The latest on development, M&A and more, including news from Jabara,
Meliá, The House Collective and Life House.
Pandox sells Montreal
DoubleTree. Stockholm-based Pandox AB has sold the 595-key
DoubleTree by Hilton Montreal in Canada to an undisclosed buyer for
approximately $59.17 million. The total transaction value was $70.3 million,
but approximately $11.1 million was deducted for structural investment needs.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024. Pandox acquired
the hotel in 2008.
IHCL adds in Uttarakhand. Mumbai-based
Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. (IHCL) has signed a deal for a new 125-key hotel for its
Vivanta brand in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, in India. The hotel, which is a
collaboration with Faizabad, India-based LD Ladhani Group, will be IHCL’s third
hotel in the city and 10th in Uttarakhand, including five under development.
Hotel Investment Today recently talked to IHCL CEO Puneet Chhatwal about the
company’s fast growth.
Starwood Capital Group names president. Miami Beach,
Florida-based Starwood Capital Group has named Jonathan Pollack as president,
starting in 2025. Pollack is currently the global head of Blackstone Real
Estate Credit and head of its structured finance group. Before joining
Blackstone in 2015, Pollack worked at Deutsche Bank.
Jabara Hotels adds exec. Danbury,
Connecticut-based Meyer Jabara Hotels has named Ian McAuley its newly created
chief investment officer. He has 30 years of real estate and hotel experience.
Previously, McAuley worked at VM Hotel Acquisition Corp., Aimbridge, American
Hotel Income Properties REIT LP, Superior Lodging Corp., Royop Hospitality Corp
and InnVentures Hospitality Corp.
Meliá expands Zel brand. Zel, the hotel
brand created by Meliá Hotels International and tennis legend Rafael Nadal, is
opening its second hotel in Spain this summer with a 214-key project in Costa Brava. The company also said it will open new Zel hotels in Madrid, Sayulita (Mexico),
and Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) in 2025.
SF, San Jose still miss extended-stay mark. Extended-stay
hotels in five large markets have still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels of
2019, according to a report by Atlanta-based The Highland Group. The worst
markets on that metric are San Francisco and San Jose, which saw their extended-stay
RevPAR still 16% and 26%, respectively, below 2019 levels. In 2023,
extended-stay hotels in more than one-third of the largest U.S. hotel markets
achieved RevPAR 20% or greater than in 2019.
The House Collective adds in China. Hong Kong-based
The House Collective is adding The House in Xi’an (its exact name has not been
revealed yet) in China to its portfolio. The property, which will have
approximately 115 rooms and 55 serviced residences, will be located within Hong
Kong-based Swire Properties’ mixed-use development Taikoo Li Xi’an and is
scheduled to open in 2028.
New loyalty club for Langham. Hong Kong-based Langham Hospitality Group is launching a
new loyalty program on February 29 called Brilliant by Langham. It replaces the
group’s existing loyalty programs — Langham Supper Club and 1865 Privilege by
Langham — and current members will have their past loyalty rewarded with an
invitation to join Brilliant at higher starting membership tiers.
Life House expands in Mexico. New York
City-based Life House Hotels is expanding in Mexico with its upcoming
management of the 25-key Casa Yuma, which is scheduled to open in Puerto
Escondido in March. Casa Yuma is owned by French developer Tim de Belloy.
New Phāea hotel joins SLH. Crete,
Greece-based hospitality company Phāea said that its 47-key Phāea Blue Palace,
which opens in May, has joined the Small Luxury Hotels of the World
collection.