Midscale tips

Indian hotel chain Sarovar Hotels and Resorts managing director Ajay Bakaya has a big hurdle to cross: maintaining the quality that his hotels have historically offered. Sarovar is one of the fastest-growing hotel chains in India. The company has opened seven hotels so far this year and is looking at opening another eight to 12.

Accor, the Paris-based hotel giant, will reveal on Thursday a new global “soft” brand, Handwritten Collection, featuring so-called lifestyle hotels. These mid-priced properties have funky furniture and buzzy restaurants and bars but don’t offer the full services of a premium boutique.

Marriott International said on Friday it had received an okay from Mexico’s competition watchdog for its acquisition of the City Express brand portfolio from Hoteles City Express. The news clears the path for the $100 million deal, first announced in October, and which may now close before June.

Skift’s Senior Research Analyst Pranavi Agarwal and Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill went live this week on LinkedIn to discuss Skift Research’s latest report that looks at hotel performance and unit growth by chain scale in times of crisis and recession in the U.S.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, August 2. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

One under-recognized reason Marriott International raised its 2023 outlook for profitability on Tuesday was that its hotels are nearly all premium or better.

Wyndham and Choice Hotels are two of the largest asset-light franchisors of hotel rooms in the U.S., with nearly 100% of their portfolios under franchise agreements. Both Wyndham and Choice skew to the midscale and economy chain scales, unlike their more upscale peers Hilton, Marriott and IHG.

What’s next in hotels? We are.