Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has acquired the 200-room Jekyll Island Club Resort for US$94 million. Established in 1888, the resort is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is located in the heart of Jekyll Island, one of the Golden Isles off the coast of Georgia. Pebblebrook retained Noble House Hotels & Resorts, which now manages six of its properties, to operate the resort.
Pebblebrook also reported it is further reducing its exposure in San Francisco by selling the Villa Florence San Francisco on Union Square for US$87.5 million (US$462,963/key) to an unaffiliated third party. Pebblebrook expects the sale to be completed in the third quarter of 2021. Pebblebrook acquired the property in 2018 as part of its acquisition of LaSalle Hotel Properties, which had bought the hotel for US$67.2 million in 2011.
In February, Pebblebrook sold another hotel in San Francisco, the 416-room Kimpton Sir Francis Drake Hotel to Northview Hotel Group of Connecticut.
Jekyll Island Club Resort includes the Jekyll Island Club, located on the East River, which features 159 guest rooms and suites, including three unique Victorian-style private mansions. The resort also features the Jekyll Ocean Club, featuring 41 guestrooms, including 40 suites. Jekyll Island Club Resort boasts over 14,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, five restaurants and lounges, two outdoor pools, numerous outdoor verandas and event lawns, access to beaches, and a 19th-century style croquet lawn.
“There are many opportunities at the resort to increase the property’s financial performance through operational enhancements and physical improvements, including elevating the entire guest experience, expanding the restaurant and bar offerings, reimagining the merchandising and quality of the retail space, and creating many more revenue-generating venues,” said Jon Bortz, chairman, president and CEO of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. “Our redevelopment expertise combined with our asset management initiatives should generate tremendous value creation at this storied resort.”
For full-year 2021, Jekyll Island Club Resort is forecasted to operate at 68% occupancy, with a US$268 average daily rate, US$182 RevPAR, and US$360 of total revenue per available room. The resort is expected to generate hotel EBITDA of US$7.6 million and hotel net operating income after a 4% capital reserve of US$6.6 million.
The acquisition of Jekyll Island Club Resort brings the total number of properties in Pebblebrook’s portfolio to 52 (12,800 rooms), which includes nine drive-to, independent lifestyle resorts.