023.

On Friday lodging stocks ended higher: BHR rose 12% while AINC was up 7%. SOND fell -7% on the day. Raymond James downgraded Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and Xenia Hotels & Resorts to Market Perform from Outperform while cutting Sunstone Hotel Investors to Underperform from Market Perform. Ryman Hospitality also announced they were boosting their quarterly dividend, declaring the 4Q dividend of $0.25 per share.