Market Trends

🏖️ Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives, set to open in 2027 by Hyatt and SingHaiyi, will add 130 private pool villas over 24 acres. Sheraton Grand Nashville completed a multi-year renovation led by Looney & Associates, featuring 494 rooms in one of the city's tallest buildings. TROBBU Boutique Collection, directed by Elías Barbosa, will open TROBBU Tulum in January 2025, offering 10 luxury villas in Mexico. Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf in Dubai unveils refurbished Arabian Houses designed by La Bottega Interiors' Sahar Al Yasser.

🏨 Online reviews on platforms like Google and TripAdvisor are crucial for a hotel’s success, influencing reputation, ranking, and profits. Hotels should provide unforgettable experiences, simplify review submission with direct links and calls-to-action, and automate requests using tools like STAAH ReviewMinder. Engaging with all reviews, taking action on feedback, and promoting direct bookings through review incentives can also boost review quality and quantity. Consistent efforts in these areas can lead to enhanced online reputation and more direct bookings.

🍴 Award-winning chef Sean Brock opened Joyland's first location in Nashville in 2020; the second opened in Birmingham, Ala. in mid-August. The fast-casual restaurant serves biscuits, burgers, fried chicken, and features a popular Crustburger. The Birmingham location seats 84 inside and 49 on the patio. The menu includes items like breakfast burritos, biscuit sandwiches, and seasonal hand pies. Organic chicken is sourced from Springer Mountain Farm in Georgia, and Bear Creek Farm in Tennessee provides a proprietary beef blend. Joyland is in partnership with Nick Pihakis of Pihakis Restaurant Group and Southall Farm & Inn founder Paul Mishkin. More Joyland locations are expected to open in the South in the coming months.

🍽 Fine dining offers an immersive experience with exquisite food, impeccable service, and elegant ambiance. Key characteristics include tasteful decor, formal attire, and etiquette standards. Culinary reputation is built on awards and reviews. Menus feature high-quality seasonal ingredients and include prix fixe, a la carte, and tasting options with signature dishes demonstrating creativity. Service is professional with trained staff, sommeliers providing wine expertise, and synchronized serving. Fine dining differs from fast food with its focus on luxury and gourmet preparation, while fast casual and casual dining offer less formality and more affordability.

🏨 In August 2024, the U.S. hotel industry saw a year-over-year increase in occupancy by 1.5% to 66.9%, while the average daily rate (ADR) rose by 2.3% to $157.84, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by 3.9% to $105.67. New York City led the Top 25 Markets with an occupancy spike of 5.2% reaching 87.3%, whereas New Orleans and Phoenix recorded the lowest occupancies at 54.1% and 58.4%, respectively. The Top 25 Markets outperformed others in both occupancy and ADR.

🏢 CooperWynn Capital secured a loan modification for the Doubletree Suites Fort Shelby in Detroit, Michigan. The hotel boasts 203 suites, over 18,000 square feet of meeting space, three food and beverage outlets, and a fitness center. This financial maneuver allows the hotel's ownership to maintain their loan with replaced covenants as the property's performance improves. Marc Sallette, principal at CooperWynn, led a marketing process to benefit the owners with the incumbent lender providing the most advantageous solution.

🏨 YOTEL to open new hotel in Belfast's historic Shaftesbury Square by late 2026, their 35th signed hotel, expanding key count to ~8,000. Partnering with Andras Hotels, YOTEL Belfast offers 165 rooms featuring space-saving design and smart technology. The £17 million investment will create jobs and boost tourism, with a planning process initiated and development starting in 2025. The brand, with 23 global properties, plans to expand in Ireland, U.K., Tokyo, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur.

👨 Bashar Wali, CEO of Practice Hospitality, has stayed at 249 New York City hotels and numerous others globally, never repeating a stay to better understand the guest experience. He critiques the hotel industry's reliance on shock and awe tactics, emphasizing the importance of meaningful gestures and emotional connections over points-based loyalty programs. He highlights a personal experience at W Hotel Bangkok, where personalized teddy bears created a memorable moment. Wali encourages the hospitality industry to shift from transactional service to creating memorable, emotionally resonant experiences, comparing hotels to theater where the staff's performance is key to leaving a lasting impression on guests.

📈 Real estate financial models assist in evaluating property investments, assessing economic performance, and planning strategies. They consider factors like purchase prices, rental incomes, expenses, financing, and market trends. Objectives include viability assessment, risk analysis, financing optimization, performance monitoring, and strategic planning. Common types include property acquisition, development, rent roll, operating, REIT, syndication, mortgage financing, and value-add models, each tailored to specific scenarios, such as buying, managing, or improving properties. Components vary, involving purchase prices, income projections, operating costs, interest rates, and more, to forecast profitability and risks.

🏖 Playa Hotels & Resorts opens reservations for the 355-room Kimpton Tres Rios, the first all-inclusive resort by Kimpton, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts, scheduled for early 2025 in Mexico's Riviera Maya. Spanning 326 acres with three ecosystems, the resort underwent a transformation since early 2023, featuring over 20 room categories, seven dining venues, five bars, four pools, a spa, wellness programs, and a kids' club. Kimpton's global presence includes over 75 hotels and 100+ dining venues.