W Hotels

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.

DJIA, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all rose on Friday, and lodging stocks saw gains as well. New properties were acquired or announced in Montana, Atlanta, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, and Madrid. Multiple hotels were sold, and Blackstone secured a €680 million loan for Hotel Investment Partners.

Finn Partners released the results of their latest report, Outbound Rebound: The Return of Chinese Travelers . Marriott International announced plans to expand its portfolio in Greater China with the expected addition of 47 hotels in 2023, comprising more than 12,000 rooms. Accor announced the opening of Grand Mercure Hanoi, a new premium hotel in Vietnam .

The Philippines Hotel Sales and Marketing Association said hotels in the country remain optimistic of the industry’s performance this year as the average occupancy has already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Marriott International is planning 14 new luxury properties opening in the Asia Pacific region this year. IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of voco Bangkok Surawong with Tawanna Property Company Limited, a real estate investor and developer in Thailand .

Deutsche Bank said they were a bit surprised at ALIS as they realized their views on 2023 RevPAR and margins were more measured than what they sensed from the companies. New York City’s latest plans to crack down on illegal short-term rentals , possibly removing as many as 10,0000 Airbnb listings later this year, is sparking furious debates about housing, hotels, the tourist market and residents’ rights. Buccini/Pollin Group is bringing the W Hotel brand to Orlando with plans for a 22-story hotel tower next door to Epic Universe.

Chatham Lodging Trust announced its board of trustees reinstated their common dividend, announcing a fourth-quarter common share dividend of $0.07 per common share. Park Hotels & Resorts announced a $0.25 per share fourth-quarter cash dividend. $0.12 per share of that represents the fourth quarter payment based on 2022 results. Lodging stocks were modestly higher. The only big mover of note was MCG , up 8%.

Morgan Stanley cut their rating on Airbnb to Underweight from Equal Weight, slashing its target price to $80 from $100. Marriott International announced plans to introduce more than 35 luxury hotels in 2023 to its portfolio of luxury brands. STR reported US lodging data for the week ended 12/3. Hotel RevPAR was up 11.7% year over year while up 1.2% versus 2019.

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.

The DJIA fell 91 points, Nasdaq was down 53, the S&P 500 fell 25 points and the 10-year treasury yield rose another .10 to 4.23%. Truist believes the companies most likely to see the greatest degree of earnings outperformance this 3Q earnings season will be those with the highest exposure to the group segment. A new survey from the Hospitality Asset Managers Association painted a somewhat rosy picture for the industry.

While  Golden Week was a bit tarnished for hoteliers in China , it created a breeding ground for Covid cases and that was not a disappointment. The number of Adelaide hotel rooms filled in one night  hit a new high last month. For Macau , a Covid boom means new quarantine and other measures, bringing down the mood after there were 163,000 mainland visitors entering the city during the seven days of Golden Week.