Among the noteworthy quotes of the week was Ovolo's Shivang Jhunjhnuwala talking about partnering with Wyndham for growth.
“Through our partnership with Wyndham, we’re flipping the
script to unlock bold new growth opportunities by franchising a lifestyle brand
without diluting its DNA. Wyndham is a global leader in hotel franchising, with
the scale, infrastructure, and expertise to help us grow with intention and
impact. Just as importantly, Ovolo brings something different, an edge and
energy that complements Wyndham’s presence in the upscale lifestyle market.” – Shivang
Jhunjhnuwala, Ovolo Group Read story
“If you look at the weekday U.S. occupancy percent change
for the last four months, that has been negative. So, in March, April, May and
June, weekday occupancy has declined compared to 2024. And that weekday
occupancy softness is, to me, already a sign that all is not well in the
business segment.” – Jan Freitag, STR/CoStar
Read story
“California is probably one of the only states in the union
where we’re losing supply of hotel rooms. We are not keeping up. When you take
the number of rooms that are going out for alternative use or just demolition
to be building something else or into homeless housing and then you look at how
many new rooms are coming online. The supply is dwindling.” – Alan Reay, Atlas
Hospitality Group Read story
“We’re still pretty bullish on the market. I know there’s
been a little bit of softness, but I think that’s been probably a little bit
more pronounced in the outlying areas. Downtown Nashville seems like it’s still
pretty strong looking at the [STR] data.” – Patrick McMonigle, Access Point
Financial Read story
“While lifestyle hotels have traditionally dominated the
luxury and upscale segments - a trend which will continue with new brands
entering Asia Pacific - significant growth is also now emerging in the upper
midscale and below categories. The lifestyle concept, initially premium, is
increasingly entering 3-star and entry-level four-star properties, indicating a
promising expansion into higher-volume domestic markets.” – Marina Bracciani, JLL Read story
“Leisure can be convinced to take a trip if they feel like
they’re getting a deal now. There’s a lot of uncertainty and they’re not
booking unless they feel pretty good about the deal.” – Jen Barnwell, Curator
Hotel & Resort Collection Read
story
“We continue to believe Host is well positioned to
successfully navigate the current environment as a result of our investment
grade balance sheet, our size and scale, our diversified business and
geographic mix, and our continued reinvestment in our portfolio.” – James Risoleo,
Host Hotels & Resorts Read story
“Looking ahead to 2026, Phoenix is forecast to lead with the
largest number of new openings at 27 hotels and 3,207 rooms, followed by Dallas
with 26 hotels and 2,595 rooms, Atlanta with 21 hotels and 2,154 rooms, New
York City with 14 new hotels and 2,452 rooms, and Nashville with 14 new
hotels/1,735 rooms forecast to open by year-end.” – Lodging Econometrics Read story
“You need to find those gems that have a story and a
character that you can build upon. Because without that sort of inherent value,
these [adaptive reuse] projects are typically not worth it.” – Kris Feldman, CREO
Architecture Read story