U.S. Hotel Development Pipeline Is in Good Shape With Dallas Booming

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, April 24

The Study at the University of Chicago is in its soft opening phase at its 12-story, 167-unit building on the Midway. The property, located beside the Rubenstein Forum, features fitness facilities, ballroom and conference spaces, and a tavern-style restaurant that will open by the end of the 2021-2022 academic year. The hotel’s conference spaces include one larger space and four smaller spaces. The primary ballroom space features a full bar and two patios. This property is the third development from the Study Hotels Brand, a subsidiary of Hospitality 3 that develops properties adjoining university campuses.

Monday, April 25

The Phuket Hotel Market Update 2022 from C9 Hotelworks suggests more than 73% of new hotel developments in Phuket, Thailand, are either lying dormant or have been put on hold. Negative sentiment and stressed liquidity have affected development, which has seen an incoming supply of 33 properties with 8,616 rooms facing an uncertain future. Around 55% of the hotel projects are mixed-use or hotel residences with rental-based investment schemes targeting individual investment buyers. C9 said some of the real-estate-led hospitality projects may not return to the pipeline

According to Lodging Econometrics’ Q1 2022 Construction Pipeline Trend Report for the United States, the total construction pipeline for the U.S. stands at 5,090 projects/606,302 rooms at the end of the first quarter of 2022, showing a small increase in year-over-year, up 2% by projects, but down 3% by rooms. There are also a total of 1,420 projects/184,692 rooms in the renovation or conversion pipeline in the U.S. during the first quarter, with project conversions and room conversions increasing 59% by project and 48% by rooms YOY. LE’s forecast for new hotel openings by projects has risen for 2023. For the remainder of the year, LE forecasts another 649 projects/77,568 rooms to open for a total of 762 hotels/90,032 rooms in 2022. In 2023, LE forecasts an additional 839 hotels/93,169 rooms. 

Lodging Econometrics said that, at the close of the first quarter, Dallas led all U.S. markets in the number of pipeline projects with 165 projects/19,730 rooms. Following Dallas were Atlanta with 135 projects/17,646 rooms; Los Angeles with 123 projects/20,176 rooms; New York with 122 projects/20,864 rooms; and Phoenix with 103 projects/13,820 rooms.

Tuesday, April 26

VNA reported Vietnam’s tourism is returning to the new normal and the resort real estate market is beginning to rebound after a two-year hiatus. The trend of branded leisure real estate is expanding, especially with the participation of big brands to help improve project quality, attract capital flows, and improve investment property value in the long run. CBRE believes the pandemic has caused a shift, with investment in the resort real estate market shifting from traditional markets such as Da Nang and Khanh Hoa to new localities like Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Thuan. In addition, the construction of key infrastructure projects like Long Thanh international airport, Phan Thiet airport, and Phan Thiet-Dau Giay expressway has contributed to creating favorable conditions for the two localities. Ba Ria-Vung Tau has three new projects open for sale for the first time, namely Hyatt Regency ho Tram Residences, Ixora Ho Tram by Fusion, and Venzia Beach Binh Chau with a total of 382 villas. NovaWorld Ho Tram also opened for sale a new phase of Habana Island with 372 villas. Binh Thuan also has a new supply with 270 villas of the NovaWorld Phan Thiet project.

Kerzner International Holdings Limited announced the launch of Rare Finds; a diverse collection of resorts celebrating the individuality of each property, showcasing their unique identity, location, talent and expertise, with a distinct ability to captivate the imagination, provoke thought and elevate a destination through transformative experiences, unmatched food and beverage offerings and entertainment. Under this new vertical, Kerzner has assumed management of Bab Al Shams, Dubai’s quintessential desert resort, owned by Meydan. The resort will close for an extensive reimagination on May 8, 2022, and reopen again in early 2023, reopening as part of Rare Finds. The renovations will introduce a completely renewed aesthetic while maintaining the resort’s authentic equestrian identity, according to Kerzner’s press release. There will be world-class culinary experiences such as modern Arabic cuisine, a rooftop lounge, and al fresco dining. The much-loved desert infinity pool will also return.

Wednesday, April 27

GoSTOPS, a leisure hostel brand, has decided to open three new properties – Ooty, Coorg and Auroville, situated in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to expand its national footprint in India and operational network by next month. With this the total functioning locations in its network will have increased from 28 to 30. The goSTOPS Ooty will comprise a heritage block colonial bungalow located on the Gymkhana Golf Club Road and offer over 76 beds and dorms; goSTOPS Coorg will comprise over 82 beds while goSTOPS Auroville will have 56 beds. By 2024, goSTOPS aims to reach a mark of 31,000 beds and foray into Southeast Asian countries including Sri Lanka and Nepal. The brand recently added new and second properties to some locations such as Mussorie, Kasol and Bangalore.

Thursday, April 28

Singapore-based SC Capital Partners has secured commitments from two global institutional investors for JPY122 billion, or US$951 million, for its new Japan Hospitality Fund. The fund will focus on acquiring minor repositioning and operating hospitality-related investments in Japan. That will include real estate trusts, beneficiary interests representing real estate, REITs, and other companies. The initial commitment was US$47 million with a further top-up option to increase the commitments to US$951 million. CORRECTION: We have been advised that the initial commitments total JPY61 billion (US$475.16 million), with a further top-up option of JPY61 billion. We had an incorrect report on this that said the initial commitment was US$47 million.

Hotels in the UAE hosted 19 million tourists in 2021, according to the Emirates Tourism Council. The country’s hotels hosted 29% more visitors in 2021 than in 2020 and generated revenue of US$7.6 billion, up 70% from 2020. Domestic tourists accounted for 58% of the total number of guests. The council said this shows a full recovery of the national tourism sector. More than 75 million hotel nights were booked last year, up 42% year over year while the occupancy rate hit 67%, among the highest when compared with leading tourist destinations worldwide. The number of hotels in the UAE rose 5% year on year to 1,144 in 2021 while the number of hotel rooms increased 8% to 194,000 rooms across the country. JLL released a report saying the completion of about 3,500 rooms and suites across Dubai projects resulted in total stock reaching 144,000 in the first quarter of 2022, with occupancy rates surging more than 77% in January and February. In Abu Dhabi, the occupancy rate was at 75% in the first two months of this year.