Yoo and Opus too: United Kingdom-based Yoo Hotels and Resorts and Canada’s Opus Hotel Corporation have formed a brand partnership and 10-year expansion plan to develop and operate a series of Opus by Yoo Collection and Opus by Yoo2 hotels across Canada and Mexico, as well as in select U.S. markets. The partnership will allow both globally recognized boutique hoteliers to explore ground-up development, repositioning, and management opportunities in North American urban and resort destinations as well as an exclusivity arrangement for Opus Hotel Corporation within Canada and Mexico.
“So we beat on, boats against the current:” The Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky sold to Columbus, Ohio-based Rockbridge. The hotel will be managed by Louisville-based Musselman Hotel Management. F. Scott Fitzgerald frequented the hotel while stationed at Camp Taylor to drink bourbon and smoke cigars. He used the Seelbach as the backdrop for Tom and Daisy’s wedding reception in “The Great Gatsby.”
Jean-Luc Naret CEO of La Réserve: Jean-Luc Naret was appointed CEO of La Réserve and general manager of La Réserve Paris Hotel and Spa. Before joining La Réserve, he was GM at One&Only Reethi Rah, a role he held since 2015. Prior to that, he spent eight years as general director of the Michelin Guides Worldwide. Jean-Luc is a graduate of the École Hotelier de Paris and the Cornell University General Management Program. In 2007 he was knighted by the Prime Minister of France as Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur, the country’s highest honor.
Latin America, pipeline data: The total construction pipeline in Latin America has 855 projects/146,307 rooms, down 4% by projects year-over-year. There are 413 projects/72,070 rooms under construction, up 1% by projects YOY. Rooms scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months are at 192 projects/31,896 rooms, up 5%, while those in early planning are at 250 projects/42,341 rooms, down 17% YOY.
The top hotel companies in Latin America’s construction pipeline by projects are: AccorHotels with 142 projects/20,785 rooms, Marriott International with 92 projects/15,080 rooms and Hilton Worldwide with 69 projects/11,059 rooms. The largest brands in the pipeline for each of these companies are: Accor’s Ibis with 54 projects/7,134 rooms, Marriott’s full-service hotel with 13 projects/2,568 rooms and Hilton Garden Inn with 20 projects/3,031 rooms.