A quick roundup of global hospitality news.
KIRKWOOD COLLECTION ACQUIRES 3 HOTELS IN CALIFORNIA: Kirkwood Collection, the luxury boutique hotel group, has acquired three luxury properties in Palm Springs, Calif. Kirkwood partnered with Somera Capital Management on the acquisition. Other details of the transaction were not disclosed. All located in downtown Palm Springs, the three new additions are the 18-room La Serena Villas, 17-key Del Marcos Hotel and 10-room The Three Fifty Hotel. These hotels will grow Kirkwood’s Greater Palm Springs portfolio to five properties and bring the group’s portfolio to 10 boutique properties across California.
MOXY HOTELS OPENS IN NORWAY’S TROMSO: Moxy Hotels, the experiential hotel brand part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 31 brands, has opened Moxy Tromso in Norway. The hotel, operated by Core Hospitality A/S, is the northernmost property in Marriott Bonvoy’s global portfolio. Offering views of the fjord and mountains, the newly-built 208-room hotel is designed by Danish designers from Mette Fredskild Studio. The hotel includes Sky Bar Moxy, a social space that also serves as the hotel’s front desk, a rooftop terrace on the 11th floor and an indoor lounge.
LONDON’S REVPAR PEAKS: The hotel industry in London posted a record RevPAR since October 2022, as per preliminary May data from STR.
- Occupancy: 80.5% (+3.5%)
- ADR: £204.52/$257.15 (+18.9%)
- RevPAR: £164.54/$206.88 (+23.1%)
So far, May is the first month this year when ADR exceeded £200 ($251.46). Additionally, occupancy levels were also the highest in London since November 2022. Occupancy peaked on May 23 and 27 (92.5%), one of the three bank holiday weekends in the U.K., resulting in extended vacation travel. The market’s daily occupancy levels were more than 60% through May, with only May 8 reporting lower occupancy (57.7%).
THOMPSON HOTELS’ ITALIAN DEBUT: Hyatt Hotels Corp., through one of its affiliates, has entered into a franchise agreement with Botteghe Oscure s.r.l., a company affiliated with AG Groups s.r.l., to introduce the Thompson Hotels brand in Italy with Thompson Rome. Slated to open by mid-2024, the luxury lifestyle hotel will have 70 rooms and will be the brand’s second hotel in Europe after the 2022 opening of Thompson Madrid. The building which will house Thompson Rome was the former headquarters of the Italian Communist Party. The 1930s-built building will be restored and enhanced to open as Thompson Rome. The hotel will feature four dining options, a fitness center and two meeting rooms. This hotel joins Hyatt’s five other properties in Italy, which were added to the group’s portfolio in the last four years. Thompson Rome will be the seventh Hyatt-branded hotel in Italy and the second in Rome.
TRAVELODGE TO BE PUT UP FOR SALE: Travelodge, the budget hotel chain, will be put for sale for more than £1 billion ($1.25 billion) as its owners look to cash in on a post-COVID surge in demand. Its owner, American asset management company GoldenTree which acquired the hotel chain in 2012, is believed to be in talks with investment banks for a potential sale and is considering a £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) price tag for 595 properties. This comes after Travelodge’s two other backers, Goldman Sachs and New York-based Avenue Capital, recently sold their stakes in the business to GoldenTree. Since it opened its first location thin e U.K. in 1985, Travelodge has changed hands several times.