Latest news: Field & Stream adds Bozeman; Reubens linked to W SoBe; first Sparks in Austria

First Field & Stream in Bozeman. Field & Stream Lodge Co., a hospitality platform from Starwood Capital Group and Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners, is opening in Bozeman, Montana, with the 179-key Field & Stream Bozeman, scheduled to open in Winter 2025. The hotel will be a conversion of an existing property that Field & Stream Lodge Co. now owns. The new venture plans to expand to other outdoor destinations in the coming years, with Field & Stream Bozeman serving as the brand’s flagship location.

Reuben brothers linked to W in South Beach. David and Simon Reuben are reportedly in talks to expand their South Florida portfolio with the proposed acquisition of the W South Beach hotel in Miami Beach, according to the Commercial Observer. The pair are reportedly in the advanced stages of buying a majority stake in the hotel being brokered by Newmark that could value the property at over $400 million. The transaction would follow contention between the property’s current owners, New York City-based RFR Holdings and Tricap, which sued each other over a scuttled buyout deal as a $157 million loan was about to mature. This would mark one of the Reuben brothers’ largest deals in South Florida as the British billionaires own a 25% stake in the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa and the Chesterfield Hotel in Palm Beach. The Promote first reported about the W South Beach deal.

Hilton debuts Spark in Austria. Hilton is partnering with Vienna, Austria-based Verkehrsbuero Hospitality for the first two Spark by Hilton properties in Austria. The 198-key Spark by Hilton Vienna Donaustadt and the 243-key Spark by Hilton Vienna Messe Prater will both open later this year. Hilton currently has seven hotels in Austria.

Atlantic City hotels defeat lawsuit. Major casino hotel operators in Atlantic City, including Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts, have persuaded a U.S. judge to dismiss a proposed consumer class action accusing them and a revenue management platform of overcharging for rooms. U.S. District Judge Karen Williams ruled on Tuesday that the consumers had failed to present enough evidence to let their price-fixing lawsuit move ahead and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again. The case was part of a wave of new lawsuits claiming the use of revenue management platforms that rely on rivals’ data can be deemed price-fixing.

Driftwood breaks ground on Space Coast. Driftwood Capital has broken ground on the 502-key Westin Cocoa Beach Resort, Spa, and Conference Center on the coastal city of Cocoa Beach, Florida along the state’s fast-growing Space Coast market. The $420 million project will be built on a 15.7-acre site, providing the largest conference center in the region and the resort will be managed by North Palm Beach-based Driftwood Hospitality Management once completed. Driftwood recently closed the $330 million Driftwood Florida Space Coast Portfolio fund with four hotels expected to represent approximately 11% of all the hotel rooms in the market and 62% of the area’s beachfront hotel inventory.

Pacha’s Ibiza hotel rebranding. Following Five Holdings’ $330 million acquisition of the Pacha Group in 2023, the Destino Pacha Hotel Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea will end its 2024 season in order to rebrand to the Destino Five Ibiza for the 2025 season. This marks a pivotal moment in the Pacha Group’s evolution, with Five’s investment strategy aimed at elevating the brand’s iconic status in Ibiza's luxury hospitality market. Destino Five Ibiza will transition from a four-star to a five-star luxury resort.

Azul adds in Portland. San Diego-based management company Azul Hospitality Group is adding the 150-key Woodlark Hotel in Portland, Oregon, to its portfolio. The Woodlark integrates two historic Portland buildings: the Woodlark Building, constructed in 1912, and the Cornelius Hotel, built in 1908. The hotel will join the Marriott Bonvoy program later this Fall.

New Red Roof prototype. Columbus, Ohio-based Red Roof unveiled a plan for continued profitable growth at its brand conference on Tuesday. Red Roof President Zack Gharib laid out a plan that included a new-build prototype designed as an 80-room, three- or four-story property with scalable interior corridors. The new design has a lower cost of development and a streamlined workflow.

ASHG acquires in Belgium. Frankfurt-based Alchemy Step Hotel Group (ASHG) has acquired Waterford, Ireland-based FLI Group, adding eight hotels in Belgium to its expanding portfolio. The FLI Group portfolio includes hotels operating as Mercure, Holiday Inn, and Astoria in key cities across Belgium, including Liège, Antwerp, and Ghent. After this acquisition, ASHG’s portfolio will have 13 hotels with over 1,800 rooms across Belgium and Germany.

Cycas adds in London. Amsterdam-based Cycas Hospitality will manage the Yotel London Shoreditch, which was built in 2018 and was acquired by the JV of Tite Street Capital and Crestline Investors in 2021. Cycas has nine hotels and over 1,000 rooms in London and over 55 properties under management across Europe.

Pan Pacific adds in Bangkok. Singapore-based Pan Pacific Hotels Group will manage the 220-key Pan Pacific Siam Bangkok, which will be converted from an office building in the city. This marks another milestone in PPHG’s strategic expansion into Bangkok. Pan Pacific has close to 30 hotels, resorts and serviced suites in 22 cities.

Hilton adds in KSA. Madinah, Saudi Arabia-based Taiba Investments is partnering with Hilton to bring the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand to the city of Madinah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The 300-key Waldorf Astoria Al Madinah is scheduled to open in 2028.

AccorInvest paying off debt. Luxembourg-based AccorInvest Group, which owns or leases a portfolio of 700 hotels across 24 European countries, has successfully issued a €750 million bond with a five-year maturity. This bond is intended to repay part of the group’s debt. The company faces a debt estimated at around €4 billion maturing in 2025, which it aims to diversify in terms of sources, reduce in cost, and extend in maturity.

Viva Resorts partners for Caribbean ESG. The Pan American Development Foundation is partnering with Viva Resorts by Wyndham to drive sustainable development and responsible tourism in the Caribbean. The collaboration will focus on key areas aligning with the USAID Caribbean Sustainable Ecosystems Activity and Viva Resorts objectives by Wyndham’s sustainability and corporate social responsibility strategy. Conservation initiatives near Wyndham properties may include designating protected zones for birds and turtles, selecting appropriate lighting for turtle hatching, and establishing blue corridors for manatees, turtles and whales.

Caribbean travel projected to be up. The Caribbean will again be one of the most sought-after winter travel spots for Americans, with Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and the Mexican Caribbean being the most likely spots to benefit from the demand, according to the data from Mabrian. The findings reflect the inspirational travel demand data based on the company’s “Share of Searches Index,” which indicates the degree of market interest in given destinations based on flight search behavior and independently of confirmed bookings. The data shows that U.S. inspirational demand for Costa Rica is the one growing the most among all countries analyzed, up 33% year over year. Other Caribbean destinations showing a growing trend in inspirational demand is Puerto Rico (increasing +9% compared to the same period in 2023), The Mexican Caribbean (an average of +6% growth for Cancun, Cozumel, and Tulum airports), and the Dominican Republic (an average of +4% increase, pushed mainly by Santo Domingo’s Las Americas Airport). Contributing to the solid demand from American travelers to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mabrian data also reflects that inspirational demand to travel between November 2024 and February 2025 to Cancun also grows +4% compared to the winter prior. Among the destinations conveying less interest among American travelers for winter holidays in The Caribbean are Jamaica (-17% fewer searches than the prior winter) and the Bahamas (-20%).