Latest HITs: US forecast revised; meet StudioRes; Hyatt adds in China

Meet StudioRes. Marriott International’s newly launched affordable midscale extended-stay brand for the U.S. and Canada is now officially dubbed StudioRes.  Working under the Project MidX Studios name until now, Marriott said it expects the first StudioRes property to open in late 2024 and are in discussions with owners for several hundred development opportunities in markets across the U.S. and Canada. They are selling to potential franchisees a low cost-to-build prototype and light operational model. It is focused on the short-term rental market – 20-plus days length of stay and Marriott sees opportunities in secondary and suburban markets with a concentration of class B multi-family. It said 1,800 target markets are already identified.

US forecast lowered. STR and Tourism Economics have lowered their year-over-year growth projections in the revised 2023-24 U.S. hotel forecast. For 2023, growth in RevPAR was lowered by 0.5 percentage points, due to a 0.6ppt downgrade in occupancy growth. While that RevPAR growth remains above the long-term historical average, most of the increase was frontloaded to the early portion of the year. For 2024, the RevPAR growth projection was also lowered 0.5ppts on a 0.5ppt downgrade in occupancy. ADR was upgraded 0.1ppts for 2023 but kept flat for 2024. Like the previous version of the forecast, profit growth will be limited in 2023 with slight improvement expected for 2024.

Caliber adds 9 assets. After going public via IPO in May 2023, CaliberCos Inc., a vertically integrated alternative asset manager, has agreed with L.T.D. Hospitality Group in which L.T.D. will contribute nine Virginia-based hotel properties to its subsidiary, Caliber Hospitality Trust (“CHT”), an externally advised private hospitality corporation. This is the second of several planned contributions and it is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2023. Upon closing, this contribution will expand Caliber Hospitality’s portfolio to 15 hotels from six and more than double its portfolio valuation to $405 million Contribution will also increase Caliber’s fair value assets under management by 25% and its asset management revenue run rate by approximately $2 million, or 20%. All nine properties include a mix of upscale to upper upscale hotels across multiple IHG and Marriott brands.

Radco adds. Atlanta-based Radco Companies has acquired the 143-room Aloft Phoenix-Airport hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. No other terms of the deal were announced with Cushman & Wakefield representing the seller. Radco will execute a strategic property improvement plan, including a substantial renovation of the property’s common areas, lobby, and corridors. Guest rooms will also be updated. The deal marks the 12th acquisition by Radco’s hotel division launched in 2021.

Banyan Tree results. Banyan Tree Group reported results for the first half of 2023, including a 68% bump in operating profit over the same period last year, attributed to a 21% increase in revenue. RevPAR for 1H23 witnessed a 64% upswing compared to 1H22, and 27% compared to 1H19 on a same-store basis. Branded residences boasted a 77% increase in new sales compared to the same period last year. With 72 operational hotels, Banyan Tree Group has properties lined up for launch in Zhuhai, China, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and Koh Samui, Thailand, for the remainder of 2023. In 1H23, it signed eight management agreements and one pure residence agreement in markets ranging from China and Indonesia to Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Trade in Glasgow. London-based Alternative Income REIT has completed the sale of the Mercure City Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland, for £7.5 million to the current tenant, S Hotels & Resorts (UK) Ltd. The REIT stated that the disposal represents a 7.9% premium on the book value at June 30, 2023 and reflects a net exit yield of 8.9%.

Wyndham adding all-inclusive. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts all-inclusive brand Alltra is now taking reservations for its newest resort, the 404-room Wyndham Alltra Samaná in the Dominican Republic. Managed by Playa Hotels & Resorts, the resort is slated to open December 1 and marks the brand’s entry into the market.

Sonesta, Grubhub deal. Sonesta Hotels and Grubhub have partnered to bring mobile ordering and delivery to over 120 Sonesta Extended Stay Suites and Simply Suites across the U.S. Sonesta’s guests will access Grubhub's offerings through geolocation and QR codes around each property. These codes will connect them to the Grubhub Marketplace, while also automatically populating hotel location details and courier drop-off instructions at checkout. Guests who choose to affiliate with their hotel will receive two complimentary months of Grubhub+.

Latin America pipeline. Latin America’s total construction pipeline includes 552 projects/88,477 rooms, according to new data from Lodging Econometrics. At the close of 2Q23, there were 227 projects/38,675 rooms under construction, while projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stood at 158 projects/25,091 rooms, and projects in early planning stood at 167 projects/24,711 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage experienced the most growth in Q2, increasing 17% by projects and 21% by rooms, year-over-year (YOY).  Twenty-seven projects accounting for 3,796 rooms started construction in Q2 of 2023. New projects announced into the pipeline during the first half of 2023 were up 25% by projects over the first half of 2022, with 50 projects/7,331 rooms. Countries with the most projects in the construction pipeline include Mexico with 213 projects/33,853 rooms; Brazil with 85 projects/14,772 rooms; the Dominican Republic with 33 projects/7,071 rooms; Peru with 27 projects/3,322 rooms; and Argentina with 18 projects/1,932 rooms. Together, these five countries account for 68% of the projects and 69% of the rooms in the total pipeline

Meliá grows in Mexico. Meliá Hotels International has announced that its 14th hotel in Mexico, a 140-room ME by Meliá project in San Miguel de Allende currently under construction, is expected to open in 2025.

Hyatt growth in China. Hyatt Hotel Corp. has entered into a management agreement with Hongkong Land for the new Hyatt Centric East CBD Chengdu in China. Expected to open in 2025, the hotel’s opening in the capital of Sichuan province will mark the entry of the Hyatt Centric lifestyle brand into China’s southwest region. The hotel will be part of the upscale commercial complex, The Ring, a new high-end, mixed-use project developed by Hongkong Land, integrating premium office towers, an upscale shopping mall and a lifestyle hotel.

Melbourne development. Australian property developer Time & Place, along with joint venture partners MaxCap, and operator TFE Hotels, will develop the A$150 million boutique hotel, Hannah St. Hotel, set to open in Melbourne’s Southbank area in September 2025. The 188-room boutique hotel will be operated by TFE Hotels and will sit under the Collection by TFE Hotels brand, joining The Calile in Brisbane; a 102-room boutique Collection property currently under construction in Sydney's Surry Hills; and the $340-million dual hotel project slated for Melbourne's Docklands in 2026. The Hannah St. Hotel will complement The Queensbridge Building, which will deliver 367 residential apartments when completed. Construction is already underway on the project with completion on track for Q3 2025.

Dubai comeback. Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism has reported that Dubai surpassed pre-pandemic international visitation levels in the first half of 2023, with 20% year-on-year growth. Dubai welcomed 8.55 million international visitors from Jan to June 2023, exceeding the pre-pandemic figure of 8.36 million tourists in H1 2019. It said Dubai hotels outperformed pre-pandemic levels across all hospitality metrics in H1 2023 with occupancy averaging 78% in first six months of 2023, 2.2% points higher than the occupancy achieved for the same period in H1 2019. A total of 20.73 million occupied room nights in the first half of the year represents a 12% YoY growth and a 32% increase compared to the pre-pandemic period of H1 2019. ADR of AED534 during the first six months of the year surpassed the ADR of H1 2019 (AED444), a 20% growth, while RevPAR of AED415 in H1 2023, surged by 24% compared to the first six months of the pre-pandemic period of 2019 (AED336). Western Europe emerged as a significant contributor to tourism arrivals, making up 20% of the total international visitation, while the GCC and MENA regions delivered a combined 28%. South Asia held a 17% share and Russia, CIS, and Eastern Europe combined contributed 14%. North Asia and Southeast Asia contributed 8%, while the Americas, Africa and Australasia contributed 7%, 4% and 2%, respectively.

Crescent adds in SF. Crescent Hotels & Resorts has added the 421-key Grand Bay Hotel San Francisco to it Latitudes: Lifestyle by Crescent management portfolio.