5 buys for MCR: New York-based owner-operator MCR has acquired five premium-branded hotels in Texas and Washington for US$94 million. Totaling 674 rooms, the five hotels are situated in some of the highest growing metropolitan regions in the United States, including the aerospace hub of Renton, Washington, Dallas’s Telecom Corridor and Houston’s Energy Corridor. The portfolio includes four Marriotts and one Hilton. The properties include the 146-room Residence Inn by Marriott Seattle South/Renton; the 132-room Courtyard by Marriott Dallas Plano/Richardson and the 129-suite Residence Inn by Marriott Dallas Plano/Richardson; the 132-room Courtyard by Marriott Houston I-10 West/Park Row and the 135-room Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Houston I-10 West/Park Row. MCR has a US$4 billion portfolio of 110 premium-branded hotels with more than 15,000 guestrooms across 33 states and 80 cities.
CorePoint exploring sale: Select-service owner CorePoint Lodging said in a statement on Tuesday that is has decided to explore strategic alternatives to maximize stockholder value, including a potential sale of the company or other transactions. “The sequentially improving performance of our portfolio of select-service hotels has continued to demonstrate the benefits of our positioning predominantly in suburban, drive-to destination, and leisure markets, allowing us to capture growing demand,” noted Keith Cline, President and Chief Executive Officer of CorePoint. “We have created substantial value through the execution of our non-core disposition strategy. Having addressed over 80% of the 210 hotels we identified as non-core, and given the strong market interest in our assets, the Board has determined now is the proper time to explore strategic alternatives to fully maximize value for our stockholders.”
Urban resort at Beverly Hills: Alagem Capital Group, in partnership with Cain International, announced One Beverly Hills, a mixed-use urban resort in Beverly Hills, California. The site represents the unification of several properties adjacent to the Beverly Hilton and Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. Designed by Foster + Partners and landscape architecture firm RIOS, the 17.5-acre site will have two residential condominium towers and another 10-story building housing a 42 all-suite luxury hotel, a restaurant and 37 shared ownership condominiums set around eight acres of botanical gardens. The residential towers are expected to be the tallest buildings in Beverly Hills and all the residences will have access to luxury hotel services. Gensler, the architectural design firm, will serve as executive architect of the project. One Beverly Hills is expected to open in 2026.
More deal activity in Spain: Reports out of Spain suggest venture capital fund Portobello Capital is considering selling its 25-hotel Blue Sea Hotels business. Serving the family market with midscale all-inclusive properties (10 in Mallorca, five in Lanzarote, five in Tenerife, one in Fuerteventura, Madrid, Costa del Sol and Costa Brava, and another in Marrakech), the owner is reportedly receiving offers clearly below the 2019 valuation. The group in 2019 unsuccessfully tried to sell the real estate and maintain management.
UK’s serviced apartment sector: Optimism in the serviced apartment sector in the U.K. is at its peak since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest Association of Serviced Apartment Providers/Savills sentiment survey. About 87.3% of the respondents in the U.K. are ‘slightly or significantly more optimistic’ about their business outlook over the next year, up from 71.8% in November 2020. As much as 74.6% of respondents expect occupancy levels to return to 2019 levels before the end of 2022, hinting at a six-to-18-month recovery period. About 81% of respondents feel serviced apartments are better positioned to outperform the hotel market due to features like self-contained units, better social distancing ability and more space than in conventional hotels. Over 46% of operators are anticipating a rise in staff over the next six months, following demand pickup. However, the movement of EU nationals and workers reskilling during the pandemic has created some headwinds, with 47.6% and 38.1% of respondents listing staff availability and staff costs as a ‘slight’ or ‘significant’ challenge to their business over the next three years respectively.
Qatar reopens international borders: As the country prepares to welcome visitors ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar has reopened its borders to fully vaccinated international travelers after 16 months. As per the new set of measures, fully vaccinated citizens and residents of Qatar can travel in and out of the country and bypass the mandatory quarantine period on returning to Qatar. However, all international visitors, citizens and residents (both vaccinated and non-vaccinated) are required to undertake a PCR test up to 72 hours prior to travel. Travelers are required to register and upload the required documentation up to 72 hours prior to travel and personal details through the ‘Ehteraz’ website.