NYU notebook: Coury Hospitality, HEI Hotels & Resorts, Accor

NEW YORK CITY – During the course of the recent NYU investment conference in New York City, Hotel Investment Today met with numerous developers to talk about pipelines, as well as industry challenges and opportunities.

Here is a roundup on those meetings with Coury Hospitality, HEI Hotels & Resorts and Accor.

Coury Hospitality, Andrew Mungul, senior vice president of development

The Dallas-based lifestyle hospitality management company with about 37 hotels is doubling its footprint at the flagship Hotel Vin in Grapevine, Texas, and growing the Vin Hotel Collection with a development of Hotel Vin Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, Arkansas – a $72 million Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott, which broke ground in fall 2024 and is expected to open in 2026.

Mungul said Coury is also picking up a lot of management contracts on the West Coast with a big announcement in San Diego in the offing and likely to become the biggest hotel they manage.

Coury continues to focus heavily on the upper upscale lifestyle space and is going to open a Tribute soft-branded hotel this summer in Atlantic City, its first hotel in New Jersey. They are also converting a hotel in Dallas to the Tribute brand.

When asked about all the M&A in the management space, Mungul said he doesn’t see anything like that on the horizon for Coury.

HEI Hotels & Resorts, Steen Petri, managing director of investments

The growth story for the Norwalk, Connecticut-based owner-operator has been third-party management with the latest adds announced this month being the 93-room Waymore’s Guest House and Social Club in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as has the 402-room Marriott City Center Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Equity is deciding to hand back the keys and not fight it or try for another extension. And that lender is much more prepared now to take it back than they were a year or two years ago... They’re not just looking to put in a receiver and trade the asset as soon as they can.

Steen Petri

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With more than 100 hotels in the portfolio, Petri said opportunities are coming via conversions, citing taking over management of the famed Claremont resort in Berkeley, California, replacing Fairmont for the owner, Ohana Real Estate Investors.

“It’s another example of when an owner can operate leaner and meaner, they’re going to take that opportunity,” Petri said. “We’ve seen a good amount of that, both from existing capital partners who have seen us operate and new capital relationship like the Claremont.”

Petri said HEI is also working on a number of opportunities where lenders are getting comfortable taking back assets, and he expects more of those to come.

“Equity is deciding to hand back the keys and not fight it or try for another extension,” Petri said. “And that lender is much more prepared now to take it back than they were a year or two years ago... They’re not just looking to put in a receiver and trade the asset as soon as they can.”

Petri also said with HEI having always been known for driving tight margins, they have also done a lot of brand management to franchise conversions in the full-service, upper upscale and luxury spaces.

Again, citing luxury hotels, Petri said that while rates have gone up tremendously, a lot of luxury assets are still being managed unnecessarily heavy.

“It’s unnecessary staffing, unnecessary mid-level managers and direct expenses that a lot of luxury operators still think they need,” he said. “It’s a lot of salespeople going to international conferences, where I’m not sure there’s a return on investment.”

Accor, Agnès Roquefort, global chief development officer

Growth in the all-inclusive space was a big emphasis during conversations with Roquefort.

It’s really the rebirth of the Delano brand in the U.S. This hotel, in particular, is a good illustration [with strong F&B and nightlife] of what we’re trying to do in the U.S… We want to maximize the profitability per square meter.

Agnès Roquefort

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In April, Accor announced it had entered exclusive negotiations with Royal Holiday Group to acquire the management company Zenstay, the IPs for Grand Park Royal and Park Royal in the Americas and 17 management agreements (3,200 keys). Six of the all-inclusive resorts (1,660 keys) will be managed by Ennismore, which will add the Park Royal brand to its collective. Accor’s PM&E Americas division will manage 11 all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. (1,540 keys).

With this deal having a big emphasis on Mexico, Roquefort said they are very bullish about growth there with a push mainly on the resort side, including the signings of Raffles and Delano hotels in Los Cabos. She added they are also working opportunities in Mexico City (not all-inclusive) and hope to announce deals late this year or early in 2026.

Roquefort also said they want to use the Royal Holiday Group deal to use as a platform in the all-inclusive space for the entire region with a strong focus today on Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

“We are working hard for organic growth, too, in markets like Costa Rica, where it will mainly be new-build opportunities,” she said.

Accor has a Faena property under construction for hotel and residences in São Paulo with Roquefort calling South America opportunistic.

There is also a Faena coming to New York City along with the flagship Delano in Miami Beach under renovation with hopes of reopening this year.

“It’s really the rebirth of the Delano brand in the U.S.,” Roquefort added. “This hotel, in particular, is a good illustration [with strong F&B and nightlife] of what we’re trying to do in the U.S… We want to maximize the profitability per square meter.”

Roquefort also cited the Sofitel in New York City, also under a much-needed renovation. “We have a selective approach in the U.S. with nice hotels, big flagships that really illustrate the way we do things with a 360-degree approach.”

Lastly, Roquefort reference luxury and the Orient Express brand, which in addition to launches i Italy, is upgrading and converting two hotels in Egypt and preparing to open in Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Gate project. “The brand is now materializing, and we’re convinced that the pipeline will open up now,” she said.