THE HEATHMAN SELLS FOR $45M: Rockbridge and Aparium Hotel Group have acquired the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Ore. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust sold the hotel for $45 million. Aparium has assumed management of the 151-room hotel, which is located downtown. The hotel includes a lobby library lounge and more than 3,800 square feet of meeting space. The new owners have planned a renovation and repositioning of the hotel and will open a new flagship restaurant and bar on the ground floor, along with a cocktail bar. Pebblebrook said the proceeds from the hotel’s sale will be used for general corporate purposes, which might involve reducing the company’s outstanding debt and repurchasing common and preferred equity shares.
ROSEWOOD ADDS IN RED SEA REGION: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has been selected by Red Sea Global to manage Rosewood Amaala in the Red Sea Region in Saudi Arabia. The hotel will be part of Red Sea Global’s Amaala destination, an integrated wellness destination. Rosewood Amaala will have 110 rooms and suites and 25 luxury Rosewood Residences. The property will also feature dining venues, two rock pools and a spa. Surrounded by the Hijaazi mountains, the property has been designed by architecture company ACPV Architects and Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. Aiming towards sustainability, it will be fully powered by renewable energy. Rosewood Amaala joins Rosewood’s pipeline of projects in the Middle East, which include properties in Doha (to open later this year), Riyadh (to open in 2025) and Red Sea (to open in the future).
JW MARRIOTT HOUSTON COMPLETES RENOVATION: JW Marriott Houston by The Galleria has completed the last phase of its multi-million-dollar renovation of rooms, suites and corridors. The upgraded interiors join the enhanced meeting and public spaces, executive lounge and lobby, which were finished in 2019. The design was led by Parker-Torres Design. Owned by Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., the hotel offers 516 rooms, 41,500 square feet of meeting space, a pool, a fitness center and a revamped restaurant that reopened last summer.
SHIMAO TO SELL HONG KONG SHERATON: Shimao Group, the Chinese developer, is reportedly planning to sell its Sheraton & Four Points by Sheraton Tung Chung Hotel in Hong Kong. The deal for the 18-story hotel, which opened in late 2020, is likely to fetch HK$6.5 billion ($828 million). The hotel’s sale is expected to help Shanghai-based Shimao repay its debt. Shimao is currently restructuring $11.8 billion of offshore debt. Shimao bought the plot of land for the hotel for HK$1.83 billion ($233 million) in 2014. The hotel offers 1,200 rooms and 3,400 square meters of meeting space and is the second-largest hotel in Hong Kong in terms of rooms.
MINOR DEBUTS OAKS BRAND IN CHINA: Minor Hotels has launched the Oaks Hotels and Resorts brand in China with the opening of Oaks Chengdu at Cultural Heritage Park, located adjacent to the previously opened sister property, Tivoli Chengdu. Oaks Chengdu offers 197 rooms and suites, a heated indoor pool, a children’s pool, a fitness center and table tennis and yoga rooms. Adding a total of 398 rooms, the two hotels span around 110,000 square meters and are located on the southwest edge of Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Park. The properties include three dining venues, luxury spa and fitness facilities and 5,388 square meters of conference space, which include a grand ballroom that can accommodate up to 1,700 guests and a 3,650-square-meter lawn for outdoor events.