Latest news: Refi in SF; US hotels up last week; Olympia adds 4 in Virginia

Refi for San Francisco hotel. Los Angeles-based The InterGroup Corp. and its subsidiary Portsmouth Square have secured $67 million to refinance the 544-key Hilton San Francisco Financial District, according to Bisnow. The hotel had defaulted on its $97 million mortgage last year. Prime Finance provided the loan with an interest rate of SOFR plus 4.8%. The loan has an interest rate cap of no more than 4.5% and has a two-year maturity with three one-year extensions.

US hotels up last week. Due to a positive Easter calendar shift, the U.S. hotel industry reported increases across the key performance metrics, according to the latest data from CoStar. For the week of March 23-29, occupancy was 65.1% (+4.4%), ADR $161.65 (+2.5%) and RevPAR $105.19 (+7%). Among the top 25 markets, St. Louis saw the largest increases in each of the key performance metrics: occupancy (+27% to 76.8%), ADR (+15.8% to $138) and RevPAR (+47% to $105.94). Only five markets saw a RevPAR decline, with New York City (-9% to $229.99) and Oahu (-5.4% to $217.74) reporting the largest drops in the metric.

Olympia adds 4 in Virginia. Portland, Maine-based Olympia Hospitality has partnered with Virginia Beach, Virginia-based hotel owner and developer Suburban Capital on a management partnership that brings four new properties in Virginia into Olympia’s portfolio. The properties include the 113-key Glass Light Hotel & Gallery in Norfolk; the 127-key Hyatt Place Virginia Beach Town Center; the 140-key Hyatt Place Virginia Beach Oceanfront; and the 134-key Moxy Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Suburban Capital has developed, owned, and operated more than 50 nationally franchised hotels across the Southeast. Hotel Investment Today recently spoke to Olympia’s John Schultzel about how the company has found a niche in the college hotel space.

Maya acquires in North Carolina. Charlotte-based Maya Hotels has acquired the 130-key Courtyard Charlotte Gastonia in Gastonia, North Carolina, from an undisclosed seller for an undisclosed amount. Maya now owns three hotels in Gaston County in North Carolina, having operated eight hotels in the region over the past 30 years.

Hunter closes $31.47M in financing. Atlanta-based Hunter Hotel Advisors announced the successful closing of $31.47 million in financing for three hotel properties: a $14.37 CMBS loan for the 111-key Home2 Suites El Paso Airport in Texas; a $12.82 million SBA 504 loan for the Hampton Inn & Suites Houston Medical Center NRG Park in Texas (which White Dove Investments owns) and a $4.28 million SBA 7(a) for the Fairfield Inn Columbia Northwest/Harbison in South Carolina (which Columbia, South Carolina-based Durga Hotels owns). Hunter said the financing for the Home2 Suites provides a notable data point for the non-recourse market, characterized by a 12% debt yield, secured an approximate 68% loan-to-cost ratio with a 314-basis point spread over 5-year treasuries.

Royal Group acquires historic London building. Singapore-based Royal Group has acquired the former NatWest bank building on London’s prestigious Piccadilly for £65 million and plans to transform the property into a luxury hotel. Forbes reported that the Royal Group will spend another £45 million to renovate the 102-year-old building into a 50-key boutique hotel. According to reports, the plan is for the hotel to charge guests £1,000 pounds a night, similar to the room rates of the nearby Ritz London.

Grand Metropolitan acquires luxury brand. Zurich-based Grand Metropolitan Hotels has acquired the luxury hotel collection brand Voile d’Or Hotels and Resorts, its IP rights, and all management contracts. The 100-year-old luxury brand Voile d’Or Hotels and Resorts currently operates luxury hotels and residences in six locations: London, Paris, New York City, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France, St. Barths and Courchevel, France.

Trump could benefit from NYC casino deal. A contest to decide who gets to build a casino in New York City could potentially result in a $115 million jackpot for President Donald Trump's organization, according to the Associated Press. He stands to benefit if state officials award one of three available gaming licenses to Bally’s Corp., which wants to open a casino at a city-owned golf course that used to be run by Trump’s company. In 2023, Bally’s paid Trump $60 million for the rights to operate the public 18-hole course on the Bronx shoreline and under a little-noticed side deal, Bally’s promised to pay Trump another $115 million if Bally’s were to get a license to open a casino on site.

JW Marriott to debut in Portugal. The Norfin Group, part of Manchester, U.K.-based Arrow Global, is building the 172-key JW Marriot Algarve Palmares Hotel & Spa and has revealed plans to build a 5-star hotel in Lagos, Portugal. Construction began in February, with the project scheduled to include 133 JW Marriott-branded residences in the future. It will be the first JW Marriott hotel in Portugal.

IHG adds in Goa. IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement with Haware Engineers & Builders to launch the 126-key Holiday Inn Express & Suites Pen Mumbai Goa Highway in India. The hotel is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2028. IHG currently has 47 hotels operating across six brands in India, with a pipeline of 60 hotels due to open in the next three to five years.

BWH makes deal with United Soccer League. BWH Hotels is partnering with the United Soccer League (USL) as the league's official hotel partner. The sponsorship will make its national debut on April 6 at the first national match of the season between San Antonio FC and Phoenix Rising FC.