Antitrust suit hits the big guns: A new class-action lawsuit claims to have uncovered an antitrust scheme by major hotel chains, including Choice Hotels, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Marriott and Wyndham, alleging they conspired to reduce competition and raise consumer prices, according to Hagens Berman. Attorneys say millions of consumers have been affected by the years-long anti-competitive practices that cost them billions of dollars. Filed March 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the lawsuit states that defendants engaged in an anti-competitive agreement to eliminate online branded keyword search advertising against each other. This in turn, the suit says, deprives consumers of the free flow of competitive information, raising prices for hotel rooms, and raising the cost of finding hotel rooms.
Alwaleed free, but at what cost? After negotiating the details of his release from house arrest at the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal told Bloomberg TV he was in discussions with the Public Investment Fund, which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, about making joint investments inside the kingdom. The talks, which began before his detention at the Ritz-Carlton, focused around putting his Four Seasons hotels in the PIF’s Red Sea Project on the west coast and entertainment district outside the capital. The prince said he was open to considering investments in Neom, the PIF’s planned futuristic US$500 billion city in Saudi Arabia’s northwest corner, once its basic infrastructure was in place.
Oyo acquires serviced apartments: Indian hospitality company Oyo has acquired Novascotia Boutique Homes. Novascotia’s 350 furnished executive accommodations will now be known as OYO Silverkey, according to a statement on the Novascotia website. By the end of 2018, OYO says it will expand offerings of the serviced apartments to 12 cities.
Tripadvisor may merge listings: Tripadvisor has sent out a communication to hotel owners informing about their plans to merge vacation rental listings with hotels into one unique search result, according to reporting from Spanish trade mag Hosteltur. The platform, which says that the implementation is being done gradually, has said that it will not involve any modification in the individual rankings of each type of accommodation.
Munich-based company gets first in UK: Munich-based Ruby Hotels announced its first property in the UK, which will be located close to London’s Waterloo station. The 76-room Ruby Lucy is set to open by the end of 2019, and will be housed within a new-build property. Details about the hotel are unclear, but Ruby Hotels describes itself as a “Lean Luxury” brand, focusing on “being connected, sleeping and freshening up.”
Harvest Inn partners with Woodside: Napa Valley-based Harvest Inn today entered into a partnership with Woodside Hotel Group. City-Core Hospitality and its principals, Rick Kaufman and Andrew Garay, will retain ownership of Harvest Inn with Woodside managing the day-to-day operations for the St. Helena destination. The new Harvest Inn–Woodside Hotel Group relationship is effective immediately.
Tin Lhasa plans: Tin Hotels International Group (the joint venture partnership between General Hotel Management and Van de Bunt Partners) signed a management agreement with China’s Tibet Da’ji Hotel Co. to develop a Tin hotel within the Tibet Autonomous Region. Currently, details of Tin Lhasa are still being worked out by all parties.
Looking good for U.S. hotels in February: The U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during February 2018, according to data from STR.
In a year-over-year comparison with February 2017, the industry posted the following:
- Occupancy: +1.2% to 61.7%
- ADR: +2.3% to US$126.38
- RevPAR: +3.5% to US$78.02
Among the top 25 markets, Super Bowl LII host Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, experienced the only double-digit rise in occupancy (+13.0% to 64.6%) and the largest increases in ADR (+47.0% to US$158.26) and RevPAR (+66.0% to US$102.29). Miami/Hialeah, Florida, posted the only other double-digit lift in ADR (+12.1% to US$260.17), which drove the month’s second-highest rise in RevPAR (+17.2% to US$226.19).