Articles tagged “choice hotels”

Omicron soured hotel recovery momentum at the end of last year, but high daily rates for U.S. hotels and groundbreakings in China offer two growth narratives amid the pandemic setback.

Omni's strategy for convention hotels is stuffing the ground floor with local restaurants and bars, offering a revenue lift in tough times. But it also costs a lot of money to develop. If you build it, it better be cool enough to motivate local residents to show up.

It won’t be an easy task, but Choice Hotels moving beyond the sectors that gave it durability during the pandemic makes sense for the recovery — if it manages to build the right upscale portfolio.

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.

Despite all the uncertainty in the hotel orbit, all the major hotel companies returned to profitability. Keeping a grip on the p-word is going to require major structural shifts.

Real estate is a long-term play that generally isn’t impacted by downturns, but the pandemic accelerated efforts to beef up some development offerings in the leisure and luxury orbit.

Given Choice’s significant demand base of leisure travelers, essential workers, and road warriors, it isn’t surprising that it will be the first major hotel company to eclipse 2019 performance levels. But it is certainly a bragging point.

Most hotel companies have posted a profit at least once during the pandemic, and Hyatt needs to do the same this week to avoid shareholder and analyst scrutiny.

Profitability is one thing, but out-performing 2019 is the genuine sign of a rebound. Choice Hotels is lucky to not have to worry as much about corporate travel and conventions as some of its competitors.

Vrbo was leaving money on the proverbial table by sticking with whole homes. That seems to be changing, but it remains to be seen how far Vrbo will meander into hotels and other inventory types.