Articles tagged “blackstone”

Blackstone wants to capitalize on the upside of a travel recovery in hotels, and its investment in Groups360 is a small step. The upshot is it helps Groups360 triple the number of hotels it works with.

Marriott, Hilton, Choice Hotels, and Wyndham all swung to profitability last year, per earnings reports this week. Even if Hyatt didn't, the other reports mostly amounted to a strong sign of recovery well under way for hotel companies with a significant presence in the U.S.

Hyatt is banking on a mix of organic brand growth as well as the $2.7 billion Apple acquisition to significantly ramp up its portfolio development in the next few years. All-inclusive resorts as well as the Hyatt Place brand are especially going to be the ones to watch.

In Skift's top stories this week, tour operators prepare for Japan to reopen to tourists this year, short-term rental properties in the U.S. become more expensive, and Booking and Expedia develop Super Bowl ads.

Don’t let the multibillion-dollar deals from Blackstone and Starwood Capital for brands like Extended Stay America cloud one's brand judgment. Marriott is the massive player in the extended stay hotel sandbox — and has a leg up in appealing to more lucrative business travel.

Investors liked the durability and continual operation of extended-stay hotels during the worst of the pandemic. But a $1.5 billion play for a portfolio and not even the entire WoodSpring Suites brand shows where investors see travel demand concentrating during the recovery.

With the two-year anniversary of the pandemic just around the corner, hotel companies are going to be eager to buy and sell around the premise the travel industry is settling into a new normal.

The world may be on edge with a surge of new cases stemming from the Omicron variant, but governments are generally staying the course in keeping borders open. Hotel companies are maintaining growth mode with new deals and a potential blockbuster sale.

Hotel executives presented China as a definitive, massive growth opportunity to shareholders during the pandemic. But volatility in the development world as well as tough government oversight mean CEOs at companies like Hilton, Accor, and Wyndham need to find a new way to show strength.

This record-breaking profit on the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas proves Sin City continues to be Blackstone’s playground for dealmaking.