The Waldorf Astoria New York reopens after a full renovation, raising the question of whether the 1931 landmark retains its legendary status.
With major brand families averaging 24 flags each and total franchise fees outpacing revenue growth, owners face a sharper-than-ever tradeoff between brand affiliation benefits and the true cost of flying a flag.
US hotel transaction volume hit $5.6B in Q1 2026 (+14.4% YoY), AI is moving from pilots to operational infrastructure, and branded residences are now a core development financing tool.
With LA28 approaching, hotel owners face tightening timelines for renovation projects as labor, procurement, and permitting pressures intensify ahead of the 2028 deadline.
The boutique hotel company plans to double its seven-property portfolio by 2027, with new openings in Florida, Michigan, and South Carolina focusing on historic building renovations.
Detroit faces a 3,000-room hotel shortage while 12% of downtown office space sits vacant, creating opportunities for strategic office-to-hotel conversions.
CEO Dimitri Antonopoulos discusses how the family-owned group built independent luxury properties in Old Montreal over 50+ years.
The market shows 45% institutional ownership downtown, high-70s occupancy, and benefits from diverse demand including military, life sciences, and the new 1,600-room Gaylord Pacific resort.
The guide provides a strategic framework for hotel owners facing 2026's challenging transaction landscape, where debt maturities and PIP requirements create urgent sell-or-hold decisions.
Analysis shows Park City's 3,000-room hotel pipeline is supported by Deer Valley's expansion to 20,000 skiable acres, creating lodging density comparable to Colorado ski markets.
Multiple new hotels and repositioned properties are targeting upscale segments in mountain markets like Boone and Highlands, with RevPAR growth strongest during off-peak months from 2016-2024.
THE WELL Coconut Grove sold 20% of its $1.5M+ units within 48 hours, demonstrating strong demand for wellness-integrated residential developments that hotels can learn from.
The first half of 2025 witnessed a complex interplay of geopolitical shifts, natural disasters, and continuing global challenges that led to significant whiplash in the U.S. stock market and unusual swings in the bond market. The return of Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Presidency has led to a reigniting of trade tensions, particularly with China, that are impacting global commerce. Furthermore, with peace talks proving unsuccessful thus far, wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan are each entering their third or fourth year. In May, India and Pakistan engaged in a brief but intense military conflict, marking their most serious escalation in decades. During June, the Iran–Israel War, also referred to as the Twelve-Day War, was an armed conflict during which Israel launched surprise attacks on key military and nuclear facilities in Iran, culminating with the U.S. taking offensive action by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites. Finally, during the first half of 2025, the U.S. experienced a record $126 billion in losses from natural disasters, including California wildfires, Midwest tornadoes, and Mississippi River floods.
Tucson’s hotel supply and investment interest have evolved in the past few years. From the addition of boutique hotels in the downtown area to new extended-stay options near hospitals and office parks, the city is experiencing one of its most dynamic hotel development cycles in decades. Over the past several years, many economy and midscale hotels have been converted to other uses, including multi-family and affordable housing, as well as shelters and transitional housing; this trend has been prevalent in several major markets, including nearby Phoenix. On the other hand, high-end hotels have been either built new or converted from other uses.
At the beginning of this year with the 2024 elections in the rearview mirror polls indicated that Americans were hopeful for what 2025 had in store. The Fed appeared to have achieved a soft landing for the economy, the stock market hit record highs, and investors were anticipating additional interest rate cuts.
The 36th Hunter Hotel Investment Conference took place this week at Atlanta’s Marriott Marquis, with the theme “Elevate Your Game” inspiring session topics and conversations throughout the event. This article provides our key takeaways from the conference.
Every January, the ALIS conference serves as a barometer for the hotel investment landscape, and in 2025, the mood was optimistic yet noticeably more restrained than in recent years. Regulatory optimism and improving labor dynamics were offset by potential tariff headwinds, lack of interest rate relief, and the rising cost of new tech and satisfying evolving guest preferences. These are but a few issues reshaping the industry in ways that demand both strategic foresight and operational agility. While some trends continue along familiar trajectories, others signal a reshuffling of the deck.
In my year-end missive following 2023, I reviewed the hotel transaction market dynamics comparing contrarian buyers to downhill skiers who don't want to follow in other's tracks and "wanna-be's" to cross country skiers who predominantly follow the leader's tracks. I simply could not understand why more investors were not placing bets on the inefficiency created by market noise when market stakeholders intuitively know that you should always buy when others are not. Well, other than one huge investor in the market, SQ Capital, Inc., 2024 logged in another down transaction year, as hotel transaction volume fell more than 10% after last year's calamitous 40% decline. For the second year in a row, SQ Capital was by far the largest investor in the market.
Last week marked another successful and highly attended Lodging Conference. HVS was proud to sponsor and speak at the event. Our recap on the conference sentiment follows.
Texas has continued to grow into a top destination for hotel owners who want to expand their portfolio as a result of its strong economy, consistent population growth, vibrant tourist attractions, and diverse markets. Key cities in Texas include Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Austin, and San Antonio, while the state’s emerging markets are secondary cities/towns around these cities that are often overlooked by hotel investors. This article examines the top cities within Texas in terms of revenue per available room (RevPAR) and provides expert insight into the most attractive and often overlooked submarkets for prospective hotel investors in Texas.