Taj battle wages on: Though the battle for Taj Mansingh, one of the crown jewels of Indian Hotels Company Ltd. may have got longer, the Tata company is firmly ahead in the race. Some of the prospective bidders, including The Leela Group, have already opted out of the auction. While the auction was expected to be done by January 30, the NDMC recently put out a notice saying: “Prospective bidders are hereby notified that the publication of responses to queries which was scheduled for Wednesday, January 03, 2018 has now been postponed.”
NH rejects Barceló: NH Hotel Group has rejected an unsolicited bid from Barceló Group, according to a statement from the company’s board of directors. The statement also said: “The board also emphasizes that this bid does not condition or impede the analysis of other strategic opportunities in the future, all of which would be evaluated on the basis of the real value they stand to generate for NH Hotel Group’s shareholders, within the framework of consolidation trends prevailing in the hotel industry.”
Viceroy Los Cabos: Viceroy Hotel Group will open a property in Los Cabos, Mexico. Viceroy Los Cabos will open in spring, having taken over management of Hotel Mar Adentro, originally created by Mexican architect Miguel Angel Aragonés. The hotel marks the group’s 14th property and will be a member of The Viceroy Icon Collection.
Cali mud damage: At least two hotels in Montecito, California have been evacuated due to mudslides. The Montecito Inn has reported that it suffered minor damage. A photo posted to the hotel’s official Twitter account shows that the mudslide reached up to the hotel’s entrance. The Four Seasons Biltmore, which just reopened in January following the Thomas wildfire that struck the area in December, announced that it would be closed until further notice due to the flooding and mudslide.
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Sunstone sells two: REIT Sunstone Hotel Investors sold the 289-room Marriott Philadelphia and the 464-room Marriott Quincy for a combined gross sale price of US$139 million, or approximately US$184,600 per key.
California Carlyle in hot water: Southern California apartment complexes that doubled as “maternity hotels” for Chinese women who want American-born babies were raided early Tuesday, capping an unprecedented federal sting operation, officials said. Homeland Security agents raided The Carlyle, a luxury property in Irvine, California, which housed pregnant women and new moms who allegedly forked over US$40,000 to US$80,000 to give birth in the United States. The organizers who allegedly ran the Carlyle site, Chao Chen and Dong Li, used a website to drum up business, touting the benefits of a child with U.S. citizenship.