Vail Resorts announces new CEO: Vail Resorts, the Broomfield, Colorado-based resort company, announced that its company’s chief marketing officer, Kirsten Lynch, will be appointed as the chief executive officer and elected to the company’s board of directors, effective November 1. Rob Katz, the company’s current chief executive officer, will be appointed as executive chairperson of the board. Additionally, Ryan Bennett, the current vice president of marketing, lift revenue, will be named chief marketing officer.
Azora buys in Algarve: Madrid-based Azora European Hotel & Lodging fund has acquired its fourth property, the luxury, 118-room Vilalara Thalassa Resort in Porches, part of the Portuguese region of the Algarve. The hotel is operated by the Blue & Green company. The fund, which was launched in July 2020 after raising €680 million, has a capacity to invest more than €1.5 billion in leisure hotel assets across Europe. The initial European seed portfolio includes 10 resorts and four urban properties.
Chicago icon for sale: JLL has been retained to market for sale the iconic Drake Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, which offers an opportunity to redevelop one of Chicago’s most recognizable and prestigious landmarks. This is the first time in over 100 years that the controlling fee simple interest in the property has been offered for sale. The property is owned by four separate entities subject to a tenant in common (TIC) ownership agreement. JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality and Capital Markets groups are representing the two majority TIC members which, combined, own a 90% fee-simple interest in the hotel. The remaining 10% interest is being concurrently marketed by another advisor.
Life House adds in SF: Tech-enabled independent hotel operator Life House announced it has added management of the Metro Hotel in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, California. This property represents the second hotel Life House has added to its Northern California portfolio this year following its transition earlier this year of Casa Secoya, a lifestyle hotel on the banks of the Russian River in Sonoma Wine Country, with multiple other projects in advanced negotiation throughout the region. It is targeting 10 properties under management in the state prior to year-end.
AHLA secures changes to loan program: The American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Biden administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration collaborated to expand and improve the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EDIL) program for the hotel industry, which was heavily impacted by COVID-19. The changes in the hotel loan program include:
- Raising the loan cap to US$2 million per property
- Raising the aggregate loan cap to US$10 million
- Waiving the program’s affiliation rules to mirror those of the Paycheck Protection Program
- A low 3.75% interest rate over a 30-year fixed amortization period
- Waiving the credit-elsewhere requirement
- Allowing use of funds to pay down prior commercial debt and to make monthly Principal and Interest payments toward federal debt
The application period for the revised EIDL period begins the week of August 16. Information on how to apply for the loan is here.
Kempinski relaunches BE Health: Kempinski Hotels, the luxury hotel management company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, has relaunched its corporate social responsibility program, BE Health, and extended its scope. Instead of exclusively focusing on diseases like tuberculosis, HIV and malaria, BE Health will now include all communicable and non-communicable diseases. This allows all Kempinski hotels to globally set up a local CSR project in line with local health needs and provides the opportunity to create, implement, raise funds and spend these for a local public health concern under the name of BE Health.
IHCL narrows loss margin: Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. reported a narrowing of its consolidated net loss to ₹301.58 crore (US$40 million) for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. The company had posted a net loss of ₹312.60 crore (US$42 million) for the corresponding period in the previous financial year. Its consolidated total income stood at ₹370.30 crore (US$49.7 million) for the quarter under consideration. It was ₹175.34 crore (US$23.5 million) for the same period a year ago.
Anantara resort to World Islands Dubai: Minor Group’s Anantara hotel brand announced the upcoming launch of the 70-key Anantara World Islands Dubai Resort in Q4 of 2021. The resort will be the first hotel in the South American continent of the World Islands development. The island will be exclusively dedicated to the resort, with guests accessing the property by boat from the jetty at Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort.
Piero Lissoni partners with AKA in New York: AKA, the hospitality division of Korman Communities, has partnered with Italian architect and designer Piero Lissoni of Lissoni & Partners and Lissoni New York to lead the design transformation of its recently acquired property, the 194-room boutique hotel Roger New York. Slated to open in spring 2022, the project is Lissoni’s debut project in the U.S. AKA acquired the Roger New York under Electra America Hospitality Group, a joint venture with Electra America.