KSL sells famed UK golf resort: Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Cedar Capital Partners, London, on Thursday announced the acquisition of The Belfry Hotel & Resort located near Birmingham in the U.K. from an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners, which owned the property for about 10 years. The price of the sale was not disclosed. The Belfry, with its three 18-hole golf courses and a four-time host of the Ryder Cup, features 320 guest rooms, five restaurants, a spa and multiple leisure amenities. The new owners plan to renovate the property.
PPHE debuts in Italy: PPHE Hotel Group, Guernsey, U.K., has acquire the 4-star Londra & Cargill Hotel in Rome, marking the group’s debut in the Italian market. The deal has been structured as a share sale of the company, which owns the freehold hotel and its operations, from some members of the De Romanis family for €34.5 million (US$39.82 million), subject to working capital and other price adjustments, resulting in €33.2 million (US$38.32 million) payable by PPHE. The acquisition was funded by PPHE’s excess cash position, which will be partly refinanced with external bank debt. On completion of the acquisition, PPHE will relaunch the 101-room property as an upper upscale lifestyle hotel. The hotel is slated to reopen in early 2023.
Marriott to launch W in Jumeirah Beach: Marriott International has signed an agreement with wasl Hospitality & Leisure, a subsidiary of wasl Asset Management Group, to launch the W Hotels Worldwide brand in Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach coastline. Slated to open in 2022, the 31-story W Dubai – Mina Seyahi will feature 318 rooms (including 26 suites) and an Extreme WOW Suite (the brand’s version of a presidential suite). Marriott’s currently operates six properties and residences under the W Hotels brand in the Middle East. The W Dubai – Mina Seyahi will be the brand’s second property in Dubai.
U.S. performance improves slightly: Performance in the U.S. saw a slight increase from the previous week, according to STR’s latest data from October 31 through November 6 (compared to 2019 results).
- Occupancy: 59.8% (-13%)
- ADR: US$128.14 (-3.2%)
- RevPAR: US$76.61 (-15.8%)
Although none of the top 25 markets reported a rise in occupancy over 2019, Norfolk/Virginia Beach came closest to its 2019 comparable (-5.2% to 59.9%). Oahu Island saw the steepest occupancy decline from 2019 (-45% to 46.5%), while Miami reported the largest ADR increase when compared with 2019 (+13.6% to US$205.56). San Francisco/San Mateo reported the highest RevPAR deficits (-57.7% to US$90.33) and Washington, D.C. (-49.2% to US$73.03).
Highline Hospitality acquires KC Marriott: Highline Real Estate Partners subsidiary, Highline Hospitality Partners, New York, announced the addition of its fourth hotel property with the acquisition of the 970-key Kansas City Marriott Hotel Downtown in Missouri. Aimbridge Hospitality will be managing the hotel. Following a US$40 million investment, the hotel was renovated in late 2019, and Highline plans additional innovative renovations to the public space and food and beverage outlets over the next 24 months.
Dream Hotel debut in Louisville: Dream Hotel Group, New York, will debut its Dream Hotels brand in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2025. The hotel will be developed by Royal Investments LLC, Nashville, Tennessee, marking their second Dream Hotel destination after the launch of Dream Nashville in 2019. The 168-key Dream Louisville will be designed by CUBE3, Miami, Florida, with the interiors being developed by Josh Held and WATG. The announcement follows the signings of Dream Oklahoma City and Unscripted Oklahoma City announced earlier this week. Dream Hotel’s portfolio currently comprises 16 hotels and more than 20 locations in various stages of development globally.
Legendary Capital acquires in Houston: Legendary Capital, Fargo, North Dakota, announced that one of its affiliates has acquired the 182-key Hilton Garden Inn Houston/Bush Intercontinental Airport, Texas. Aimbridge Hospitality will manage the property. Through its affiliated entities, Legendary Capital has acquired 26 hotels and primarily targets 80- to 200-key hotels in America’s heartland.
AGO adds three properties: AGO Hotels, Hertfordshire, England, has added hotels in Bracknell, Gloucester and Thurrock in the U.K. The hotels that will operate under AGO alternative lease platform are the 4-star, 80-key former Grange Bracknell Hotel, the 60-key Orchard Hotel Gloucester and the 47-room former Travelodge Thurrock M25. AGO is still looking at the best new brand fits for the properties. The addition of these properties has increases AGO’s number of rooms by more than 90% within 10 months. The company now operates in 14 locations and 1,000 rooms in Wales, England and Scotland. Since its launch in 2020, AGO has grown to a team of nearly 200 employees and reported a 28% increase in occupancy across its portfolio in Q3 2021, as compared to Q2 2021. AGO’s first brand partnership resulted in the rebranding of nine economy hotels under Accor’s economy brand, ibis budget.
Berlin requires vaccination for entertainment venues: Berlin, Germany, is set to ban unvaccinated people from entering restaurants, bars, cinemas and other leisure venues from next week. The city’s Senate announced on Wednesday it had expanded the “2G” rule that bars people without double shots of the COVID vaccine from entering several entertainment sites in Berlin. Unvaccinated adults will also be barred from any outdoor events with more than 2,000 people. The move comes at a time when the country is grappling with the highest surge in COVID-19 cases so far and low inoculation rates.
Wyndham launches The Meetings Collection: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has launched The Meetings Collection, initially debuting with eight hotel and resorts across the U.S. The collection was developed to offer streamlined way to book multi-year meetings at different hotels across the collection. The portfolio provides planners with over 900,000 collective square feet of meeting space and more than 4,400 guest rooms. The Wyndham Rewards points will be applicable when booking two or more than three meetings.