Latest news: $250M San Diego adaptive reuse; Marriott's first StudioRes; G6 Hospitality CDO leaving

San Diego adaptive reuse. San Diego-based J Street is partnering with Hyatt to transform Tower 180, a 25-story office building in downtown San Diego, into a 560-key dual-branded hotel with a 371-key Hyatt Place and 189-key Hyatt House. The conversion project represents one of the largest office-to-hospitality conversions in the history of Southern California and will cost approximately $250 million. Construction is slated to begin in early 2026 with completion expected in the first half of 2028.  J Street acquired Tower 180 in December 2023, which was originally the United States National Bank Building. The building underwent extensive renovations to its facade, lobby, and mechanical systems in 2020, making it an ideal conversion with updated infrastructure already in place.

Marriott opens first StudioRes. Marriott International has partnered with Raleigh, North Carolina-based Concord Hospitality and Westlake Village, California-based Whitman Peterson to open its first StudioRes hotel, the 124-key StudioRes Fort Myers in Florida. StudioRes marks Marriott’s entry into the midscale extended-stay market. Marriott anticipates strong growth for the brand in the coming years, with over 40 properties across the U.S. and Canada scheduled to open by the end of 2027. Concord currently operates nearly 80 properties within the Marriott portfolio and expects to develop 40-plus StudioRes properties across several dozen submarkets in major U.S. cities.

CDO at G6 Hospitality leaving. Tina Burnett, chief development officer at Dallas-based G6 Hospitality announced she was leaving her position, according to her post on LinkedIn. Burnett had been with the company for 27 years and was one the executives that stayed on at G6 after it was acquired by New Delhi-based Oyo last year. In December after the acquisition, the company announced it was replacing its CEO, CFO, chief brand officer, general counsel, CIO and chief human resources officer.

Starwood Capital $92M refi. Miami Beach, Florida-based Starwood Capital Group refinanced two adjacent hotels in San Francisco with a $92.2 million loan, according to a note from Michael Bellisario, an analyst from R.W. Baird. The loan refinanced the 418-key Westin San Francisco Airport and 298-key Aloft San Francisco Airport, which has a two-year initial term and three one-year extension options. The financing closed in late April. Starwood contributed an additional $12.7 million of equity to repay an existing $97.1 million loan and fund capex reserves; the loan is structured with a $10.2 million future funding commitment, and Starwood is planning $16 million in renovations by the end of 2028.  

Ennismore growth across Americas. Ennismore announced it has signed new hotels in Mexico and that its Balfour Miami Beach is being added to the Morgans Originals collection. Ennismore’s new signings in Mexico include the 117-key Delano East Cape in Los Cabos (which will open in 2029), the 215-key Hyde Mexico City (which will open later in 2025), the 80-key The Hoxton Mexico City (which will open in 2028) and the 100-key Mama Shelter Mexico City (which will open in 2027). Ennismore’s regional operational and pipeline network in the Americas has over 70 properties and follow a series of recent major development announcements – including the addition of six all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, the arrival of Rixos in the first Ennismore signing in Jamaica, and the hotly anticipated reopening of Delano Miami Beach.

Hotel101 NASDAQ listing. Singapore-based Hotel101 Global Holdings Corp. and JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. have announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has declared effective Hotel101's registration statement on Form F-4 filed with the SEC in connection with the previously announced business combination agreement between Hotel101 and JVSPAC. JVSPAC has scheduled the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on June 24 to vote on the proposed business combination with Hotel101. The business combination values Hotel101 at an equity value of $2.3 billion. Hotel101 is a subsidiary of Philippine-listed DoubleDragon Corporation, and once listed, Hotel101 will become the first Filipino-owned company to be listed and traded on Nasdaq.

India exemption for Saudi PIF. India has agreed to exempt Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund from foreign portfolio investment rules, according to a report in Reuters. The rules, which pool investments through various sovereign entities together and cap it at 10% in a single company, have prevented different subsidiaries of the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund from investing more in India. The requirement limits the ability of the Saudi fund and its subsidiaries to invest independently and the exemption will allow the fund’s various arms to invest separately, enhancing their flexibility in deploying capital into Indian equity markets without breaching regulatory thresholds.

HEI adds in Pittsburgh. Norwalk, Connecticut-based HEI Hotels & Resorts has added the 402-key Marriott City Center Hotel in Pittsburgh to its portfolio of upper-upscale branded hotels and resorts throughout the U.S. HEI’s portfolio now has more than 100 properties.

La Vie adds in Sydney. Sydney-based La Vie Hotels & Resorts has acquired the management rights for the former Rydges Norwest in Sydney. The property has been rebranded under a white label as Visy Dior Hotels International. The hotel has 132 rooms and is set to undergo up to $18 million in transformation over the next 18 months.

Extended-stay RevPAR declines. Hotel demand for extended-stay gained in April but RevPAR declined for the first time in seven months, according to data from The Highland Group. The long-term correlation between the change in extended-stay hotel and overall hotel industry RevPAR was evident in April with both reporting declines. When compared to corresponding classes of all hotels, economy and mid-price extended-stay hotels fared better in April. Upscale extended-stay hotel RevPAR contracted similar to all upscale class hotels according to STR. “Extended-stay hotel demand is increasing but April’s gain was the smallest increase in 15 months,” said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group. 

Travel advisors survey shows booking decline. A majority of travel advisors say that bookings are down this year compared to last, with the economy, consumer confidence and price sensitivity all playing roles. A Travel Weekly survey fielded last month found that 27.8% of respondents reported a significant decrease in bookings so far in 2025, while 29.9% reported a slight decrease. That adds up to 57.7% who are reporting some kind of decrease. Ten percent reported no change in bookings, 18.5% reported a slight increase, and 12.8% reported a significant increase. Travel Weekly's survey, fielded online from May 12 to 25, had 358 respondents who are either travel advisors or travel agency owners/managers.

Wyndham owners survey. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts released its first Hotel Owner Trends Report, which was a multi-month effort spanning two industry-wide surveys of hundreds of hotel owners and property developers. Wyndham said the findings paint a picture of an industry that, despite the tumultuous news cycle, remains confident in its resilience and long-term growth prospects. Virtually all surveyed (98%) said they’re currently open to exploring new branded offerings and 55% are interested in traditional or hard brands while just under half (45%) are seeking soft-brand opportunities. Extended-stay hotels continue to be front and center for hotel owners and developers. Buoyed by historically high demand and developer ROI, nearly all surveyed (96%) see opportunity in extended-stay. When choosing a brand, the majority of owners and developers list access to technology as one of their top five factors and 20% say investing in technology is how they plan to differentiate their hotel from the competition.

IHG adds in India. IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement with Udaipur, India-based Kevit Retreats Private Ltd. for the development of the 150-key Holiday Inn Express & Suites Pithampur in India. The hotel is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2028. IHG currently has 50 hotels operating across six brands in India with a pipeline of 63 hotels due to open in the next three to five years.

Hyatt debuts Destination in Greece. Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) has opened the 104-key Zélia Halkidiki, an adults-only resort which is the first Destination by Hyatt branded property in Greece.