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Briefs: Blackstone buys in Japan | NYC NoMad shutters

Blackstone buying 8 Japanese hotels: New York-based investment firm Blackstone has announced a binding agreement to buy eight hotels in Japan from Kintetsu Group Holdings, in the latest case of a U.S. fund manager teaming with a Japanese conglomerate looking to raise cash and cut costs by offloading non-core assets amid COVID-19 uncertainty. Blackstone said the portfolio it is purchasing from the railway group includes three prime assets: the 988-room Miyako Kyoto Hachijo across from Kyoto station; the 456-room Universal City, adjacent to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka; and the newly-built Miyako Hakata, with 208 rooms, next to Hakata station in Fukuoka. The sale price of the eight hotels was undisclosed. However, Kintetsu said in a statement that the properties had a book value of JPY 42.3 billion (US$390 million) as of March 31, 2020, with the Miyako Hakata alone accounting for JPY 14.3 billion (US$130 million).

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Future of NYC’s NoMad up in the air: The NoMad Hotel in Manhattan — where chef Daniel Humm and restaurateur Will Guidara first launched the NoMad restaurant and bar in 2012 — is cutting staff and shutting down temporarily starting next week. NoMad hotel operator Sydell Group alerted staff that the hotel would be shutting down for renovations on April 2, according to internal communications shared with Eater, as well as a source from within the hotel group. The restaurant and bar will close down on March 28.

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Profit up for U.S. hotels, but not for Europe: In a turnaround from previous months, gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) in the U.S. turned positive in February and at US$10.82, it was 675.5% higher than in January, according to data from HotStats. Though the jump into positivity after eight of the last 10 months being negative was positive, GOPPAR in February is still 89.5% down over the same time a year ago. In step with the boost in profit was a jump in both rooms and total revenue. RevPAR was up US$14 over January to US$50.81, while TRevPAR increased nearly US$20 to US$73.81. Occupancy in the month nearly closed at 30%, which would have been the highest mark since March 2020. Favorable data in the U.S. could not be duplicated in Europe, which continues to be curtailed by country-to-country COVID-related lockdowns. RevPAR remained stuck in the mud in the month, absent any forward thrust in both occupancy and rate. At €13.66 (US$16.10), RevPAR was down 85% YOY.

Cancun, Riviera Maya reservations up: Holiday resorts around Cancun and Riviera Maya are reporting a 50% reservation rate for the upcoming Easter holiday season. Alberto Solis Martinez, the president of the Association of Vacation and Tourist Complexes of Quintana Roo (Acotur), said that beginning next week, the association anticipates about 20,000 hotel rooms to be occupied out of their 100 hotel developments in the region. He explained that of those that have made reservations, half are national tourists and the other half, international.

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St. Barts border closure update: As of February 3, the French government has enacted new preventive measures against COVID-19 “variants” to all overseas territories which entails the temporary closing of borders to all visitors (St. Barts residents, regardless of their nationality, are not included). The French government has since shared the decision that St. Barts will need to implement a strong and immediate vaccination campaign for the borders to reopen. The vaccination campaign, which will be organized by the government, will last two to three weeks and start on April 19, with availability to all eligible adults. The goal will then be to reopen the borders by mid-May if all goes according to plan.

Nha Trang hotels sold in droves: Hundreds of hotels are being sold for cheap in Vietnam tourism hotspot Nha Trang after the devastation wreaked on tourism by the COVID-19 pandemic. Real estate listing website Batdongsan.com.vn shows over 400 entries related to Nha Trang hotel sales, many of them 2- or 3-star hotels with less than 50 rooms. The owner of a hotel in a popular tourist area, who asked not be identified, said he was selling his hotel for VND90 billion (US$3.9 million) as it has been mostly closed since the pandemic broke out last year.

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Park Hyatt New York reopening: Park Hyatt New York is reopening after being shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. The Midtown Manhattan hotel is taking extra COVID-19 precautions and enforcing additional restrictions in reopening, including:

•   Only in-room dining
•   Flexible cancellation policies
•   Pool access can be booked only via a reservation for 45 minutes sessions
•   Reopening the hotel’s spa at a later date

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