Accor-Amber agreement: France’s Accor and family-owned Amber Property Group of Victoria, Australia, plan a joint venture to develop two new hotels in Melbourne. Amber will own the new-build The Sebel Melbourne Ringwood, with 103 rooms, and Peppers Melbourne Richmond, with 83 rooms, scheduled to open in 2021 and 2022. This is Amber’s first move into the hotel arena; its development portfolio consists of car dealerships and mid- to high-end apartments.
Read more at the Urban Developer
Brand.com winning? July was the first month that Brand.com exceeded the share of hotel room nights booked through every other channel, according to Kalibri Labs’ Hotel Industry Performance Overview. Brand.com produced 26.1% of all room nights booked in July, compared with the next largest channel, property direct, at 24.1%. The percentage of guests who are loyalty program members rose 6% year over year to 53.9% of all room nights booked at hotels with active loyalty programs.
Urbanica nabs Miami property: Urbanica The Hotels acquired a US$40 million, undeveloped beachfront lot in Miami’s North Beach from China City Construction and plan to develop a 20-story, 200-room lifestyle hotel. It’s slated to open in two years. Urbanica has a handful of other hotels in Miami, with plans to open several more.
Ctrip name change: Chinese online travel site Ctrip.com International Ltd. intends to change its name to Trip.com in an effort to reflect a more global approach. It made the announcement in its second-quarter results disclosure, which showed slowing revenue growth in China amid growing competition. Trip.com will target travelers based outside of China; its international revenue accounts for over 35% of the total.
Read the story on Caixin Global
Waldorf Astoria on the block? The Waldorf Astoria Chicago is for sale. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, a debt fund controlled by real estate investment firm Walton Street Capital recently took ownership of the 215-room hotel from a venture of hotelier Laurence Geller and Wanxiang America Real Estate Group through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. It’s unclear how much the Walton Street fund is seeking for the 60-story hotel, which was purchased in 2015 for US$111.9 million. A Geller spokeswoman, however, said Geller Capital Partners sold the hotel in a private, off-market transaction earlier this year.