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Briefs: No dice, ICE | Resort fee kerfuffle

We aren’t detention centers, hotels say: Marriott International and Choice Hotels are at least two major U.S. hotel companies that have said they won’t honor any U.S. government requests to turn their hotels into detention centers to house immigrants targeted in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials last weekend. “Our hotels are not configured to be detention facilities, but to be open to guests and community members as well,” Marriott International wrote in a statement late last week. “While we have no particular insights into whether the U.S. government is considering the use of hotels to aid in the situation at the border, Marriott has made the decision to decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities.”

Read more at The Hill

Don’t read the comments, Arne: Marriott International’s Arne Sorenson caused a predictable stir with comments on resort fees (see link below) during an interview with LinkedIn’s editor in chief: He said the fees aren’t going anywhere any time soon, despite his company being sued by the District of Columbia attorney general, who claims the fees hide the true price of hotel rooms. Sorenson also compared the fees to baggage fees charged by airlines. Cue the snark.

Margaritaville West: REIT Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Margaritaville Holdings will open the brand’s first West Coast resort, in San Diego. The Margaritaville Island Resort San Diego is expected to open in 2020 on 44-acre Vacation Island in Mission Bay, currently the Paradise Point Resort & Spa. The property will undergo a US$35 million renovation into 462 casita-style single-story guestrooms with a mile of beachfront.

Blackstone buys in Chicago: The Blackstone Group paid US$40.9 million for the 337-room Courtyard by Marriott Downtown/River North in Chicago. Maryland-based Host Hotels & Resorts was the seller, which is also seeking to sell two other Chicago-area Marriotts still on the market, according to the Real Deal.

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Report from Phuket: Over 8,337 hotel-managed residences are in Phuket, Thailand’s pipeline, according to C9 Hotelworks. That’s a total of 55 properties or 15,348 keys in the pipeline, representing 18% growth in the next five years from the existing supply of 84,707 keys. Of the total 55 pipeline properties, more than 45% are hotel residence developments with either mandatory or optional rental management programs. Management and franchise offerings with international brands and operators are on the rise. “With the Phuket tourism market in a mature cycle, the massive hotel pipeline has raised oversupply concerns for both existing hotels and projects under development, with increasing stress on island infrastructure inevitable,” says C9 Managing Director Bill Barnett.

Singapore hotel changes hands: DataPulse Technology of Singapore is buying a 5% stake in the Bay Hotel Singapore for about US$12.1 million. A unit of the company formed a consortium with PAM Holdings I (BVI) to purchase the property from Fiesta Development and Bay Hotel & Resort for US$235 million.

PAM Holdings I (BVI) is owned equally by Breezy Path, a subsidiary of Trade Dragon Global, and Acquisition Pam (BVI).

Read more in the Straits Times

Hilton Vienna acquired: A Korean consortium including Hana Financial Investment Co., NH Investment & Securities Co. and Meritz Securities Co. acquired Hilton Vienna hotel in Austria for US$375 million, according to a Korean news service. The consortium intends to spend US$75 on a remodel of the 660-room hotel, the largest in the country. The seller is an unnamed Austrian real estate investment company; Hilton will continue to manage.  

Luxury travel subscription: Inspirato, a vacation rental and destination club, launched what it says is the first luxury travel subscription service. For US$2,500 per month, Inspirato Pass offers access to more than 60,000 vacation homes, hotels, resorts and experiences such as cruises, safaris and sporting events around the world, with no nightly rates, taxes or fees.

W in Argentina: Marriott International’s W brand will make its debut in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2024. The company signed an agreement with GNV Group to locate a hotel within a US$100 million, 34-story, mixed-use tower in the Puerto Madero neighborhood. It’s the third W in South America. W Buenos Aires will  be designed by architect Carlos Ott and local studio BMA.

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