Latest news: Sandpiper buys in Florida; Marriott’s APEC growth; Shiva £310M London refi

Sandpiper acquires in Florida. Richmond, Virginia-based Sandpiper Hospitality has acquired the 124-key Extended Stay America Premier Suites in Bradenton, Florida, from an undisclosed seller for an undisclosed price. Sandpiper will manage the hotel’s day-to-day operations. The company has 65-plus hotels in its management portfolio. It now owns 39 extended-stay hotels across the U.S.

Marriott grows in APEC. Marriott International said it had another strong year of growth in the Asia Pacific, excluding China (APEC) region, signing a record 109 deals across 11 markets, contributing 21,439 rooms to the region’s development pipeline. It closed the year with 77,532 total rooms in the region’s year-end pipeline. Growing the luxury portfolio in the region remains a key focus, accounting for 19% of signed deals in 2024. Multi-unit agreements and conversion opportunities were key to the region’s pipeline growth, with conversions representing 36% of 2024 signings.

Shiva £310M refinance in London. Borehamwood, England-based Shiva Hotels Group has completed the £310 million refinancing of the 199-key The BoTree hotel in London. The transaction represents Shiva’s first transaction with BlueWater Capital, which provided a £170 million senior loan and NorthWall Capital, which provided a £140 million secured facility. It refinances an existing loan with Cale Street Real Estate Partners and Crosstree Investments.

Maheshwara acquires in Florida. Milford, Connecticut-based Maheshwara has acquired the 55-key Quality Inn Lake City, Florida from Lake City-based Aksar Motel for an undisclosed price. Tampa-based DSH Hotel Advisors secured the deal with 11 competitive offers from buyers across the country.

Rebel adds in Manhattan. New York City-based Rebel Hotel Co. has added Ink 48, an upscale property located in Manhattan, to its management portfolio.

Financing for UAE Wynn project completed. Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts has obtained a $2.4 billion construction facility with a global syndicate of lenders to finance the development of Wynn Al Marjan Island, the first integrated resort in the United Arab Emirates. The secured term loan facility is available to Wynn Al Marjan Island FZ-LLC, a subsidiary of the 40% owned joint venture. The loan is seven years at a competitive market interest rate and is structured as a delayed draw facility, which provides significant financial flexibility to joint venture partners. This is the largest hospitality financing transaction in the history of the United Arab Emirates. The resort will offer 1,542 rooms and to date, 1,226 rooms in the tower structure have been completed, or 80% of the total.

Marriott restructures executives. Marriott International has named former Senior Vice President of Global Growth and Delivery Shannon Patterson its new senior vice president of global sales as part of a broader shakeup of the top of its sales organization. Patterson replaces longtime Senior Vice President of Global Sales Tammy Routh, who now is commercial performance leader for The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Other moves include the appointment of former Marriott and National Football League executive Andy Kauffman as chief commercial officer of the U.S. and Canada and Gail Frazer as senior vice president of sales and distribution for the U.S. and Canada. Patterson has been with Marriott for nearly 30 years, holding positions including senior vice president of Marriott’s customer engagement centers. She was most recently senior vice president of global growth and delivery. Kauffman most recently served as the NFL’s senior vice president of marketing strategy and science but spent 11 years with Marriott, including a stint as senior vice president of marketing channels and optimization. Routh served as senior vice president of global sales since 2016. She has been with the company in a variety of corporate and on-property positions since 1983. Frazer has spent nearly 25 years with Marriott, most recently as managing vice president of sales and distribution for premium and luxury hotels of the U.S. Eastern region.

Canadian investment update. Canadian hotel investment volume reached approximately $2 billion in 2024, up 16% year-over-year, with support from record operating performance and ample capital availability, according to a report from Colliers. The Canadian hotel investment market saw 24 transactions totaling approximately $354 million in the last quarter, representing 18% of the year’s total. Sale volume in 2024 was concentrated in Ontario (47%), Alberta (19%), and British Columbia (14%). Hotel trade volume increased 16% year-over-year with more than 90% of volume acquired for continued hospitality use. Transactions in Canada’s largest metro areas drove close to $1 billion of sale volume, up 21% year-over-year with a mix of large single-asset and portfolio deals.

APEC hits all-time high. Asia Pacific, excluding China (APEC), hotel construction pipeline hit an all-time high at the Q4 2024 close, climbing 5% year-over-year to reach record counts of 2,085 projects and 412,358 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics. At the close of the quarter, projects under construction accounted for 41% of the total pipeline with 848 projects and 47% of the rooms in the pipeline with 196,408 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months increased 7% YOY to 367 projects and 67,617 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage saw significant growth, up 22% YOY to reach a record high of 870 projects with 148,333 rooms. Countries with the largest construction pipelines are led by India, which hit record highs with 693 projects and 87,512 rooms, up 35% by projects and 43% by rooms YOY. Next is Vietnam, with 251 projects and 90,245 rooms. Cities with the largest construction pipelines are Bangkok, Thailand, with 68 projects and 16,641 rooms, followed by Jakarta, Indonesia, with 45 projects and 10,199 rooms, and Phuket, Thailand, with 40 projects and 10,194 rooms.

Expedia Q4 earnings. Bookings at Expedia Group’s three core brands — Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo — all grew in the fourth quarter of 2024, fulfilling one of the goals CEO Ariane Gorin set when she took over as the company’s leader last May. In Q4, room nights for brand Expedia grew in the mid-teens, Gorin said, and are “notably improved” thanks to higher ticket prices, package product improvements and new merchandising capabilities. At Hotels.com, booking growth largely came from international markets. Gorin attributed Vrbo’s booking growth acceleration to improved traffic and conversion. Booked room nights were up 12% in the fourth quarter, totaling 86.4 million. Gross bookings were up 13% to $24.42 billion, while revenue was up 10% to $3.18 billion. Operating income was up 109%, to $216 million. Net income was $299 million. On the B2B side, which includes Expedia’s travel agent booking solution, bookings grew 21% for the full year. B2B bookings accounted for 27% of Expedia’s total bookings.

IHCL adds Taj in Mysore. The Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. (IHCL) is partnering with Delhi and Pune, India-based DM South India Hospitality to convert a hotel that will bring the Taj brand to Mysore, India. The 141-key Taj Mysore will be IHCL’s 23rd hotel in the region, with 10 under development.