Latest news: VP Hospitality buys in Atlanta; Choice, Westgate align; LOGE, Schulte partner

VP Hospitality acquires in Atlanta. Marrietta, Georgia-based VP Hospitality has acquired the 142-key Fairfield Inn & Suites Atlanta Vinings/Galleria from an undisclosed institutional seller for an undisclosed amount. Hunter Hotel Advisors brokered the transaction.

Choice, Westgate partnership. Choice Hotels International has signed a strategic partnership with Orlando-based Westgate Resorts so that 21 Westgate properties can now be booked on Choice's website or through its reward program. The hotels will join Choice’s upscale offerings and are located throughout the U.S., including seven locations in Orlando. Choice Hotels would not offer any details about how the deal is structured.

LOGE, Schulte partner for growth. North Bend, Washington-based LOGE Camps and Louisville, Kentucky-based hotel management company Schulte Hospitality Group have formed a partnership focused on the brand and operational growth of LOGE Camps’ existing 18 hotels and its expanding portfolio of properties across the U.S. LOGE Camps is known for its eco-friendly, outdoor-inspired lodging experiences.

US hotels report positive week. On the positive side of the MLK Day calendar shift, the U.S. hotel industry for January 12-18 reported positive year-over-year comparisons, according to CoStar data. Occupancy was 55.8% (+6.7%), ADR was $155.81 (+10.0%), while RevPAR was $86.93 (+17.4%). Among the Top 25 markets, San Francisco reported the largest gains in each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (+35.9% to 71.2%), ADR (+230% to $625.98), and RevPAR (+348.3% to $445.85). The market’s performance was lifted by the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Ahead of the presidential inauguration, Washington, D.C., saw the second-highest increases in ADR (+52.8% to $221.62) and RevPAR (+83.9% to $131.16). The only RevPAR declines were reported in Dallas (-4.7% to $78.50) and Oahu (-1.7% to $217.99).

Azul adds in Michigan. San Diego-based Azul Hospitality has added the recently opened 154-key AC Hotel Detroit to its portfolio and the conversion of the 23-key Cadillac Hotel in Lexington, Michigan, to the Tapestry Collection by Hilton. The AC Hotel Detroit was developed by the Roxbury Group in partnership with Peachtree Group.

ASTA, USTA call for caution on potential travel ban. The American Society of Travel Advisors and the U.S. Travel Association reacted to language in one of President Donald Trump’s many executive orders on Monday that could lead to a ban on travel from countries considered a security risk. The order calls for “enhanced vetting and screening” of people entering the U.S. and mandates that within 60 days, security agencies and the State Department produce a report “identifying countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” ASTA urged “caution and restraint.”

Owners of MCK propose takeover. The majority owner of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand (MCK) is proposing a full takeover of the company’s remaining shares. CDL Hotels Holdings New Zealand, owned by Singapore-listed City Developments Limited (CDL), has given notice it intends to make an offer to buy the remaining 24% of ordinary shares in MCK for $2.25 per share. It valued the company at just over $237 million and represented a 25% premium on Friday’s closing price of $1.80. CDL has maintained a majority shareholding of MCK since 1999 and increased its shareholding to 76% in late 2024.

Ascott accelerates Oakwood signings. The Ascott Ltd., the lodging business unit wholly owned by Singapore-based CapitaLand Investment, has accelerated the expansion of its Oakwood brand, signing 16 new properties in 2024, which is a 30% increase over the previous year. This includes a crop of four Oakwood Premier signings since the brand refresh of Oakwood in early 2024. The newly signed Oakwood Premier properties include Oakwood Premier Adelaide, Oakwood Premier Luohu Shenzhen and a new property in Bali. In Singapore, the Oakwood Premier brand makes its return with Oakwood Premier Draycott Singapore, located in the Orchard Road precinct.

Daiwa adds in Japan. Tokyo-based Ichigo Hotel REIT Investment has named Osaka-based Daiwa House as the property management company for The OneFive Marine Fukuoka in Japan, a hotel asset the REIT acquired in December.

Whitbread adds 1,000 rooms in the UK. Whitbread, the parent company of the U.K.’s largest hotel brand, Premier Inn, has added more than 1,000 new rooms to its growing U.K. network since March 2024, the start of its FY24/25 financial year. In the past 11 months, Whitbread has opened seven new Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn hotels.

IHCL adds in Surat. Indian Hotel Co. Ltd. (IHCL) is partnering with Dashrath Desai to sign a new hotel in Surat, India, under the Vivanta brand. Located opposite Surat International Airport, the 125-key Vivanta Surat will be IHCL’s 29th hotel in Gujarat including 10 in its pipeline.