Sharaan in the works: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched on Sunday a mega tourism project in Al Ula, including a resort designed by a renowned French architect and a nature reserve, called Sharaan. The resort which will include residential estates, a summit center, a spa and restaurants, will be designed by Jean Nouvel, the French architect who designed the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It will be built in a valley deep inside the Sharaan Nature Reserve, which will restore the region’s natural desert habitats, including the Arabian leopard, with the help of local rangers trained by international experts. Construction is expected to begin in early 2020, and is expected to be completed in 2023.
LVMH hires Boyens: French luxury giant LVMH, which recently acquired the Belmond portfolio of luxury hotels, reportedly has hired Christian Boyens, general manager of the Ritz Paris, to join its hotel management company and develop the City Hotels division starting in Los Angeles, Paris and London. Boyens oversaw the four-year renovation of the Ritz Paris and re-opened the hotel in June 2016.
Indian Hotels expanding: The Indian Hotels Company Limited is introducing its Taj brand to Alwar in Rajasthan. This will be the twelfth IHCL branded hotel in the state. The hotel will comprise 170 rooms including 50 branded villas. It is set to open in 2022. The company also signed a management contract for two hotels in Goa, taking over the 207 key Cidade de Goa which will form a part of the SeleQtions portfolio – a named collection of hotels and resorts with a distinct character. An additional 299 rooms which are under construction, will be added to the same complex under the Taj brand scheduled to open by the end of this year.
Leelaventure shares up: Shares of Hotel Leelaventure were up over 3% on Monday after reports that the company’s deal with Brookfield Asset Management was concluded. Brookfield will buy four hotels and a land parcel owned by the company, which marks Brookfield’s entry into India’s hospitality sector.
Interstate in San Jose: Interstate Hotels & Resorts will manage the Hayes Mansion San Jose in Northern California – a property recently acquired by JMA Ventures, a San Francisco based full-service investment and development firm focusing on real estate and leisure-lifestyle assets. An extensive multi-million-dollar remodel and repositioning is anticipated to commence in late 2019.
Park selling in Phoenix: In its first publicly announced property trade of 2019, Park Hotels & Resorts sold the 563-room Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix for US$51.4 million. The Squaw Peak transaction marks another move in Park’s capital recycling program, a strategy designed to increase the lodging REIT’s presence in target markets and decrease its exposure in slower growth areas.
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Meet Millennium Place: Millennium Hotels and Resorts Middle East and Africa has launched a modern hospitality concept, Millennium Place, which will cater to the new generation of business and leisure travelers. The first Millennium Place hotel is set to open in the first half of 2019 and will stand within the bustling district of Dubai Marina and have 453-rooms.
Aleph + Marriott: Dubai-based hospitality management company, Aleph Hospitality has signed a franchise agreement with Marriott International for the first Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Liberia. Located in the capital city, Monrovia, the hotel is due to become the first internationally branded hotel in the country upon opening in 2020 and will be managed by Aleph Hospitality under the Four Points by Sheraton brand.
MCR in Chicago: Owner-operator MCR has acquired the 116-room Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago/Waukegan. The new Hampton by Hilton hotel is less than an hour from Chicago O’Hare International Airport and within five miles of the Naval Station Great Lakes — the U.S. Navy’s largest training facility and the site of its only boot camp.
London performance up: STR’s preliminary January 2019 data for London indicates record performance levels.
Based on daily data from the month, London reported the following in year-over-year comparisons:
Supply: +2.3%
Demand: +4.8%
Occupancy: +2.4% to 71.7%
ADR: +3.2% to GBP131.92 (US$171)
RevPAR: +5.7% to GBP94.60 (US$122)
The absolute occupancy, ADR and RevPAR levels are the highest for any January in STR’s London database. STR analysts note that daily data shows performance was fueled by the first two days of the year and strong weekday levels.
Not so much in Dubai/UAE: STR’s preliminary January 2019 data for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, indicates performance affected by a continued influx of new room inventory.
Based on daily data from January, Dubai reported the following in year-over-year comparisons:
Supply: +9.3%
Demand: +3.9%
Occupancy: -4.9% to 82.2%
ADR: -11.4% to AED714.01 (US$194)
RevPAR: -15.8% to AED586.79 (US$160)
STR analysts note that year-over-year declines are to be expected with significant supply growth ahead of Expo 2020. Regardless, demand (room nights sold) grew for the fourth consecutive month, and occupancy eclipsed 90% for each of the first three nights of the year.