Kimpton announces fifth Chicago hotel: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants announced the official name of the latest four-star boutique hotel in Chicago as The Kimpton Gray Hotel. The hotel is scheduled to open this spring.
Read more at The Kimpton Gray’s website
Grand Hyatt planned for SFO: Hyatt Hotels Corp. and San Francisco International Airport announced that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agrement to brand and manage 350-room Grand Hyatt Hotel. The hotel will be located on airport grounds and is schedued to open in mid-2019.
Cachet grows in North America: Cachet Hotel Group will debut the Cachet brand in California with the co-branding of Westlake Village Inn. Located halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, Westlake Village Inn – a Cachet Hotel, marks the first Cachet property in the U.S. and the second in the Americas.
St. Regis grows in the UAE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide signed The St. Regis Dubai, The Palm. Owned by Nakheel, the hotel is slated to open in 2018 and will be the fifth St. Regis hotel to open in the United Arab Emirates.
Read more at Starwood’s website
Driftwood acquires two properties: Driftwood Hospitality Management announced the first two acquisitions under its new Driftwood Acquisitions and Development affiliate. Both located in Central Florida, the Holiday Inn Express Orlando Airport and SpringHill Suites by Marriott Altamonte Springs will undergo renovation projects slated to begi this quarter.
Pacifica acquires historic LA hotel: Pacifica Hotels acquired The Milner Hotel in Los Angeles. The historic hotel marks Pacifica’s 30th California property.
US hotel transactions hit high point: According to the recent United States Transactions Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, hotel transactions in 2015 hit an 8-year high. There were a reported 1,575 individual hotel and portfolio transactions (excluding merger & acquisition activity) in 2015, compared to 1,491 in 2014. The 1,575 hotel transactions in 2015 are still 28% lower than the peak of 2007, which had 2,178 transactions.
Record ADR, RevPAR in Caribbean: The Caribbean hotel industry reported ADR was US$229.44 and RevPAR was US$157.74 in 2015, according to data from STR, Inc. In addition, the market’s 68.8% absolute occupancy in 2015 tied 2006 for the third-highest year-end occupancy on record behind 2005 and 2004.
Spain investment market record: According to the annual Spain Hotel Investment Market Report by Irea, 2015 hotel investment hit an all time high, amounting to €2.614 million (US$2.83 million), 2.4 times over the figure for 2014.
Carey Watermark acquires in Seattle: Carey Watermark Investors 2 Incorporated acquitted the Seattle Marriott Bellevue. The 384-room hotel opened in July 2015 and includes a fitness center, a business center, a F&B outlet and meeting space.
AmericInn to expand into Middle East, South Asia: AmericInn has announced an expansion plan calling for at least 20 new hotels to be opened across the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent over the next five years. Partnering with Singapore- and Dubai-based Eaglewing Estates and Hotels Pte. Ltd., the expansion will bring the brand to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore.
Westgate acquires in Tennessee: Westgate Resorts acquired the Rodeway Inn Pigeon Forge in Tennessee. The hotel will re-open as a boutique-style hotel under the new name Wild Bear Inn.
Hotel Shilla to push hanok plan again: Hotel Shilla will push its plan to build a “hanok” (traditional Korean house) hotel on the Shilla Seoul property. The Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to withhold the plan last week in the Shilla’s fourth attempt. However, the company and its Shilla Stay hotels, said that it will resubmit the plan after revising it to meet the demands of the city.