Brookfield selling WoodSpring?: Brookfield Asset Management reportedly is considering selling its 92-unit WoodSpring Suites extend-stay hotel portfolio, which could reap a US$1.5 billion return, according to a Bloomberg report. Brookfield acquired the high-margin properties with some 11,000 rooms three years ago from PE firm Lindsay Goldberg for US$707 million. According to The Highland Group, extended-stay hotel demand increased by 25% in 3Q21 with occupancy hitting 78.8%.
Valor announces JV with Yamed Group: Valor Hospitality Partners, Atlanta, Georgia, has formed a joint venture with Yamed Group, Casablanca, Morocco, to create Valor North & West Africa. Through the joint venture, Yamed aims to develop a regional platform in the hospitality sector covering Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal and Ivory Coast. The joint venture comes after Yamed announced the reorganization of the company, including the launch of two new businesses. The partnership will enable global hotel brands to have an alternative to the traditional direct management structure.
Soho House hotel in Hollywood: Soho House will be opening Little House, a 34-room hotel in the former Palihouse building in West Hollywood, California, in 2022. The hotel, located close to the West Hollywood club, will also feature club spaces, a rooftop, andHouse a Studio for members to create content and a restaurant. The hotel will mark Soho House’s fifth property in Los Angeles. The building which will house the hotel was purchased for US$24.9 million in early 2020 by private investment firm Yucaipa Companies. Since 2012, Yucaipa has owned a majority stake in Soho House.
US performance improves: Hotel performance in the U.S. improved slightly from the earlier week, according to STR’s latest data through November 13.
- Occupancy: 61.6% (-3.9%)
- ADR: US$129.98 (+2.6%)
- RevPAR: US$80.02 (-1.4%)
Among the top 25 markets, only Norfolk/Virginia Beach saw an increase in occupancy over 2019 (+8.8% to 60.6%). San Francisco/San Mateo saw the steepest occupancy decline from 2019 (-35.8% to 55.8%), while New Orleans reported the largest increase in ADR (+35.3% to US$192.95). The largest RevPAR deficits were in San Francisco/San Mateo (-55.6% to US$93.55) and Chicago (-38.5% to US$66.78).
Middle East pipeline dips: The total number of pipeline hotel projects in the Middle East increased over the previous quarter, project counts dipped 6% and room counts fell 19% YOY at the end of Q3 2021, according to the latest Middle East Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics. Projects under construction stand at 350 projects/108,244 rooms, dipping 3% by projects and 8% by rooms YOY. Projects expected to begin construction in the next 12 months fell 8% by projects and 10% by rooms YOY to end the third quarter at 78 projects/18,682 rooms. Saudi Arabia led as the country with the highest number of projects (194 projects/66,885 rooms), followed by the U.A.E. (146 projects/40,846 rooms) and Egypt (67 projects/15,892 rooms) and Qatar (62 projects/14,859 rooms). Continuing to lead the construction pipeline in the U.A.E. is Dubai, with 111 projects/32,369 rooms. About 47% of the projects in the pipeline belong to three leading franchise companies — Hilton Worldwide with 95 projects/24,963 rooms, followed by Accor (90 projects/26,052 rooms) and Marriott International (73 projects/21,770 rooms).
Business travel set to rise in 2022: Global prices of air travel, ground travel and hotels is expected to rise in the next two years, boosted by increasing demand, capacity constraints, travelers’ sustainability demands and hike in labor and fuel costs, according to the seventh annual Global Business Travel Forecast published by CWT and the Global Business Travel Association. Global economy is projected to grow 5.9% in 2021 and 4.9% in 2022, which means growth for business travel. However, macroeconomic forces, government policy and COVID-19 protocols will impact pricing. Hotel prices are slated to rise 13% globally in 2022, followed by a 10% rise in 2023. Prices will, however, take some time to return to 2019 levels. With air prices likely to rise 3.3% in 2022 and 3.4% in 2023, airline capacity is not likely to return to pre-pandemic levels till 2023 or 2024.
Melia, Falcon’s Beyond Global form JV: Melia Hotels International, Palma, Spain, has entered into a joint venture with Falcon’s Beyond Global, Orlando, Florida, to build and develop Katmandu, a theme park, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, along with an entertainment, dining and retail destination. The theme park is scheduled to open in fall 2022 and will feature a suspended theatre. A total of US$350 million will be invested both by Melia and Falcon’s Beyond Global. As part of the investment, Melia will renovate two of the Paradisus properties in Punta Cana, including a rebuild of Paradisus Punta Cana, its first resort in the destination. The renovations of the existing hotels is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Dreamscape acquires in Charleston: Dreamscape Companies, New York City, announced the acquisition of boutique hotel The Saint Hotel Charleston in Downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The acquisition marks Dreamscape’s debut in Charleston. Aimbridge Hospitality will manage the 45-room hotel which will feature a restaurant and a 1,350 square feet penthouse suite with an outdoor terrace overlooking East Bay Street.
Interstate to manage Mercure Newport: Interstate Hotels & Resorts, the international division of Aimbridge Hospitality, has been announced as the management company to run the 130-room Mercure Newport Hotel in Wales, U.K. Hotel owners Garrison Barclay Estates signed Interstate to operate the new hotel, which is slated to open in Q1 2022. The 15-story hotel is part of a multimillion-pound redevelopment plan of the Chartist Tower, the city’s tallest building, into a travel, leisure and business destination. The building will see 30,000 square feet of office space and 18,000 square feet of retail space. Currently, Interstate’s pan-European portfolio comprises 129 properties, including the pipeline, in the U.K., western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia/CIS.
HVMG adds to portfolio: Hospitality Ventures Management Group (HVMG), Atlanta, Georgia, has assumed operations of the 80-key DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Atlanta — Alpharetta, which is owned by RADCO, an Atlanta-headquartered national real estate company. This is HVMG’s sixth Atlanta-based addition in the past 90 days and the 13th overall one in the area. HVMG currently operates 53 hotels and one convention center across 17 states, with a total of 8,425 rooms.
Wyndham, Trip.com sign agreement: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Trip.com have entered a strategic global agreement. Under the agreement, Wyndham’s portfolio of around 9,000 hotels across 22 brands, of which 1,600 hotels are located in the Asia Pacific region where Wyndham has a strong presence, will be available for booking on Trip.com. Both companies will increase its collaboration on travel marketing initiatives and a host of campaigns like 618 Sales, Ctrip Member Day, 99 Hotel Festival, etc. The agreement will strengthen both the companies’ alliance in Greater China to support the rising demands from Chinese travelers.
Increased demand for trade show equipment: There has been a continued increase in demand in the sourcing of trade show equipment and restaurant and hotel supplies, as businesses prepare for the complete reopening of the economy, according to the Alibaba.com October B2B Pulse. Between October 2020 to October 2021, businesses in the U.S. saw increased spending in commercial service equipment (up 101%), restaurant and hotel supplies (up 167%), trade show equipment (308%) and vending machines (231%). Top growth categories indicated that toys and hobbies (92% rise) and lights and lighting equipment (increase of 47%) are also seeing continued growth in sourcing.
Revenue strategy insights: Hotels need to stop making 2019 the benchmark to recovery as the year was the best year ever for the hospitality industry and comparing 2019 to 2022 doesn’t make for a fair comparison, according to the ‘Strategy Before Forecast: open Up You Revenue’ report by Duetto, which includes counsel from global industry leaders. Although 2020 data was not reliable, comparing 2019 with 2022 will be unfair as segmentation, consumer booking behavior and demand patterns have somewhat stabilized in 2021, wrote Lloyd Biddle, director of Enterprise Solutions, Duetto. The hotel industry needs to take a step back and think of how to support sustainability. Stating that hotels should take a zero-based budgeting approach to 2022, Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services, CBRE, said budget should be planned differently as the hotel stay will be a different product in 2022 from 2019. Hotels need to take a ground-up approach and consider creative solutions.