Latest news: Closures in Minnesota; Miami development; $47.5M loan in Tennessee

Minnesota hotels close amid ICE protests. Two downtown St. Paul hotels owned by Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures have temporarily suspended operations, citing "elevated safety and security concerns." The closures come amid an ongoing federal immigration enforcement crackdown in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which has prompted anti-ICE protests and civil unrest throughout the region. The InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront and DoubleTree St. Paul Downtown ceased accepting guests at noon on January 18, according to a Facebook statement from Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures' board of directors. The company, a business entity of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe tribal government, didn't provide details about the specific concerns or an expected reopening.

Miami development. A joint venture between Constellation Hotels Holding, Raycliff Capital, Miami Design District Associates and Fort Partners is leading a development proposal in Miami's Design District for a luxury hotel and a high-end condominium tower positioned between two buildings. The project would include 143 condominium residences and 105 hotel units, comprising 85 traditional hotel rooms and 20 condo-hotel units. The project would be assembled from 15 low-rise structures currently occupied by a mix of office, retail, and leisure uses. The properties were acquired for approximately $170 million in late 2022.

$47.5M loan in Chattanooga. Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Urban Story Ventures has secured a $47.5 million loan to support the recapitalization and continued development of The Bend, a large-scale, mixed-use riverfront project in Chattanooga. The current development plan envisions approximately 1,700 residential units, 1.1 million sq. ft. of office space, 1.2 million sq. ft. of retail, 600 hotel rooms, entertainment and cultural venues, and a 300-slip marina supported by public infrastructure investment through a public-private partnership structure. Hilco Global provided the financing.

Vision promotes president. Chattanooga-based Vision Hospitality Group has promoted Patrick O’Neil from COO to president. In his expanded role, he will oversee day-to-day operations across the company’s hospitality portfolio. O’Neil joined Vision in 2022 and was promoted to COO in 2023.

Peregrine names new COO. Denver-based Peregrine Hospitality has named Heather Stege as COO, as well as three additional executives to its leadership team. Stege joins Peregrine Hospitality from KBP Inspired, where she served as brand president overseeing the Arby’s brand across four states and 120 locations. Previously, she was President of Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria and also worked at Paper Source, McKinsey & Company and A.T. Kearney. In addition, Peregrine named Anthony Gaeta, senior vice president of Technology & IT Operations; Christina Gregg, senior vice president of People & HR Operations; and Jeff Gross, senior vice president of Asset Management. Gaeta has over 20 years of experience in technology leadership. Most recently, he served as vice president of IT at Benchmark Hospitality International. Gregg most recently served as senior vice president of Global Human Resources at Hornblower Group. Gross most recently led the Managed Hotel Division at Choice Hotels International and held senior roles at Host Hotels & Resorts, Hilton, Bank of America, The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott International.

International tourists up in 2025. International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew by 4% in 2025, as most destinations worldwide posted solid results. According to the first World Tourism Barometer of 2025, an estimated 1.52 billion international tourists were recorded globally, almost 60 million more than in 2024. These numbers reflect a return to pre-pandemic growth trends, closer to the 5% average annual increase between 2009 and 2019. Results were driven by strong demand, robust performance from large source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific. Increased air connectivity and enhanced visa facilitation also supported international travel in 2025.

Mandarin Oriental expands homes division. Mandarin Oriental Exceptional Homes, the brand’s portfolio of ultra-luxury vacation residences, has significantly expanded its global offerings since 2025 with the strategic addition of 10 new retreats in Europe. New to the portfolio are six Andalusian-style villas in Marbella, an expanded presence within Puglia, and two new offerings in Florence and Sardinia, including: Villa Petrucci, Florence, Italy; Villa Mariza, Sardinia, Italy; Trullo delle Dame and Trullo dei Pumi, Puglia, Italy; Villa Los Verdiales, Villa Paris, Villa Tuscany, Villa Azur, Villa Los Angeles and Villa Mirage, Marbella, Spain.

Ashes Tour lifts Australia. Five key Australian markets observed a jump in hotel performance for the Men's Ashes series, according to data from CoStar. Across matches held between late November 2025 and early January 2026, host-market occupancy peaked in Perth (96.0%) during the first test on Saturday, November 22. On the same night, Perth posted its highest ADR (AUD409.36) and RevPAR (AUD393.03) on record, with year-over-year growth of 46.9% and 50.3%, respectively. The highest ADR (AUD435.05) and RevPAR (AUD408.92) were reported in Adelaide during the third Test (Thursday, December 18) with year-over-year gains of 144.8% and 326.1%, respectively. The same night pushed Adelaide’s occupancy up 74.1% to 94.0%.