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Briefs: LaSalle 2Q | Hot in Scotland

LaSalle quarterlies: Bethesda, Maryland-base LaSalle Hotel Properties reported 2Q 2018 results: Net income was US$31.6 million, a 43% decline from the same quarter a year ago. Second-quarter RevPAR grew 1.7% to US$231, driven by a 1.1% increase in ADR to US$261 and an occupancy growth of 0.6% to 88.6%. Excluding hotels managed by Kimpton and Marriott, RevPAR increased 3.7% versus last year (both companies are working on systems integrations with IHG and Starwood, respectively). A shareholder vote is set for September 6 to determine whether its proposed acquisition by Blackstone moves forward.

 


 

Rentals versus hotels: Holiday rentals in the U.K. showed lower occupancy, higher prices and different seasonal trends than hotels in the market, according to an STR analysis comparing three years of market-level data (2015-17) from STR’s hotel performance database, using holiday rental data from online booking and reservation system SuperControl. Some findings: U.K. hotel occupancy was 35.5 percentage points higher than holiday rental occupancy during 2017. However, both accommodation types saw similar moderate growth in occupancy over the last three years. Conversely, U.K. holiday rental rates were 25% higher than hotel average daily rate in 2017. This is a result of holiday rentals offering more bedrooms than hotels. As a result of the leisure nature of its demand, seasonality disproportionately affects the holiday rental sector.

 


 

Meanwhile, at Expedia: Expedia plans to add more house listings to its HomeAway unit to catch up to behemoth competitors like Airbnb, according to Bloomberg. “Phase one was just getting the platform working and getting people online,” CEO Mark Okerstrom said. “Phase two is about property acquisition.” HomeAway generates about US$300 million in revenue a quarter, or about 10% of Expedia’s total. 

 


Scottish investment: Investment into Scottish hotels in the first half of 2018 reached £389.7 million (US$502.8 million), according to real estate adviser Savills, doubling the total annual investment volumes recorded in 2017. Investment was spread across 10 individual transactions, mostly of up to £10 million; however, the Caledonian Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Edinburgh’s sale price was £85 million (US$109.7 million). U.K. buyers were the biggest buying group, accounting for 41% of activity, followed by Middle Eastern investors (22% of transactional volume), Israeli investors (16%), US investors (8%), Canadian Investors (7%), Singaporean investors (5%) and German investors (1%).

 


Crescent in Philadelphia: The 229-room Embassy Suites by Hilton Philadelphia Valley Forge is now being managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts.

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