Las Vegas is truly the capital of the North American hospitality industry, followed next by perhaps New York City and Orlando (or all Southern Florida). With massive infrastructure investments, these modern, cruise-ships-on-land offer everything a guest could want under a single roof. As such, these thousand-room properties deserve special focus as a litmus test for the industry as a whole.
The recent Covid crisis has highlighted the resilience of the hotel sector in France. An investment in a hotel (as in a boutique hotel) should also be regarded by investors as a “pleasure asset”. When benefiting from the French favourable tax reinvestment regime, what should investors be looking at if they wish to make the switch to hospitality?
The NYU Investment Conference arrived five months late this year, but it was worth the wait. The event attracted over 1,000 registered participants eager to hear from a stellar lineup of the global industry’s top leaders and influencers, and it kicked off in a bustling Times Square on the same day U.S. airports reopened to fully vaccinated international travelers. The Marriott Marquis did an expert job of handling the event, including top-notch service, food, beverages, and cleanliness. The attendees, all required to be fully vaccinated, were treated to a fantastic program arranged by Dorothy Jennings and her planning committee.
Jonathan Humphries is a hospitality consultant and also heads the International Hotel Development and Finance Bachelor’s degree specialization at Glion Institute of Higher Education. He argues that in a fragmented, post-Covid commercial landscape the hotels which thrive will do so through constant reinvention and total flexibility in their approach to market. And who sits at the center of delivering this ‘agile state’? The asset manager.
The Covid pandemic has impacted the world in every conceivable way and when things return to “normal” one day, cultural behaviors and norms may never be quite what they were. One of the most significant changes has been the shift to an increasingly remote and tech-driven lifestyle with limited human interaction. No industry felt this more deeply than the hospitality industry whose benchmark for quality service is often directly tied to human connection. Hotels were forced to adjust to meet guests' comfort levels - from cleaning protocols to digital check-ins, shutting F&B venues and more.
In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the effect it has had on lending and new development in the hospitality industry, it may be beneficial to review the basics and walk through the investment life cycle of a hospitality asset. This guide is intended to be a helpful reference for a seasoned hospitality professional, a student looking to break into the industry, and anyone in between. Furthermore, HVS has leading experts for each stage of the process, ready to help you with any of your hotel investment needs from conception to disposition.
The U.S. economy is expected to grow roughly six percent for the year, however with one quarter to go in 2021, this year has done its best to be as tumultuous and volatile as the last. It feels like we’ve been on this road for a while, with the same kinds of bumps to navigate including COVID, deepening supply chain issues, higher energy prices, a recent cutback in consumer spending, and the scarcity of materials. What everyone had hoped would be a more normalized environment has turned out to be anything but that.
At the start of the pandemic, I implemented, when considered in retrospect, was an uncharacteristic experiment. For an entire day, I tried not to touch anything in a public space. After a few hours of what seemed like a long game of playground tag, I realised that it was impossible to shun much of our physical contact outside the home effectively.
There are big hotel projects and then there are even bigger projects. Resorts World Las Vegas tops even that threshold. Just imagine a project covering 88 acres, over 3,000 guestrooms, three separate hotel marques (Hilton, Conrad and Crockfords), five pool experiences, a massive spa, 40 restaurants and bars and gaming, with a total investment of over $4.3 billion. And, for good measure, add in constructing this through the COVID pandemic!
Hotel asset value is determined using multiple calculations, math problems, and sometimes magic tricks, but there are three critically important aspects of the physical plant that can make or break a hotel investment. As an owner or asset manager, keep these three areas on your property checklist, and follow up with a hotel engineering team regularly. Ignore these at your peril!
The U.S. Lodging Industry has shifted dramatically over the past twelve months. Looking back to this time last year, the world was fiercely battling the Coronavirus pandemic, virtually weaponless without anything other than masks and social distancing measures. We are now roughly six months into the global vaccination campaign, with cases and death rates much lower in most parts of the world.
The Swiss Alps have always been a popular tourist destination, with demand for reservations at ski resorts, restaurants, and other hospitality-oriented businesses in the mountains seeing a sharp increase in recent seasons.
The scene was set for the webinar and subsequent discussion by Chris Sheppardson, Founder of EP Business in Hospitality, who expanded on the current feeling towards franchising in the market.
Local government authorities use property tax revenues to fund services including police and fire protection, hospitals, transportation, and schools for municipalities. For tax purposes, property is considered residential or nonresidential, with nonresidential property constituting commercial businesses, farms, ranches, and oil/gas operations. In 1982, the Gallagher Amendment was implemented in Colorado to hold the proportion of taxable value derived from residential property at approximately 45%.
The Hotel Operator Guide highlights insights on existing and pipeline supply’s management structures, geographic distribution, as well as, room supply growth by operator and brand. The purpose of this publication is to serve owners and investors an unique reference about the growth and scale of international operators across regions and brands.
It doesn’t sound right to talk about the “benefits” of COVID-19, but if there’s any upside to the pandemic, it’s that massive disruption to business has forced hotels to find operational efficiencies—resulting in lower costs—without damaging the guest experience.
Five years ago, the future of Swiss winter ski resorts was somewhat dim, after consecutive winter seasons with little to no snow and despite a relatively stable number of tourists. There was a perception at that time that existing resorts would be required to transition into four-season resorts simply to continue to exist. That dim view became somewhat rosier, when the snows returned and top resorts saw the return of skiers in record numbers of visitors for the next three winters, climaxing in 2019.
As we emerge from the doldrums of the last year and watch demand trend upward, there is a great opportunity to create competitive advantages for your hotel company. Cash flow from new Investors can make or break any company's runway to a sustainable forward path, and a hospitality company that can opportunistically grow in today's unprecedented environment can leapfrog its pre-pandemic growth strategy.
It's not on the average person's to-do list to buy a hotel, or sell one, for that matter. Therefore finding trusted guidance and information on how to buy and sell hotel real estate can be difficult or outdated. Whether you're interested in this topic because you're doing research on how to go about buying a hotel property in the future, or whether you're actively buying or selling a hotel at the moment and need to answer some burning questions, or you're simply curious about the hotel real estate market and the hotel industry itself - this guide will put you on the right track.
Upon reading his obituary in the press, the American writer Samuel Clemens, known by his pen name Mark Twain, famously remarked, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Although there is no question that the global pandemic has adversely impacted many, the world has not ended.