U.S. hotel performance: Here are STR’s results for the U.S. hotel industry for February 2019, year over year: Occupancy rose 0.7% to 62.2%; ADR was up 1.9% to US$128.94; and RevPAR rose 2.6% to US$80.15. “A sign of the times, a 2.6% increase in RevPAR was actually the highest for any month since October,” said Jan Freitag, STR’s senior VP of lodging insights, of the records set across key performance metrics. “Supply growth is certainly a factor in major markets, but the big concern nationally is on labor — both from a cost and talent acquisition standpoint. Rising costs in that department paired with a lack of meaningful ADR growth applies quite a bit of pressure on profitability.” The industry has now posted year-over-year RevPAR growth for 107 of the past 108 months (nine years). The longest overall expansion cycle in industry history lasted 112 months from December 1991 through March 2001.
Driftwood acquires San Diego hotel: Privately held Driftwood Acquisitions and Development of Miami entered California with a US$85.7 million acquisition of the 353-key Marriott Mission Valley in San Diego. The firm intends to carry out improvements including guest room renovations and has proposed to develop a second, 150-room hotel on the site. The seller was not named.
MGM, MLS in partnership: Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts and Major League Soccer struck a multi-year partnership that will give MGM Resorts access to MLS data, MLS-themed promotions and sweepstakes and signage at all nationally broadcast games. The deal includes promotion of MGM’s digital sports betting and an exclusive digital content series on MLS social and digital channels. The company has similar agreements with the national sports associations of basketball, hockey and baseball.
Airlines in loyalty program: Radisson Hotel Group has added 35 airlines to its Radisson Rewards program, allowing members to redeem points in increments of 2,000, 50,000 or 100,000 (for 200, 5,000 or 10,000 miles/points).
Wild Dunes to expand: Wild Dunes Resort, a Destination Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, is adding a 153-room hotel with meeting and event space to its 400-room property, which also includes 240 rental homes. The new space includes a grand ballroom and will allow for groups of up to 650. It’s expected to open in 2021.
Ormond in Australia: Southeast Asian hospitality brand Ormond Group will open its first two hotels in Melbourne, Australia, in 2022 – the upscale boutique Ormond Melbourne and the minimalist MoMo’s Melbourne, totaling 537 rooms and part of a mixed-use development in the city’s central business district. Both properties will be developed and operated by Ormond Group. This year Ormond will open the first properties for its lifestyle hotel brands, The Chow Kit – an Ormond Hotel and MoMo’s, in Kuala Lumpur, followed by an Ormond Hotel in Dublin next year.