CityHub's Remco Gerritsen on Solo Travel and Revenue per Square Meter, Steve Rushmore on Key Money, Paris and London Set October Records

The day's reading moves from a new kind of urban hotel to the contract terms behind conventional ones, with October's performance records in between. In a Brand Insiders episode, CityHub CEO Remco Gerritsen tells Adam Mogelonsky that almost half his guests now travel alone, in a model that fits two and a half hubs into the space of one hotel room. Steve Rushmore explains why key money in a management agreement is never free, and what it costs an owner in fees, term and flexibility. CoStar's preliminary October data shows Paris setting a record monthly ADR, London its best October RevPAR and Singapore all-time highs during Formula 1. Signals carries a record Middle East pipeline and new research on how hotels fail guests with disabilities.

Remco Gerritsen of CityHub on Solo Travel, Revenue per Square Meter, and Scaling a Modular Urban Hotel

CityHub was never designed for solo travelers, but they found it anyway. Solo guests rose from about 29% in 2019 to nearly 50% in 2026, and almost half of them are women. Gerritsen, CEO since August, credits privacy, a wristband-only protected area and the option to socialize in the hangout, with a city host on duty around the clock.

The economics rest on space: two and a half hubs fit in the footprint of one conventional room, and CityHub targets yearly occupancy above 90%. The modular units are built in Germany and assembled in old garages, factories and monuments, and in Amsterdam more than half of guests book direct with no OTAs. With Hamburg and Berlin signed, the brand plans three openings next year and aims to double its capacity. The rise in solo travel matches SiteMinder's 2027 traveler research in yesterday's brief. Listen to the episode →

Key Money in Hotel Management Agreements: Boon or Burden?

Steve Rushmore, who founded HVS, writes that key money is an investment the operator expects to recover, with a return, from the hotel's revenue. It typically runs 3% to 7% of project cost for a new hotel, or $5,000 to $20,000 per room for an acquisition or conversion. The cost shows up as longer terms, repayment on termination, less say over brand mandates and a lower sale price.

His worked example turns $2.5 million of key money on a 250-room hotel into about $372,600 a year, roughly half of a typical 3% base fee. He sets out five protections: straight-line amortization, repayment only on termination without cause, no double recovery alongside termination fees, a clean exit on sale, and retained approval rights. The piece follows Sloan Dean's argument on Monday that owners should negotiate AI agent ownership into management agreements the way they negotiate key money and termination fees. Read the analysis →

Paris, London and Singapore Set October Records

CoStar's preliminary data shows event-driven demand lifting three major markets. Fashion Week took Paris to a record monthly ADR of €474.64, up 13.5%, with ADR above €600 on two nights for the first time since the 2024 Olympics. London posted its highest October RevPAR on record at £178.81, up 5.5%, driven by the BFI Film Festival, with occupancy at its highest since 2019.

In Singapore, the Formula 1 Grand Prix pushed the market to its highest-ever monthly ADR and RevPAR, at SGD400.74 and SGD340.49. Saturday night of the race weekend reached SGD818.88 ADR, the highest since F1's first night race in 2008. Paris → London → Singapore →

Signals

The Middle East pipeline reaches a record 771 projects and 188,960 rooms. Lodging Econometrics reports rooms up 17% year-over-year at Q3, led by Saudi Arabia with 401 projects and Egypt up 47% by projects.

Waldorf Astoria Residences will nearly triple by 2030. Hilton says the portfolio is on track for 34 properties and 3,498 units, with new signings in the US, UAE, Mexico, Japan, Greece and Spain.

Guests with disabilities meet more frustration than positive moments during a hotel stay. Lee-Keng Ng of the Singapore Institute of Technology maps the stay journey and finds gaps in room design, staff training and online accessibility information.

A U.S. federal warning on refrigeration hacks applies directly to hotel kitchens. Robert Firpo-Cappello of HFTP says walk-in coolers and freezers often run on networked, vendor-managed controllers with little IT oversight.

Haya Hussein argues that service quality is partly a management responsibility. Drawing on psychology research, she says workload design, recovery time and the emotional demands placed on frontline staff shape what employees can give.

People

Chris Gumiela was named President & COO at MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino, returning to the resort from MGM Resorts, where he has been Senior Vice President of Interactive Operations since 2021. Michael Baier was appointed General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua, and Ivy S. McQueen was appointed Director of Sales & Marketing at SOPHY Hyde Park in Chicago.

Properties

The Observatory, A Viceroy Resort opened in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Wyndham brought its 12th brand to Türkiye with Vienna House by Wyndham Istanbul Bahçelievler. In London, hub by Premier Inn Trafalgar Square reached a construction milestone. Mar by O'Two Hotels will debut on Cape Town's Mouille Point in March 2027, and The King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort unveiled a new vision for its St. Simons Island landmark.