HotelNewsNow.com each week features a news roundup from a different region of the world. Today’s review covers the Americas.
ADR sees biggest jump of the year
The United States hotel industry’s average daily rate increased by more than 4% for the first time in 2011 during the week of 20-26 March 2011, according to data from STR.
In year-over-year comparisons, ADR was up 4.1% to US$102.62. The industry’s occupancy increased 4.5% to 62.7%, and its revenue per available room finished the week up 8.9% to US$64.32.
Among the top 25 markets, Dallas experienced the largest occupancy increase, rising 16.7% to 66%. New Orleans experienced the largest ADR growth, up 14.6% to US$135.22. And New Orleans saw the biggest RevPAR boost, up 31.4% to US$109.93.
• Read “STR: US results for week ending 26 March.”
Extended Stay Hotels relocating
Extended Stay Hotels corporate headquarters is moving from Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina, according to GoUpstate.com.
HVM, the company that manages the national hotel chain, said the move will create 170 jobs in Charlotte. Extended Stay emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2010 after Centerbridge Partners, Paulson & Company and Blackstone Group purchased the hotel chain for nearly US$3.93 billion in May.
In 2009, Extended Stay filed for bankruptcy protection after a decline in business because of the recession and a US$7.4 billion debt.
First Home2 Suites by Hilton opens
Hilton Worldwide opened the first of its newly developed extended-stay concept, Home2 Suites, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The hotel was built by LBA Hospitality and is owned by Apple REIT.
HotelNewsNow.com Editorial Director Jeff Higley visited the 118-suite hotel and blogged about his trip.
“It’s a place I would take my family and be comfortable while traveling on business,” he wrote. “This first Home2 Suites property features a sustainability story line and has enough twists on traditional hotel offerings to make it anything but a copycat brand in a sea of me-toos.”
Higley wrote that, in one regard, Home2 Suites might be on a mission to change the extended-stay segment. Literally. The brand is the first in the segment that does not have a countertop burner.
• Read “Home2 Suites: Is it extended-stay?”
NYLO restructures, prepares for growth
NYLO Hotels has restructured its management team and all of its debt to position it for growth opportunities ahead. The company plans to be a 50-unit brand by 2016, according to a news release.
The debt restructuring on all NYLO´s properties was completed in December 2010 and provides several years of additional term and other favorable modifications, the release said. Michael Mueller, the original founder and visionary for NYLO said, "The debt restructuring puts NYLO on very strong financial ground and resolves all financial issues in our portfolio allowing us to focus solely on operations."
In conjunction with the debt restructuring, it was announced that Mueller will lead the company as its CEO. Patrick O´Neil, who has been responsible for operations since the first NYLO hotel opened, will remain executive VP of operations.
NYLO also will relocate its corporate headquarters from Atlanta to Dallas. The company will aggressively pursue conversion opportunities, similar to its third hotel in the Dallas market, the NYLO Dallas South Side.
Interstate will assume management of 30 hotels
Interstate Hotels & Resorts has assumed management of 30 select-service and extended-stay hotels. The properties continue to be owned by affiliates of Inland American Real Estate Trust.
The hotels aggregate 4,060 rooms and are located in 12 states. Including this portfolio, Interstate has grown to 337 properties with more than 62,000 rooms worldwide.
• Read “Interstate assumes management of 30 Inland hotels.”
New-build InterContinental underway in Chile
InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a 20-year management agreement with Chile-based Inmobiliaria Punta Piqueros, S.A. to manage a new-build InterContinental hotel in Punta Piqueros, within the district of Concón, in north-central Chile. The hotel will be near Viña del Mar, one of the country’s most fashionable resort areas, according to a news release.
“After meeting with a number of international hotel companies in Chile, we felt that IHG was the ideal fit for this property, given their long-standing track record in the country, as well as throughout Latin America,” said Inmobiliaria Punta Piqueros, S.A.’s José Domingo Eluchans Urenda.
The 140-room oceanfront InterContinental Punta Piqueros will be situated in one of the city’s highest points within the district of Concón, three miles from downtown Viña del Mar and seven miles from Valparaiso, an UNESCO world heritage site. Construction is underway with an estimated opening date of January 2013.
There are 19 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts properties in Latin America and the Caribbean. IHG has nearly 200 hotels in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
JW Marriott under construction in Cusco, Peru
A JW Marriott Hotel in Cusco, Peru, will open in 2012. At the gateway to the Andes mountain sanctuary Machu Picchu, the 153-room JW Marriott Hotel Cusco will feature a design built around a colonial church and ancient Inca artifacts found on the site, according to a news release.
The JW Marriott Hotel Cusco will be operated under a management agreement with Inversiones La Rioja, S.A., owners of the JW Marriott Hotel Lima.
Largest Canadian Holiday Inn to open
Canada’s largest Holiday Inn—the Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre—is scheduled to open Wednesday, according to a news release. The hotel will feature 513 rooms over 23 floors and 9,000 square feet of event space. The opening marks the completion of the hotel’s US$20-million renovation project.
Fiesta to spend US$500m on Grand Palladium Jamaica expansion
Spain-based Fiesta Hotel Group will invest US$500 million in the second phase of its hotel expansion project at Point, Hanover, Jamaica, which will add 900 rooms to its portfolio, according to hotelmanagement-network.com.
The expansion project, which is awaiting approval from Hanover Parish Council, will expand the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort and Spa with the addition of 245 royal suites. The hotel group also plans to add another 2,000 rooms in the future.
Fiesta operates two resorts in Hanover: the Grand Palladium and Lady Hamilton, comprising 1,000 rooms. The development also includes the expansion of a convention center and the establishment of an 18-hole golf course and a marina.
Accor NA promotes from within
Accor North America promoted 10 employees, including several senior directors, the company said in a news release.
Sunny Bhanot was promoted to senior franchise operations director; John Henrich was promoted to senior counsel; Dorina Hertner was promoted to senior director of risk management; Mike Marquette was promoted to senior director of income tax; Gaetan Mony was promoted to director of franchise development support; Dave Redmond was promoted to director of operations support; Loic Samson was promoted to director of Accor business and leisure IT; Rick Schaeffer was promoted to senior director of franchise development; Diane Stafford was promoted to senior managing counsel; and Renee Swoger was promoted to director of energy and environment services.
Notable deals:
• MIG Real Estate bought the 177-room Courtyard by Marriott Edmonton Downtown in Alberta, Canada, from a joint-venture between Concord Hospitality Enterprises and Lupert-Adler for an undisclosed amount. Concord will continue to operate the hotel.
• FelCor Lodging Trust will acquire the fee-simple interests in two midtown Manhattan hotels, The Royalton and Morgans, for US$140 million from Morgans Hotel Group Company, which will continue to manage the properties.
• Hotel Equities and Premier Hotel Corporation will joint-venture the management of seven hotels in Premier’s portfolio. The transition of those hotels to Hotel Equities’ management team brings the HE portfolio to 51 hotels.
• Pebblebrook Hotel Trust bought the W Hotel in Boston from Sawyer Enterprises for US$89.5 million. Under the agreement, an affiliate of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will continue to operate the 235-room luxury hotel.
• The 267-room Westin Houston Memorial City, a new-construction hotel, opened 24 March.
--Compiled by Jason Q. Freed
