KSL acquires Bicycle Street Inn: KSL Capital Partners has reportedly acquired the 84-key Bicycle Street Inn & Suites in Mackinac Island, Michigan, and has awarded management to Davidson Hospitality Group, Atlanta, Georgia. Located in the heart of downtown Mackinac Island, the collection of inns consists of three buildings overlooking the harbor. The hotel’s existing staff have reportedly been invited to continue with their responsibilities.
Braemar to acquire Dorado Beach: Braemar Hotels & Resorts, Dallas, Texas, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the 96-key Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Dorado, Puerto Rico, for US$186.6 million (US$1.7 million per key, including the 14 residential units). The acquisition is expected to be completed by February 1 and will be funded with US$104 million of cash, six million shares of common stock and a US$54 million mortgage loan. The resort is located within a 1,900-acre planned community. Dorado Beach opened in 2012 and underwent a major renovation in 2018.
US occupancy peaks on Christmas: Hotel occupancy in the U.S. was lower than the previous week but touched an all-time high on Christmas, according to STR’s data through December 25, 2021.
- Occupancy: 44.3% (-8.7%)
- ADR: US$129.67 (+0.5%)
- RevPAR: US$57.46 (-8.3%)
Occupancy on Christmas day (47.2%) was just above the previous high from 2015 (47%). While Omicron-related closures and service disruptions impacted performance in New York City, overall occupancy was less affected. A steeper decline from 2019 levels was due more to a calendar shift, as Christmas in 2019 fell on a Wednesday and allowed for an earlier return to non-holiday weekend levels that year. While none of the Top 25 Markets recorded an occupancy increase over 2019, Dallas came closest to its 2019 comparable (-2.8% to 43.6%). San Diego registered the largest ADR increase (+12.5% to US$147.05), while San Francisco/San Mateo (-32% to US$65.66) and New York City (-30% to US$143.80) saw the largest RevPAR deficits.
Caspers buys first hotel in Tampa: Current Rocky Point, LLC, an affiliate company of Tampa, Florida-based Caspers Co., has acquired The Current Hotel, an Autograph Collection hotel by Marriott in Tampa for US$85 million from Rocky Point Holdings LLC. This is the Casper family’s first hotel acquisition, which owns 60 McDonald’s franchises along with Tampa Bay restaurants, several business concepts and private social club The Stovall House. American Momentum Bank partly financed the purchase with a US$55 million loan. Berkadia Hotels & Hospitality represented the seller. Construction of the 180-room hotel was completed in 2019.
MCR acquires in Stowe: MCR Development, New York City, has acquired the 117-key Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa in Stowe, Vermont. The deal’s financial terms have not been disclosed. The hotel was founded, owned and operated by the Baraw family since 1948. The property consists of 32 one-, two- and three-room townhome rentals, a 25,000 square foot conference center with 17 meeting rooms and 50,000 square foot spa and sports center. MCR, which has a US$4 billion portfolio with 140 hotels, has 20,000 guestrooms across 37 states and 100 cities.
Dual-branded Marriotts coming to Fort Lauderdale: Luckey’s Management, a Fort Lauderdale-based hotel development and management company, has won approval to build a 172-room, dual-branded Fairfield Inn and Townplace Suites on a site just north of Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. The 1.9-acre site was acquired for US$3.33 million in April by 1100 Hotels LLC, an affiliate of the hotel firm.
OTO Development acquires Hyatt: OTO Development, Spartanburg, South Carolina, announced the acquisition of Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt in Tennessee. Opened in 2018, the hotel features 201 extended-stay rooms, including 125 suites and is located in Nashville’s historic West End. The deal was brokered by Hunter Hotel Advisors. OTO, which is part of The Johnson Group, currently owns and/or operates about 70 hotels comprising 8,000 keys. This marks the company’s first property in Tennessee.
Booking Holdings completes acquisition of Getaroom: Booking Holdings Inc., Norwalk, Connecticut, has completed the acquisition from Court Square Capital Partners of Getaroom, the B2B distributor of hotel rooms. Getaroom will join Booking Holding’s subsidiary, Priceline’s Strategic Partnerships team called Priceline Partner Network. With the acquisition of Getaroom, Booking Holdings aims to enhance B2B distribution for hotel partners and focus on providing accommodation-related technology capabilities to its affiliate partners.
Tamara grows in Germany: Tamara Leisure Experiences, Bengaluru, India, added its fourth property in Germany with the acquisition of the 128-room Moxy Bremen. The hotel is located on the harbor front in the Uberseestadt area, which is being developed as a modern mixed-use business and residential space. This marks the company’s fourth acquisition outside of India. The company aims to achieve 1,000 keys globally by 2025.
Excelsior sells for US$80 million: The Excelsior Hotel in New York City has reportedly been sold for US$80 million to John Young’s Emmut Properties, a developer that specializes in transforming buildings to residential rentals. The landmark, 215-key hotel had been closed since the pandemic. The sale might have been precipitated by the fact that the hotel has a property tax bill worth US$1.3 billion, with half of it due on January 1. In addition, after the hotel failed to reopen by November 1, 2021, a new law called for former owner to pay severance of US$500 per week to all his employees for 26 weeks.
KHP acquires Portland’s Press Hotel: KHP Capital Partners, San Francisco, California, has acquired the 110-key Press Hotel, the former newspaper office building in Portland, Maine, which was transformed into a boutique hotel by developer Jim Brady. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Brady’s Fathom Cos. will continue to operate and manage the seven-story hotel. The hotel, which opened in 2015, was part of the Autograph Collection by Marriott and served as the headquarters of the Portland Press Herald till 2010. KHP was founded in 2015 by Mike Depatie, Ben Rowe and Joe Long to take over the private equity fund management arm of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, which was sold to IHG Group.
ART doubles student accommodation assets: Ascott Residence Trust (ART) will acquire four student accommodation assets in the U.S. for US$213 million. The assets have a total of 1,651 beds and serve around 100,000 students across five universities in three states — Link University City in Pennsylvania, Latitude on Hillsborough and Uncommon Wilmington in North Carolina, and Latitude at Kent in Ohio. The acquisition is scheduled to be completed in stages from end-December 2021. The purchases will be funded 92% by debt and the rest 8% by the remaining proceeds from ART’s private placement launched in September 2021. With these acquisitions, ART’s student accommodation portfolio stands at eight, with 4,400 beds within a year. Seven assets are operating assets that are contributing stable income, while one is under development. ART’s student accommodation assets are located across seven states, with each state accounting for less than 23% of total beds, reducing portfolio concentration risk through its diversified geographical presence.
Shortage of rooms in Qatar: A shortage of hotel rooms in Qatar seems to be looming ahead for World Cup supporters looking to book hotels in the city, as most hotels have reportedly been block-booked by World Cup organizers. While rooms have been sold out mostly to block price gouging, it is also done to ensure rooms are available for teams, sponsors, FIFA officials and the media. About 90,000 rooms will be available to the public for booking through a website. One night stays will not be allowed and room tariffs have not yet been disclosed. Ticket sales for the World Cup started from January.