SVC Likely Done Buying Hotels This Year


Skift Take

  • Major stock indexes and several lodging stocks experienced declines. Service Properties Trust signaled a shift away from hotel acquisitions after buying the Nautilus Hotel in Miami.
  • New hotels opened in Cincinnati, Yuba City, Orange, TX, and Pennsylvania. Notable construction and restoration projects are underway in Houston, Hastings, and Longmont. Several properties announced upcoming renovations or management changes.
  • RobertDouglas managed a $60 million sale of three properties; Cronheim Hotel Capital refinanced Hotel Phillips in Kansas City. Key personnel changes occurred at Valor Hospitality Partners and the Rosewood Hotel Group.

The DJIA fell 191 points, NASDAQ was down 162, the S&P 500 fell 32 points, and the 10-year treasury yield was down .01 to 4.01%. While the biggest movers in lodging stocks were to the downside, the group was mixed on the day. BHR was down -6%, while AHT, VCSA, and SLNA each were down 5% on the day.

The big takeaway from Service Properties Trust’s conference call is that they may be done buying hotels for the rest of the year. SVC purchased the Nautilus Hotel in South Beach, Miami, in 2Q, but on the call, they described the transaction market as drying up and that they don’t believe buying hotels is the best use of capital at the moment. They will be renovating the Nautilus hotel and will rebrand it to Sonesta International’s James hotel brand.

STR reported US lodging data for the week ended 8/5. US hotel RevPAR was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Group RevPAR was up 4.8%.

Hotel Equities reported noteworthy performance growth in 2023 YTD, significantly surpassing 2019 benchmark levels. Through efforts focused on key performance indicators, the company has achieved substantial performance results surpassing 2019’s enterprise RevPAR by 20% and 2022’s by 26%, showcasing the company’s ability to optimize revenue generation while maintaining the highest levels of guest satisfaction. These achievements can be attributed to several initiatives implemented by Hotel Equities’ expert revenue generation team, including maximizing ADR during weekends and recognizing and adapting to trends and changes in guest behavior influence performance. The company’s success can also be attributed to its strong organizational structure and people-first culture. Also, in July, HE partnered with Grazzy to roll