It’s sure got purpose: Horst Schulze’s WP Hospitality Group will manage the fledgling, Nashville-based Purpose Hotel, a completely crowd-funded venture now taking its first steps into reality. Hastings Architecture will be in charge of the primary design aiming for an open of 2022. The idea, the brainchild of photographer Jeremy Cowart, is that everything within the hotel – from blankets to soap, internet access to furniture – will help fight cyclical issues through domestic and international partnerships.
A potential billion-dollar deal: Billionaire Michael Dell’s MSD Partners is under contract to purchase the waterfront 1,047-room Boca Raton Resort & Club from the Blackstone Group. The deal is expected to close at the end of the second quarter. First developed in 1926, the 337-acre resort includes two 18-hole golf courses, a 50,000-square-foot spa, seven swimming pools, 30 tennis courts, a full-service 32-slip marina, 13 restaurants and bars, and 200,000 square feet of meeting space. MSD declined to provide a sale price, but it could be one of the biggest hotel sales to close in South Florida. At US$1 million a key, the property could trade for more than US$1 billion.
Jet setting: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts will launch a private jet in early 2021. A new 48-seat A321LR aircraft, part of the new Airbus NEO family, is being fully customized by Four Seasons with the widest and tallest cabin in its class, a lounge area, personal ottomans at each seat to encourage “interaction and comfortable face-to-face connections,” and an additional stage for a series of Four Seasons artisans to host interactive workshops. Passengers will have the opportunity to meet and learn from Four Seasons master chefs and mixologists, wellness experts and artists.
Forbes targets private clubs: Forbes Travel Guide will expand to private clubs, becoming the first global professional training services firm to cater to the sector. The company has enlisted industry and hospitality veteran David Tyson to spearhead the effort as vice president of Private Clubs. Based in Orlando, Tyson has spent the bulk of his career in the private club space. His posts include area general manager for club operations at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa in Jupiter, Florida, and The Abaco Club, a Ritz-Carlton property in the Bahamas, among others.
Dusit managing in Changzhou: Thailand-based Dusit International has signed a hotel management agreement with Changzhou Fudu Longteng Hotel Company Limited to manage the 230-room Dusit Thani Fudu Changjiang Longcheng, Changzhou, a full-service, deluxe hotel in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. Represented in China by Dusit Fudu Hotels and Resorts, Dusit International currently operates six hotels in China and has 28 properties in the pipeline. Besides Dusit Thani Fudu Changjiang Longcheng, Changzhou, three more new hotels are set to open this year, including Dusit Thani Sandalwoods Resort Shuangyue Bay Huizhou, Guangdong; Dusit Thani Wetland Park Resort, Nanjing, Jiangsu; and Dusit Thani Wellness Resort Suzhou, Jiangsu.
Wyndham marketing campaign: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has launched a new integrated marketing campaign connecting its entire portfolio of brands. This is the company’s first such campaign since it became a pure-play hotel franchising and hotel management company in June 2018. Conceived in partnership with leading global advertising agency DDB and produced by Stink Films, the U.S. campaign visualizes relatable travel scenarios – from visiting a child at college, to traveling for business, and taking the family on memory-making vacations – which everyday travelers experience. The campaign will run through September
Positive results for U.S. in Q1: The U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during Q1 2019, according to data from STR.
In a year-over-year comparison with Q1 2018, the industry posted the following:
Occupancy: +0.4% to 61.8%
ADR: +1.1% to US$129.02
RevPAR: +1.5% to US$79.68
Demand (+2.4%) outgrew supply (+2.0%) for the quarter, and the absolute values in each of the three key performance metrics were the highest for any Q1 on record. However, year-over-year performance growth came in below projected levels.