Marriott to Add 100 Hotels in India by 2025

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.

Monday, April 10

Oxford Capital Group and Quadrum Global announced the April 11 launch of Arlo Chicago. The 218-room property marks Arlo Hotels’ debut in the Midwest and its sixth hotel overall. Arlo Chicago features a two-story entryway, an on-site restaurant and a bar.

Macau’s average hotel occupancy was about 75 percent in March. Officials expect up to 90 percent occupancy during the upcoming Labor Day holiday. This is all happening as Macau’s 5-star hotels run well below labor capacity, with some operators are only providing half their overall rooms, Bloomberg reported.

Como Group will open its first Singapore hotel later in 2023, just off Orchard Road, the Straits Times reported. The home-grown lifestyle group created by fashion retail doyenne Christina Ong will transform 30 Bideford Road, a mixed-use development on the site of the former Thong Sia Building, into the Como Metropolitan Singapore hotel and lifestyle space.

Accor has 56 operating hotels in India. They entered the country almost two decades ago, in 2004. Accor’s vision is to have 200 in India in five years.

Skift Note: The expansion of small independent brands like Arlo in the U.S. suggests that dominance by global chains isn’t inevitable.

Tuesday, April 11

Urbanica is looking to alter the plans for a hotel project on one of Miami Beach’s last vacant oceanfront parcels, the Commercial Observer reported. The developer has proposed building a 16-story hotel with 160 rooms on Collins Avenue in the North Beach neighborhood. Urbanica had previously pitched a shorter hotel with 209 rooms, after purchasing the property for $38 million in 2019, and scored approval for the plan from the preservation board in 2020. The newest plans would include a four-story podium with a parking garage and more.

Marriott International announced the signing of an agreement with Asset World Corporation to develop a Ritz-Carlton resort, expected to open in 2025. The hotel will open after the renovation and rebranding of the existing Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa. The Phuket Ritz-Carlton will house 182 guestrooms, suites and private villas.

Craig-Hallum initiated coverage of LuxUrban Hotels with a Buy rating and a $10 price target.The massive $50 million hotel and convention project in Wichita Falls, Texas, is nearing completion.

The new Delta Hotel and Convention Center will consist of 200 rooms, an onsite bar and lounge, and a pool. The project is expected to be completed and open by August 2023.

Salyers Group celebrated the ribbon-cutting ceremony of North by Hotel Covington in Covington, Kentucky. The $26.5 million redevelopment includes 53 suites and loft-style hotel rooms, a 500-person ballroom and the Knowledge Bar and Social Room. Hotel Covington, another project of the Salyers Group, opened next door in 2016. Bookings for North by Hotel Covington officially start May 1. 

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of Ramada by Wyndham Goa Vagator. The 70 rooms hotel is opened under a franchise agreement with the Palace. The hotel includes a lobby lounge, an all-day dining restaurant and bar, meetings and event spaces, business center, wellness areas along with a rooftop outdoor swimming pool. This is the first Wyndham-branded hotel in the state of Goa.

Minor Hotels announced the upcoming debut of its luxury Anantara brand in India. The new-build Anantara Jaipur Hotel will launch in Q4 2023, set to become a venue for weddings and celebrations. The hotel will have 150 guest rooms and suites, including four Terrace Suites with private plunge pools and a 160-sqm Royal Suite with a large terrace and private pool.

Skift Note: Ongoing construction of skyscrapers in Miami is remarkable, given modeling by First Street Foundation and others that find properties in the city may experience heightened exposure to tropical cyclones and hurricanes over the next few decades. Will insurance and re-insurance companies maintain policies against damage?

Wednesday, April 12

Heading into the upcoming 1Q earnings season, JP Morgan said they expect relative upside in 1Q23 RevPAR results and, for the C-Corps, at least in-line net rooms growth with both operating metrics benefiting from improvements in China. They don’t expect much more than modest updated full-year 2023 outlooks despite likely stronger 1Q results given the increased uncertainty associated with a likely tighter credit environment for third-party hotel developers and owners and a murky macro than a quarter ago. JPM remains cautious on the lodging sector even while current trends remain strong, given tougher year-over-year comps, with inevitable decelerating RevPAR growth and potential effects from tightening credit conditions. Most hospitality stocks have already pulled back since 4Q22 earnings, so JPM feels the risk-reward is a bit more in balance. They still see lodging REITs as underperformers versus the C-Corps.

Corporate travel spending is tracking toward full recovery to 2019 levels by 2024 or 2025. Still, higher costs and climate concerns will keep trip volumes smaller than pre-pandemic levels in real terms, according to a Deloitte study. The study, consisting of 106 U.S. travel managers and 228 European travel managers, showed that spending volume should reach about 57 percent of 2019 levels in the first half of this year and increase to about 75 percent by the end of the year. For more context on the study, read: The Race to Win Clients Is Driving Corporate Travel’s Recovery, Says Deloitte.

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. expects to report occupancy of approximately 68 percent for the first quarter of 2023 with ADR of approximately $184, resulting in RevPAR [revenue per available room] of approximately $125. This Comparable RevPAR reflects an approximate increase of 30 percent compared to the first quarter of 2022. Additionally, for January 2023, comparable RevPAR increased approximately 49 percent versus January 2022.

In Indonesia, IHG will debut the first voco hotel in Bali by 2024. The voco Bali Seminyak, along with its second Holiday Inn Express in the region, the Holiday Inn Express Bali Sunset Road. IHG currently operates 25 hotels in Indonesia and plans to grow by 50 percent within the next four years. The two new hotels are in partnership with Indonesian conglomerate Mayapada Group.

Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) aims to have 300 hotels by 2025, up from today’s 260 hotels. In FY 2022-2023, which ended in March, they signed 36 new hotels, The Economic Times reported. More important, from a profit standpoint, IHCL’s growth of managed hotels (60 percent of new signings) brought them to 50 percent, up from 32 percent five years ago.

Pan Pacific Hotels Group will open two new hotels in Tokyo, Japan in mid-May. Tokyu Kabukicho Tower will be the largest hotel and entertainment complex in Tokyo. On May 19, Bellustar Tokyo of the Pan Pacific brand and Hotel Groove Shinjuku of the Parkroyal brand will be the latest additions to the complex. Tokyu Hotels will manage the venues.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation introduced The Marriott Vacation Clubs vacation ownership portfolio. The rebranded portfolio brings together the signature vacation ownership brands Marriott Vacation Club, Sheraton Vacation Club, and Westin Vacation Club under one name. The collection of more than 90 premium resorts offers Marriott Bonvoy members and guests more options for leisure travel.

Skift Note: Analysts at JP Morgan are predicting two things, company performance and stock performance. On the former, they’re broadly in line with analyst consensus. The good times appear likely to roll on for most hotel companies in this quarter’s results coming in the next few weeks.

Thursday, April 13

Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano was interviewed on CNBC-TV18 and asked about India. He said Marriott plans to expand to at least 10 new cities in the country in the next two years with over 100 properties. The hotel operator is in 40 cities today and is expected to be in 50 cities or more by 2025. The company plans to open 250 hotels in India by 2025, including those already open and those in the pipeline. Marriott currently operates 140 hotels in India.

Radisson Hotel Group announced the debut of its luxury lifestyle brand, Radisson Collection, in India with the signing of the first hotel in Hyderabad. The 300-room hotel is located close to the city’s financial district, which houses business centers, IT Parks and Special Economic Zones. The hotel will be operational by Q2, 2026. Radisson Collection Hotel, Hyderabad Financial District, will feature 300 rooms and suites, including standard rooms, executive suites, deluxe suites and presidential suites. An all-day dining restaurant, specialty F&B outlets, a tea lounge, rooftop bar, swimming pool, health club, full-service spa and over 12,500 square feet of banquet space and a business club spread across nearly 7,000 square feet will round out the amenities.

Skift Note: For more India-specific news, sign up for Skift’s free India Daily newsletter. For context on Radisson’s new luxury lifestyle brand, read Radisson to Debut Its Luxury Brand In India.