Hotel development tips

Hilton Worldwide said Monday it’s set to double its current count of lifestyle hotels to 700 by 2028. It appointed Kevin Osterhaus as its new global lifestyle president to help oversee the effort.

Scandic Hotels Group reported results for the first-half of the year, and the operator of about 280 hotels is now targeting expansion through its Scandic Go brand and conversions of office buildings.

Europe’s pace of hotel and short-term rental dealmaking has accelerated lately. Recent headline deals include Blackstone buying the UK’s Village Hotels for a reported $1 billion and Trinity Investments’ bid to acquire $1.5 billion in hotel assets across Europe within the next three years.

Minor International runs 540 hotels and aims to grow that count about a third by 2026.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has a long-term plan to shift its mix of properties to reflect more premium, lifestyle, and luxury brands. But for now, many hotel investors are balking — preferring mid-market and extended stay brands.

TGI Fridays has opened a restaurant inside the Hilton Garden Inn in Los Angeles/Hollywood, California. The fast-casual food chain hopes that other hotel owners will also hire it to take over similarly underperforming restaurants.

Marriott International revealed details to Skift on Monday about its newest hotel brand — temporarily named Project Mid-T — in the “midscale” hotel category. The hotel giant said the new brand is primarily aimed at developers converting existing hotels rather than new construction and is meant to appeal to travelers worldwide.

Wyndham’s top boss wants to shed his hotel group’s reputation for focusing on economy hotels in the U.S. through a strategy to expand worldwide and offer brands that range from economy to luxury.

Minor Hotels reported first-quarter results, reaffirming its plans to add 200 hotels worldwide by the end of 2026 — a 36% increase in its portfolio.

A report JLL Hotels & Hospitality will publish this week finds that the Sunshine State’s top hotel markets have been outpacing national averages for revenue growth. Florida’s markets have also shown gains in pricing power even after adjusting for inflation. These trends are encouraging further hotel development there, says JLL.

Marriott raised its forecast for 2024 profitability on Wednesday after predicting continued travel demand worldwide. But analysts spent the earnings call focused on travel booking behavior in the U.S., where post-pandemic domestic demand may be cooling.

Premier Inn’s parent company, Whitbread, announced on Tuesday an “accelerating growth plan” for the budget hotel group, which owns about 800 hotels in Britain and dozens more in Germany.

Wyndham‘s executives saw March 11 as a fresh start for their hotel franchising company – that was the day Choice Hotels abandoned its hostile merger bid.

Marriott and IHG each announced Monday their latest expansion plans in Europe. Marriott set its sights on adding nearly 100 hotels by 2026, while IHG signed a deal to add more than 100 in Germany.

Ritesh Agarwal launched Oyo with the ambition of becoming the world’s largest hotel chain. After experiencing some pandemic-era struggles, Oyo has seen the hotel business rebound strongly. Its vacation rental subsidiary in Europe has also done well.

Hilton held a private presentation for investment analysts at its U.S. headquarters this week and executives presented 223 slides.

Marriott’s journey in India began 25 years ago. The company today boasts of over 100 hotels, with another 79 in construction. 

Hyatt has bet big on developing hotels in China despite recent turmoil in the commercial real estate market. Hyatt executives acknowledged the risks Thursday, but explained reasons for optimism.

Hoshino Resorts is small but punches above its weight. It only has 68 hotels, but several of them regularly top the most-recommended lists of Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure.

Hilton will spend $210 million to acquire Graduate Hotels, a hotel brand that builds and runs 33 hotels near U.S. and U.K. universities, it said Thursday. The brand caters to college alumni, students, and communities with hip, nostalgic-themed design and campus-centric amenities.

Ever since Wyndham said ‘No’ to Choice Hotels’ offer last year to buy it, executives have been sandbagged by work related to preventing the hostile merger.