Latest news: Loan to build in Florida; NOLA Sonesta sells; Criterion adds in London

$60M construction loan in Florida. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based The DeNunzio Group, LLC has secured a $60.25 million first lien construction loan to develop The Ballad Hotel, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton property, in Clearwater, Florida. The 158-key, full-service hotel will feature ground-level retail for dining, wellness, and other opportunities and is part of the Bluffs development, which will also include a 400-unit multifamily component. Newmark brokered the deal and Dallas-based Hall Structured Finance provided the financing.

New Orleans Sonesta sells. A Delaware entity connected with a California owner has acquired a Sonesta extended-stay hotel in New Orleans for $29 million in a deal that points to a significant slump in hotel property values across the city, according to The New Orleans Advocate. The 231-key hotel was sold by Newton, Massachusetts-based Service Properties Trust (SPT). SPT has owned the properties since the late 1990s, and they were last renovated in 2020.

Criterion adds in London. London-based Criterion Capital has acquired the 732-key St Giles London Hotel on Tottenham Court Road from an undisclosed seller for an undisclosed amount. Criterion said this completes the company’s long-term vision of obtaining full ownership of one of the West End’s most prominent and strategically located island sites. With this acquisition, Criterion's West End hotel portfolio now comprises over 3,700 operating hotel rooms, with a pipeline set to exceed 9,000 rooms by 2029.

Sonesta adds in Curaçao. Newton, Massachusetts-based Sonesta International Hotels Corp. has executed a deal for a new Sonesta Hotel in Curaçao near Jan Thiel Beach and Willemstad. Sonesta is a familiar name in the Dutch Caribbean, having operated hotels in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao in the 1990s and again in 2015-2016 in Curaçao. The new hotel is expected to join the Sonesta portfolio in the early second quarter of this year.

Studio 6 growth. Dallas-based G6 Hospitality said it opened 38 new Studio 6 locations in 2025, which has emerged as one of the fastest-growing extended stay brands in the U.S. New Studio 6 locations launched in 2025 were added in locations like Phoenix, Charlotte, Dallas, Las Vegas, Pasadena, Houston, Oakland, Indianapolis and St. Louis.

New boutique in London. Timothy Shepherd is developing The Shepherd Mayfair, an 82-key boutique hotel in London's Shepherd Market. The hotel will be part of the Elegant Hotel Collection, a global soft brand, and is scheduled to open in 2026.

Accor adds in India. Accor is partnering with the Dangayach Group to sign the 160-key Sofitel Rishikesh Narendra Nagar, a luxury resort set in the foothills of the Himalayas overlooking the sacred River Ganges. Scheduled to open in 2030, the resort is set on eight acres in Narendra Nagar, overlooking the Ganges valley.