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Briefs: Marriott grows luxury portfolio; Dynamic City Capital acquires Charter Hotel

Marriott grows luxury portfolio in Mexico: All-Inclusive by Marriott Bonvoy has signed three all-inclusive luxury resorts in Mexico with developer AB Living Group. The properties include the 105-key Almare, a Luxury Collection All-Inclusive Resort, Isla Mujeres (to open in 2024); the 283-key JW Marriott All-Inclusive Costa Mujeres (to open in 2026); and the 300-room adults-only W All-Inclusive Costa Mujeres (to open in 2026). The signings mark the first JW Marriott and W Hotel in Costa Mujeres. Encompassing nine brands, the All-Inclusive by Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio includes 30 properties globally.

The Charter Hotel Seattle, Curio Collection by Hilton

Dynamic City Capital acquires Charter Hotel: Provo, Utah-based Dynamic City Capital has acquired The Charter Hotel Seattle, Curio Collection by Hilton. Opened in 2018, the 229-room hotel is the only Curio Collection property in the Seattle/Bellevue market. The 16-story hotel features over 10,000 square feet of event space, a restaurant and a rooftop lounge with water and skyline views.

Social Hub financing: The Social Hub (TSH), formerly The Student Hotel, has reached an agreement for €48.75 million (US$50.47 million) in financing from Santander in Portugal for a 26,600 sqm Porto development alongside Avenue. TSH will offer a 13,467 sqm hotel and student accommodation property in the city center, including 305 rooms, co-working spaces, restaurants and bars, meeting and event spaces, a gym and a rooftop swimming pool. Construction is underway with the opening targeted for Q1 2024. Avenue will be responsible for the residential part of the development, spreading 11,000 sqm with 93 residential units and 16 retail units (3,560 sqm) with the opening targeted for Q2 2023. The development will form the larger renovation of the D. João I square and is part of TSH’s growth strategy that will see it grow its presence to 50 hotels from 25 hotels under ownership today. The current pipeline of TSH in Portugal further includes a development in Lisbon, while TSH is also looking at additional opportunities in the market.

Lotte merger: South Korea’s biggest hotel group, Seoul-based Hotel Lotte, is merging its hotel and resort division to enhance its competitiveness and leverage an expected performance rebound with greater efficiencies. Hotel Lotte will transform from the current four divisions – hotel, duty-free, world and resort – to three divisions. Lotte Hotels and Lotte Resorts recorded US$590 million in cumulative sales up to the third quarter 2022, which is close to pre-COVID 2019 performance. The merger gives Lotte some 34 hotels (11,000 rooms) open or under development. Lotte added that it plans to launch new brands after the merger.

HREC arranges US$83.3M financing for RADCO: HREC Capital Markets Group, Greenwood Village, Colorado, has arranged US$83.3 million in financing for the purchase of six premium-branded select-service hotels in Florida by The RADCO Companies. The 583-key portfolio includes the 84-room Courtyard by Marriott Panama City, 90-room Courtyard by Marriott Pensacola, 128-room Courtyard by Marriott St. Petersburg Downtown, 89-room Hampton Inn Panama City Beach, 109-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Panama City Beach and the 83-room Home2Panama City Beach. The cross-collateralized loan facility served to finance acquisitions from three sellers have funding dates spanning from three weeks. The non-recourse loan facility was provided by a national bank lender and includes a five-year term, a fixed rate, a two-year interest-only period and a US$6.3 million line of credit to fund property enhancements.

First SIRO hotel: Kerzner International Holdings, Dubai, the U.A.E., will debut its lifestyle and fitness hotel brand, SIRO, in Dubai’s One Za’abeel development in the fourth quarter of 2023. The SIRO One Za’abeel will offer fitness and wellbeing programs, with access to guidance and coaching from experts. The hotel will also feature complimentary 3D body scan to evaluate guests’ physical fitness and offer customized coaching. The hotel will include a fitness club, which will be the hotel’s core across two floors and studios for group movement classes. SIRO has also announced British-Somalian boxer Ramla Ali as the next member of Team SIRO, its ambassador program. The hotel will join One&Only One Za’abeel at One Za’abeel. One Za’abeel is being developed by Ithra Dubai, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Investment Corp. of Dubai. The two-tower, mixed-use development will also include One&Only Private Homes, office spaces, a retail podium and a cantilevered building, The Link, which will intersect the two towers.

London ADR recovery report: London’s room rates are set to overcome high inflation, as hotels are able to raise room rates and pass on increasing costs to consumers, according to a recent study by HVS. There has been a stronger recovery partially because of increased consumer demand prompted by two years without spending on commuting, dining out and travel, the fact that consumers have increased levels of savings due to lockdowns and consumers’ eagerness to spend on holiday packages to make up for missed travel opportunities. The ongoing staff crisis has also lifted ADR as many hotels have taken rooms off-sale, reducing occupancy and driving room rates. All these factors have pushed the fastest ADR recovery in any major recession in the U.K. in the past 50 years. Several London hotels will be able to retain the rise in ADR that they gained through the year and mostly compensate for inflation in their 2023 pricing strategies. ADR is expected to continue to rise ahead of inflation, protecting margins and sustaining the trend of the past few decades. 

Airbnb launches feature for sublets: Airbnb, in partnership with multiple major landlords and management companies, will list designated apartment buildings where renters can offer short-term sublets on the site. A new page on the website will list these Airbnb-friendly buildings, enabling tenants to host their apartments like homeowners. Rental buildings usually do not permit tenants from subletting for short-term stays. Airbnb will initially feature 175 apartment buildings in over 25 major markets. The feature will not be available in some cities, like Washington, D.C. and New York City, due to local restrictions on short-term rentals. Apartment buildings can also charge the primary tenant a fee of up to 20% of the price of each use of Airbnb. Hosts in the participating buildings have to be the primary residents, with the buildings able to restrict how many nights per month the apartment can be sublet.

Staybridge Suites’ new happy hour options: IHG’s Staybridge Suites brand has revitalized “The Social,” its happy hour experience, with enhanced offerings that include upscale menus and new drink options. Available at all Staybridge Suites properties across the U.S. and Canada every Monday through Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m., the refreshed program offers 10 rotating menus, offering variety for short-term and long-term guests. As part of the program development, hotel teams submitted menus for consideration, with the Italian Intermezzo dish from the Staybridge Suites St. Louis — Westport being selected as a permanent addition to the menu. Staybridge Suites in the U.S. will also have a new beverage program, including beer from Anheuser-Busch and wine from AVA Grace Vineyards as part of the complimentary happy hour.

Fire injures 1, damages 2 hotels: One person was injured and several rooms at two hotels on the Quintana Roo island in Mexico’s Holbox were damaged in a fire on Monday night. The fire destroyed nearly 60 rooms at the Casa Las Tortugas and Posada Mawimbi hotels and damaged a restaurant. Casa Las Tortugas was completely destroyed in the fire. The fire is believed to be caused by a gas tank explosion and spread quickly due the materials — palm leaves and wood — used to build the beachfront hotels.

HLS adds 2 AmeriVu: Hospitality Lodging Systems (HLS), Atlanta, Georgia, has added two AmeriVu-branded hotels to its portfolio. The hotels include a 61-key former Fairfield Inn in Grand Forks, North Dakota and an 80-key former Super 8 in Aberdeen, North Carolina. This marks 23 AmeriVu hotels operational across nine states. Apart from the AmeriVu properties, HLS has 36 Budgetel Inns & Suites across 10 states and China, along with 12 Haven Hotel properties in nine states.

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