Airbnb, Tilt: Airbnb bought social payments startup Tilt, with the company’s co-founder and CEO James Beshara joining Airbnb, as well as Tilt employees with expertise in group payments, an area that Airbnb plans to build out. Prior reports pegged the purchase price as in the US$10 million to US$20 million range, but the final price, according to some sources, might be closer to US$62.1 million.
Taj rebranding: Following the restructuring of its branding, the Taj Group will close the Gateway Hotel at Raipur in Chhattisgarh. That development could pave the way for more management contract exits from Taj, which has set a December 2017 deadline to shift all the Vivanta and Gateway properties to Taj-branded hotels.
Sunset Tower Hotel: A team of Chicago-based JLL brokers has been tapped to find a buyer for L.A.’s Sunset Tower Hotel, Jeff Klein’s West Hollywood luxury inn. Klein and partner Peter Krulewitch bought the 81-room property for just US$18.5 million in 2004. In 2009, Vanity Fair’s post-Academy Awards gala moved to the Sunset, where it remained through 2013.
Wanda Hotels: Wanda Hotels & Resorts has become the first Chinese hotel management company to export its luxury hotel brands overseas, following an agreement signed in Shanghai with Mar Yapi to build Wanda Vista Istanbul. The hotel is expected to open by the end of 2018.
Hotel Arlington: The 308-room Hilton Hotel Arlington has been purchased by Los Angeles-based investor OCG Inc. Located in Arlington, Texas, the 15-story hotel tower was built in the 1980s and has 11,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center and two swimming pools.
BridgeStreet OTA: BridgeStreet launched an OTA targeted at business travelers. With the launch, BridgeStreet’s supply partner community’s portfolio of living spaces will be searchable on BridgeStreet.com while providing connectivity to the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) that have traditionally been difficult to access for this sector.
Houston growth: According to Lodging Econometrics, Houston has the second-largest pipeline in the country (trailing only New York City) with 169 projects/18,373 rooms. With its pipeline continuing to grow, Houston is likely to top its previous peak of 171 total projects reached in 2008.