Choice Hotels Explores Buying Wyndham: Report

Playa Hotels & Resorts just recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a big event in Cancun.

Hilton said Thursday that it plans to install at least six electric vehicle chargers per property at 2,000 hotels in North America, and will buy devices from Tesla. Once it fully installs them, Hilton will own more electric vehicle chargers than any other U.S.-based hotel group.

New York City’s short-term rental regulations could slash up to 70% of Airbnb’s 23,000 active listings in the city after September 5. Experts are divided on how the move might affect hotels, and their forecasts are foggy. Yet the analyses reveal interesting details about this critical lodging market regardless.

IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) have launched a new program – known as IHG LIFT – which has been designed to create more hotel development support for historically under-represented groups within the hospitality industry.

More than $30 million committed to help unlock paths to hotel ownership.

Hotel Indigo Guadalajara Expo draws on its rich cultural background to create an authentic neighborhood stay experience for guests.

Anyone who has stayed in an exuberantly designed hotel in Asia has most likely experienced the designs of Bill Bensley: the Bangkok-based designer is the creative force behind The Siam Hotel Bangkok; Rosewood Luang Prabang, Shinta Mani Angkor and Capella Hanoi among others. Apart from his hotel designs, though, Bensley is also an artist and philanthropist and those three interests combine in the first Bensley Art Trail, a 12 day tour for those interested in art, design, luxury and conservation from November 28th-December 10th. Bensley will lead it, taking 12 guests behind the scenes of several of those hotels as well as his home, with itinerary details constructed by the Bangkok based luxury, bespoke travel company Smiling Albino. Proceeds will go to the Shinta Mani Foundation which is based in Cambodia to fund 32 scholarships for students of the Shinta Mani Foundation Hospitality School, Class of 2024.

Many of the major hotels and online travel agencies have reported financial results for the first half of the year. The common message: Demand for travel remains robust, even as there is worry about an uncertain global economy and recession fears.

Choice Hotels‘ recent acquisition of Radisson’s Americas business looks like a post-pandemic statement of intent. The $675 million deal will help shift the company’s portfolio mix upmarket.

“I’m really excited about the quality of the brand portfolio,” IHG CEO Keith Barr said at Skift Global Forum. Barr goes on to describe the current realities of the hotel business: it’s a real estate business at the end of the day, after all. But IHG has been hyper-focused on its brands and its franchise partners. “It’s been great because there’re such clearly defined brands that enable us to work with a number of opportunities,” he told Skift’s Sean O’Neill.

Here are some excerpts from Daily Lodging Report from the past week. If you’re not a subscriber, you should be. Get news on hotel deals, development, stocks, and career moves. Sign up here, now.

Choice Hotels International saw revenue spike in the fourth quarter of 2022 thanks to its August acquistion of the Radisson Hotel Group Americas for $675 million and its strengthened pricing power for room rates.