- New AC Hotel Washington will provide perfect access to the Walter E Washington Convention Center as the meetings and events industry recovers
- Marriott celebrates opening of Shanghai Marriott Hotel Pudong South - its seventh Shanghai property
- citizenM brings a contactless stay option for Geneva
- Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- News briefs - bitesize updates of latest industry news and developments
New AC Hotel Washington will provide perfect access to the Walter E Washington Convention Center as the meetings and events industry recovers
The AC Hotel Washington, DC Convention Center will be the third AC Hotels by Marriott property to open in the capital region when it debuts early next month. Situated in the heart of DC's bustling Mount Vernon Triangle neighbourhood, just steps from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and just a few blocks from both CityCenterDC and Capital One Arena, it will open to guests on 05-Oct-2020. It features 234 guest rooms across 13 storeys all with floor-to-ceiling windows and cityscape views that stretch from the Capitol dome across downtown. Unique to the brand's Convention Center location will be the penthouse-style Estrella Lounge, an indoor/outdoor rooftop designed by Grizform Design Architects.
Marriott celebrates opening of Shanghai Marriott Hotel Pudong South - its seventh Shanghai property
Situated in an emerging business and leisure destination in Southeast Shanghai, Marriott International has announced the opening of Shanghai Marriott Hotel Pudong South, celebrating the seventh Marriott Hotels property to open in the Chinese city. The property is targeted for both business and leisure travellers in Southeast Shanghai and will provide efficient access to Xinchang town, an ancient town famous for its rich historic and cultural heritage in the district of Nanhui, the emerging hub for industry and manufacturing. Drawing inspiration from the vibrant energy and lush greenery of Pudong District, the hotel has been designed to create a contemporary urban retreat that connects guests with nature. It contains 241 guestrooms, which all feature round office desks, sitting areas complete with a chaise longue and coffee table, as well as separate walk-in closets. The 33 spacious Premier Rooms and 6 Executive Rooms offer expansive views of the city landscape with large windows on two sides. Offering the Marriott Hotels brand's signature culinary experiences, the hotel features three dining venues and a lobby lounge, a dedicated executive lounge for business travellers on the executive floor, as well as an event space that extends to two pillarless ballrooms and four flexible function rooms spanning a total of 2,650 square-metres.
citizenM brings a contactless stay option for Geneva
Just over a year after its opening in Zurich, Dutch hospitality and lifestyle brand citizenM has opened a new hotel in Geneva as it expands its 'affordable luxury' approach to hotel stays. Building on its promise of well-connected, prime locations in the world's most popular cities of value to both business and leisure travellers, the citizenM Geneva, the seven-storey, 144-room hotel, is a conversion of a former office building on Rue du Marché - Geneva's main shopping street. The hotel overlooks Place du Molard, close to the famous Old Town and picturesque Lake Geneva. The property incorporates the brand's new contactless experience, powered via a free app for iOS and Android. Using only a smart device, guests can check-in and pre-select a room on the way to the hotel, open doors, order food, control room ambiance, pay for all purchases and check-out. This is citizenM's second property in Switzerland, 14th in Europe, and second of three openings for 2020,adding to the Seattle South Lake Union and to be followed by the Washington DC Capitol, which will open soon.
Data metrics - latest performance insights from STR
- Hotels in Africa showed continued improvements but overall low performance in Aug-2020. Despite month-over-month improvements absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were still the lowest for any August on record. In comparison with Aug-2019, occupancy was down -60.5% to 25.0%, ADR slipped -11.8% to USD95.75 and RevPAR declined -65.1% to USD23.91.
- The Asia Pacific hotel industry reported continued improved performance from previous months in Aug-2020 but at overall lowest levels for any August on record in the region. In comparison with Aug-2019, occupancy was down -31.0% to 50.8%, ADR fell -27.3% to USD69.81 and RevPAR declined -49.8% to USD35.48.
- The Central/South America hotel industry reported slight improvement over the previous month, but low overall performance, in Aug-2020. The absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were the highest in the region since Mar-2020 but still the lowest for any August; ADR also came in lower than any other August on record in the region. In comparison with Aug-2019, occupancy fell -66.4% to 20.2%, ADR declined -34.7% to USD53.66 and RevPAR was down -78.1% to USD10.82.
- In Europe the hotel industry in Aug-2020 reported its best performance levels since Feb-2020 across all three major performance metrics. The absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were up significantly from July but remained the lowest for any August on record. In comparison with Aug-2019, occupancy was down -44.6% to 43.0%, ADR slipped -13.0% to EUR103.95 and RevPAR declined -51.8% to EUR44.69.
- Hotels in the Middle East showed continued improvements but overall low performance in Aug-2020. Despite month-over-month improvements absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were still the lowest for any August on record. In comparison with Aug-2019, occupancy was down -32.5% to 42.6%, ADR declined -26.3% to USD115.46 and RevPAR fell -50.3% to USD49.23.
News briefs
- A new survey from the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) warns that the hotel industry remains on the brink of collapse because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The insight from its hotel industry owners, operators, and employees this month shows more than two thirds (68%) of hotels have less than half of their typical, pre-crisis staff working full time, and without further governmental assistance, just under three quarters (74%) say they would be forced to lay off additional employees without further governmental assistance.
- Baros, a luxury resort situated on its own private island in the Maldives, has announced the introduction of the new Baros Residence Villa ahead of its 01-Oct-2020 reopening. Designed for guests to experience true bliss in the seclusion of a garden retreat, the property maintains an authentic yet luxurious Maldivian style and comes with a personal butler and assigned staff.
- The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Holiday Inn brand has partnered with US country music artist Walker Hayes to bring live music to several Holiday Inn hotels in the form of drive-in, socially distant performances. The "Holiday Inn to You" tour, a nod to a line in Hayes' latest hit single "Trash My Heart," launches on 26-Sep-2020 and continues through the end of Oct-2020. Music has been a huge part of the Holiday Inn brand's DNA and The "Holiday Inn to You" tour represents a continuation of the "We're there" global marketing campaign that celebrates authentic moments of human connection.
- The Hotel Amarano Burbank-Hollywood has been reimagined to enhance the Los Angeles luxury boutique hotel scene following a full-scale renovation to its lobby, public areas, guestrooms, meeting and event spaces, and a new bar and restaurant. Surrounded by film studio ranches, the 132-room property is a private sanctuary in the heart of the world's entertainment capital. Among the rooms are 31 suites that range from 475 to 650 square feet and are outfitted with king or California king beds and queen-sized sleeper sofas.
- Hotel ownership, management and development firm, Hotel Equities, and its global private equity affiliate, Virtua Partners, entered into a strategic alliance with hospitality development and investment group The Witness Group to assume operations of its portfolio of 36 hotels from 01-Sep-2020. The properties are spread across a range of brands, including Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Hyatt.
- Two new Hyatt Place properties have opened this month in the US. The Hyatt Place Sioux Falls, the first Hyatt-branded hotel in the state of South Dakota is a joint venture led by Kelly Midwest Ventures and operated by Kelly Inns. With 110 guestrooms it is centrally located near all that Lake Lorraine has to offer, a short drive from the Sioux Falls Regional Airport and the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The Hyatt Place at Wichita State University, owned by Shocker Lodging and managed by Lodging One Hospitality, offers 106 guestrooms on campus that provide access to many of the area's largest employers.
- Findings from JLL's Hotel Investor Sentiment Survey (HISS) show that nearly 40% of investors indicated that for investment activity to pick-up, hotel occupancy will need to be within 60% to 70% of 2019 levels. The HISS also indicates that global investors expect their property/portfolio RevPAR to return to 2019 levels at a quicker pace across APAC (2.5 years), followed by EMEA (3 years) and lastly North America (3.7 years).
- La Colección Resorts' new Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana will opens its doors in Feb-2021. As the first Live Aqua property outside of Mexico for Posadas, Mexico's leading hotelier, the resort will bring to the Dominican Republic all the brands' signature elements, while offering an all-suite accommodation offer of 347 keys across seven categories.
- Raines Hospitality has confirmed it has added The Foundry Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina to its boutique hotel portfolio. The 87-room hotel opened in 2018 as a Curio Collection by Hilton property following extensive updates and renovations to Asheville's historic former steel foundry.