Belgium

Choice Hotels International is expanding its portfolio of solutions for its extended-stay hotel conversions with the introduction of Lobby in a Box, a modular design package.

Somm Hotel and Spa in Woodinville, Washington, part of Marriott's Autograph Collection, is set to open in the summer of 2025 as part of a $700 million development. Home2 Suites by Hilton Houston/Katy in Texas completed renovations, featuring upgraded guestrooms and amenities. The Balbin Bros. Cigar Factory in Tampa, Florida, is undergoing transformation into a 70-room boutique hotel, aiming to open by March 2025 while preserving its historical value.

Stock market performance: DJIA was up 86 points, Nasdaq up 158 points, and S&P 500 rose 33 points, while lodging stocks mostly declined. Wells Fargo raised target prices on lodging stocks, including RHP, APLE, HST , and DHR , maintaining their ratings. Various hotels underwent renovations, including Courtyard Louisville Airport and Chancellor's House Hotel , while new hotels were announced, such as the Hampton Inn & Suites in Pittsburgh and Riversuites in Philadelphia.

Upper upscale hotels, the property types most associated with business travel, are well represented in the U.S. development pipeline . According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index Travel Study 2022-2023, satisfaction across all four industries measured, airlines, hotels, car rentals, and online travel agencies, is up . STR reported US lodging data for the week ended 4/15. US hotel RevPAR was up 8.6% year over year.

The DJIA jumped 551 points today while Nasdaq was up 354, the S&P 500 was up 95 points and the 10-year treasury yield was up .01 at 4.02%. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index fell -9.1% in September. Despite continued strong RevPAR, both year over year and 2019 comps, the stock index has dropped -20.6% in the first 9 months of the year. Driftwood Capital broke ground on the Element by Westin , a new 130-key extended-stay hotel located on prime oceanfront property in Melbourne, FL .