Latest news: KKR acquires in London; €3M refresh for Dalata; AHT to sell more hotels

KKR, Amanta acquire in London. New York-based KKR and its European hospitality partner, Denver-based Amante Capital, have acquired the 132-key Park Grand London Kensington Hotel in England from Doral, Florida-based Bartek Holdings Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. This is the first acquisition by KKR and Amante Capital since the pair launched a vertically integrated hotel platform in 2022. The acquisition was made through KKR’s Real Estate Partners Europe II fund, which is dedicated to real estate investments in Western Europe. The property will undergo an extensive renovation and be repositioned as a boutique lifestyle hotel operated by Amante Capital under Marriott International’s Tribute Portfolio brand.

€3M refresh for Dalata. Dalata Hotel Group, Ireland’s biggest hotel group, announced a €3 million brand refresh across its company, the most significant investment in its brands since it formed. Dalata has a portfolio of 53 hotels across its three main brands: Dalata Hotel Group, Clayton Hotels and Maldron Hotels. The brand refresh started in 2023 and is being rolled out across the hotels. New internal and external signage will be installed over the next 12 months.

Ashford Hospitality Trust selling more hotels. Dallas-based REIT Ashford Hospitality Trust said during its earnings call on Wednesday that it has lined up buyers for several of its hotels to pay off its debt. AHT CEO Rob Hayes, who is leaving in June, said the company needs to pay off about $107 million of a $200 million loan from Oaktree Capital Management that matures in 2026. Hayes said AHT has three hotels under a sales agreement and another five under letters of intent. Last month, the REIT said it handed over possession and control of 14 of its hotels, in two loan pools, back to the loan servicers after originally announcing the intention to do so with 19 hotels last July. The REIT has already sold three hotels in 2024: a 144-key Residence Inn in Salt Lake City, Utah, for $19.2 million, a 390-key Hilton Boston Back Bay for $17.1 million and an 85-key Hampton Inn in Lawrenceville, Georgia, for $8.1million.

Pair of Boston hotels sell. Giri Bar Harbor Kebo Inc. and Giri Peabody 57 LLC have acquired the 205-key Hampton Inn Boston/Peabody and Homewood Suites by Hilton Boston-Peabody in Massachusetts from an institutional seller for an undisclosed amount. Hunter Hotel Advisors assisted with the transaction.

U.S. performance mixed. Hotel performance in the U.S. was mixed last week, according to the latest data from CoStar. For the week of April 28 through May 4, occupancy was 64.4% (down 0.8%), ADR was $159.97 (up 1.3%), and RevPAR was $103.09 (up 0.5%). Among the Top 25 markets, Seattle reported the highest year-over-year increase in occupancy (up 8.1% to 69.4%), while Dallas had the largest increase in ADR (up 5.8% to $134.33). The steepest RevPAR declines were in Atlanta (down 12.7% to $85.87) and San Francisco (down 12.5% to $123.02).

Record construction pipeline for APEC. Asia Pacific, excluding China, reached a record-breaking number of projects and rooms in its total pipeline at the end of the first quarter, according to Lodging Econometrics. The region had 2,021 projects (up 7% year-over-year) and 402,312 rooms (up 2% YOY). Through the end of the first quarter, there were 866 projects and 198,267 rooms under construction, 340 projects (+13% YOY) and 65,259 rooms (+10% YOY) scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months. There were also 815 projects (+27%) and 138,786 (+15%) in the early planning stage. The upscale segment had a record-high project and room count of 483 projects and 97,013 rooms, with the upper upscale segment coming in second with 376 projects and 83,028 rooms. The top three countries in the region were India (581 projects and 70,178 rooms), Vietnam (238 projects and 85,085 rooms), and Indonesia (185 projects and 31,743 rooms).

Pan Pacific adds in Singapore. Singapore-based Pan Pacific Hotels Group has announced the official opening of Pan Pacific Orchard in Singapore, the first property in the company’s new-build and asset-enhancement strategy, which will see nine new Pan Pacific Hotels and refurbishment of current properties completed over the next four years.

Radisson adds in KSA. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Amsa Hospitality and Radisson Hotel Group have signed the Radisson Hotel Madinah, which marks the pair’s first property in Madinah in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia. The 165-key property is set to be operational by the end of 2024. Radisson has a portfolio of 44 hotels in operation and under development in KSA, with a goal of having 100 hotels by 2030.

Marriott adds in BC. A new Towneplace Suites by Marriott will open in Langford, British Columbia by Irving, Texas-based Metropolitan Hospitality Management. The six-story, 103-key hotel is scheduled to open in late 2025.