Anbang, Strategic deal mostly complete: Anbang Insurance Group Co. completed most of its US$6.5 billion acquisition of Strategic Hotels & Resorts. The Chinese company purchased 15 of Strategic’s 16 properties.
Generator to build in Miami: Generator will open a property in Miami in 2017, marking its first U.S. hostel. The property will include 102 rooms with 406 beds. Generator also appointed Michelle Flagg vice president of development for North America.
Hyatt converts in Nashville: HRI Properties and Hyatt Hotels Corp. will convert the James Robertson building in Nashville, Tennessee, to an Unbound Collection by Hyatt property. HRI will spend approximately US$50 million to update the building into a 191-room hotel, set to open in late 2017.
Leonardo grows in Madrid: Leonardo Hotels acquired the Gran Atlanta Madrid hotel in Spain. The 180-room hotel will continue to operate under its current name before reopening and rebranding as part of Leonardo Hotels in fall 2017. This marks Leonardo’s third acquisition in Madrid in less than three months.
Eldorado plans Reno upgrades: Eldorado Resorts announced plans to complete more than US$50 million in improvements at its three casinos in Reno, Nevada. The project is scheduled to begin before the end of 2016 and will be completed over the next three years.
Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle
Europe hotel performance: STR reports that compared to August 2015, Europe experienced a decrease of 1.5% to 75.8% in occupancy. ADR remained flat at €115.94 (US$130.02) while RevPAR fell 1.5% to €87.88 (US$98.55).
Latin America’s pipeline: According to Lodging Econometrics’ recent Latin America hotel construction pipeline data, the cities with the largest pipelines are Sao Paulo, Brazil, with 38 projects/7,191 rooms; Campinas, Brazil, with 34 Projects/6,239 rooms; and Rio de Janeiro with 32 projects/6,625 rooms. The leading franchise companies in Latin America’s pipeline are AccorHotels with 111 projects/16,551 rooms, Marriott International with 58 projects/9,814 rooms and Hilton Worldwide with 55 projects/7,483 rooms. The leading brand for each of Latin America’s top franchise companies are AccorHotels’ Hotel Ibis with 47 projects/6,336 rooms, Hilton Garden Inn with 18 projects/2,595 rooms and Marriott’s Fairfield Inn with 15 projects/2,579 rooms.