Breaking
news about deals, development, data and more.
NYC “safety” bill passes. New York City has approved the
controversial and recently amended Safe Hotels Act bill that requires hotel
owners to buy a two-year license for $350 (or face a fine as high as $5,000) and
more importantly bans operators from contracting out most services. Revisions
to the bill added exemptions for certain jobs and allowed many existing
subcontracts to be “grandfathered” in. The law also requires lodging businesses
to staff front desks at all hours and provide panic buttons to employees as
well as training for staff to identify human trafficking.
Aimbridge
looks to shore up cash. Aimbridge Hospitality is getting advice from New York City-based
Evercore Inc. as the Plano, Texas-based company looks to shore up its cash
reserves, according to a Bloomberg report. Aimbridge is seeing a decline in
room count, which is impacting its revenue and the company needs to tackle
several debt maturities over the next couple of years. According to the
Bloomberg story, it has a revolving debt that matures in February 2025 and
roughly $1 billion first-lien term loan due in 2026, as well as a $160 million second-lien
term loan due in 2027. Aimbridge is backed by Boston-based PE firm Advent
International.
Under
Canvas opening. Denver-based glamping company Under Canvas is opening its
first location in the Pacific Northwest with the Under Canvas Columbia River
Gorge along the Columbia River Gorge in Washington’s White Salmon River Valley.
The brand’s 13th camp is set on a 120-acre property and is scheduled to open in
May 2025.
US construction increase. U.S. hotel rooms under construction increased
year-over-year for a seventh consecutive month, according to CoStar data. Through September, rooms in construction were 157,253 rooms (up 7% YOY), rooms in the final planning stages were 268,190 rooms (up
10.4% YOY), while rooms in the planning stages were 336,205 rooms (up 38.4% YOY). STR's Isaac Collazo said developer
appetite has remained strong. He added that upscale and upper midscale account for about 50% of all rooms in the final phase of the pipeline, while
luxury and midscale showed the highest growth in rooms in construction, up
48.5% and 34.5%, respectively.
Travel +
Leisure earnings. Orlando-based Travel + Leisure Co. reported a net income of $97 million with
net revenue of $993 million and an adjusted EBITDA of $242 million as part of
its third-quarter earnings. The company’s volume per guest was above $3,000 on
a 4% increase in tours year-over-year, with new owner tours up 9%. Truist Securities analysts C.
Patrick Scholes said, “against a backdrop of low
expectations for the vacation ownership sector, we describe the print and guide
as ‘decent though hardly perfect.’” Scholes said the most positive news was the
headline that the Q3 EBITDA was slightly ahead of consensus, and the major
negative was revenues were light, especially from gross vacation ownership
interest sales.
Travelodge
adds in Spain. U.K.-based Travelodge is expanding its presence in Spain by signing three
properties. The budget hotel chain has signed deals for new-build hotels in the
cities of San Sebastian, Cadiz and Alicante, which will take its footprint in
Spain up to 15 properties when they open. The three new properties will add a
total of 263 rooms to Travelodge’s Spanish operation, with construction
expected to start in 2025. Travelodge has yet to announce opening dates for the
hotels. Travelodge has already expanded its number of Spanish properties
through its acquisition of six hotels from Louvre Hotels Group earlier this
year.
New
Golden Tulip in Turkey. France-based Louvre Hotels Group is expanding its presence in Turkey by
signing a new Golden Tulip hotel in Kocaeli. The 105-key Golden Tulip Gebkim
Kocaeli is scheduled to open in spring 2025.
Radisson
adds in India.
Radisson Hotel Group has partnered with Oslo, Norway-based Visma Assets Pvt.
Ltd. to sign its sixth hotel in Bengaluru, India, with the 157-key Radisson
Hotel Bengaluru Aerospace Park, which is scheduled to open in the second
quarter of 2027.