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Skift Take
Wyndham plans to throttle its recovery forward with a wave of international openings this year. The uncertain factor is if investors want this, given the company’s resilience during the pandemic stemmed from domestic travel demand.
Here’s a sampling of what the Daily Lodging Report provided to its readers this past week. If you’re not a subscriber, you should be. Don’t wait. Sign up now here.
Sunday, Feb. 20
DiamondRock Hospitality reported slightly better than expected 4Q results. DRH said 2022 started with January revenue down -23% from 2019 levels but ADR was once again the strong point, up 20% from January 2019.
Park Hotels reported stronger than expected 4Q results. PK also said a credit facility amendment should allow for covenant relief, share repurchases, more asset sales and they also will be restarting a modest dividend soon.
On the heels of its 2021 merger, Benchmark Pyramid has finished the year well positioned for future growth. The combined company added nine hotels and resorts to its portfolio in the last two months of 2021 along, bringing its total to more than 240 properties in the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean. Benchmark Pyramid’s recent additions over the last three months span the U.S. and U.K. and total over 2,800 keys. Among the most notable is assuming management of the La Quinta Resort and Club in California’s Palm Springs market. Other significant additions include two Florida hotels, Pullman Miami Airport and Marriott Fort Lauderdale North; two hotels near the Oklahoma State University campus; Home2 Suites Stillwater and Best Western Plus Cimarron Hotel & Suites; the brand-new Residence Inn Berkeley; and Marriott Cleveland Downtown at Key Tower. In the U.K., two city center hotels have joined Benchmark Pyramid’s portfolio: Macdonald Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh and Macdonald Manchester Hotel.
Skift Note: The ownership and management side of the hotel business kept up with the general industry trend that 2021 shaped up to be a financial turning point from the pandemic.
Monday, Feb. 21
Genting Singapore’s $4.5 billion expansion of Resorts World Sentosa will start in the second quarter of the year with an initial $400 million investment. The first phase involves expanding Universal Studios Singapore and the SEA Aquarium, and refurbishing three hotels and the Resorts World Convention Center in anticipation of a recovery in the tourism and hospitality sectors. The hotels include Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Hotel Michael and Festive Hotel. The hotels are expected to undergo renovation works in phases, from the second quarter of 2022 through 2023. It will start with the expansion of Universal Studios Singapore which will feature a new themed zone — Minion Land — and the rebranding the SEA Aquarium as the Singapore Oceanarium. Singapore announced plans to accelerate their reopening process, as did Japan and just about every Asian country but China.
Skift Note: Singapore’s faster reopening than Macau has to leave some wondering if it is time to diversify Asia Pacific gaming resort portfolios beyond China’s go-to gambling region.
Tuesday, Feb. 22
Soho House members will have a place to stay in West Hollywood following the March 28 opening of Holloway House. Located in the former location of the Palihouse hotel, the property will have 34 bedrooms overlooking a light-filled garden courtyard bar. The new space will have a studio for members to work, a cellar-style restaurant, and a rooftop with tropical garden and daybeds. The hotel marks Soho House’s fifth property in L.A.
Skift Note: Five Soho Houses in the same city won’t do much to dissuade criticism this is a brand that is sacrificing coolness and exclusivity for the sake of scaling up.
Wednesday, Feb. 23
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts said they are continuing to expand across Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa with a number of recent hotel launches and a strong line up of openings expected in 2022. In 2021, Wyndham achieved nearly 70 new hotel signings across EMEA as well as new openings. They added 12 resorts in Europe, furthering its footprint of over 300 hotels. The European growth trajectory included important openings in key cities, the expansion of the upper-upscale Dolce Hotels and Resorts by Wyndham brand in Denmark and the launch of Trademark Collection by Wyndham through more conversions in Budapest, Bucharest, Thessaloniki, Brussels, Manchester and Sheffield. Wyndham now has nearly 90 hotels in Turkey, further cementing its position as the largest international hotel company there by number of properties. In India, Wyndham reached its 50th hotel mark with new openings in Jaipur, Varanasi, Mohali and Udaipur under the Ramada, Howard Johnson by Wyndham and the upscale Wyndham brand. They have a development pipeline in India of approximately 30 hotels with eight expected to open in 2022 alone. In the Middle East, Wyndham brought more accommodations to Dubai with more openings under the Howard Johnson, Ramada as well as the La Quinta and Days Inn by Wyndham brands, both launched in the market for the first time in 2021. Wyndham bolstered its leisure offering in Oman with the launch of Wyndham Garden Salalah Mirbat. Other EMEA highlights included the steady expansion of Ramada by Wyndham brand with an additional 18 new hotels across the region.
Skift Note: Wyndham’s rapid ascent into more international markets is one to watch, as the company’s domestic mix of affordable and drive-to hotels is what pushed the company back to pre-pandemic performance levels ahead of many of its competitors.
Thursday, Feb. 24
Apollo Global Management, Inc. announced that funds managed by its affiliates have completed the acquisition of the operations of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas (Venetian/Palazzo) and the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas from Las Vegas Sands Corp. for approximately $2.25 billion. The Venetian features three luxury hotel towers that including more than 7,000 all-suite rooms, 225,000 square feet of gaming space and 2.3 million square feet of meeting space. The MSG Sphere at The Venetian is under development by Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. and will directly connect to The Venetian via a pedestrian bridge. As previously announced, concurrent with the close of the transaction, the Apollo Funds have entered a long-term, triple net lease agreement for The Venetian with VICI Properties, which has completed its purchase of the associate land and real estate assets of The Venetian Resort LV, from Las Vegas Sands for $4.0 billion.
Skift Note: Las Vegas Sands is officially off the Las Vegas Strip with the closed $6.25 billion Venetian and Venetian Expo deal that was first announced last year.
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