DRIFTWOOD CAPITAL BREAKS GROUND ON WESTIN RESORT IN FLORIDA: Driftwood Capital has broken ground on the Westin Cocoa Beach Resort, Spa and Conference Center in Florida’s Space Coast market. The 502-key hotel is situated on the coastal city of Cocoa Beach and will be managed by North Palm Beach-based Driftwood Hospitality Management. The $420 million property will be built on a 15.7-acre site, providing one of the largest conference centers in the region. Targeting to fill the 160-mile gap of Marriott beachfront resorts along the Atlantic coast between Daytona Beach and Hutchinson Island, the resort will feature 11 dining venues, a spa, surfing wave pool, multiple swimming pools, tennis and pickleball courts, a fitness center, retail outlets and a multi-story parking garage which can accommodate up to 800 cars. The resort will include 72,000 square feet of open-air venues for events, complemented by 51,500 square feet of indoor space for conferences. Once completed, Driftwood Capital will own approximately 62% of the region’s beachfront inventory and 11% of its total hotel inventory.
SCANDIC EXPANDS IN GERMANY: Scandic has signed a long-term, revenue-based lease agreement with AXA Investment Managers to take over a 174-key hotel in Stuttgart. The hotel will be renovated ahead of its opening in Q4 2025. Upon the completion of renovations, the hotel will feature dining venues, a gym, meeting areas and a parking garage. The hotel is located near the central station and the Europaviertel commercial area. The operations will be environmentally certified by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, the official ecolabel of the Nordic countries. The new property will operate under the Scandic brand. Following the takeover, Scandic will have eight hotels across Germany totaling 2,635 rooms.
U.S. PERFORMANCE UPDATE: The U.S. hotel industry reported positive YOY comparisons, according to data through September 28.
- Occupancy: 68.4% (+2.6%)
- ADR: $170.24 (+7.5%)
- RevPAR: $116.50 (+10.2%)
Among the top 25 markets, New York City reported the highest YOY increases in each of the key performance metrics: occupancy (+11.4% to 93.2%), ADR (+52.8% to $523.69) and RevPAR (+70.1% to $488.32). The market’s performance was driven by the United Nations General Assembly. The steepest RevPAR declines were seen in San Francisco (-17.6% to $177.81) and Nashville (-5.5% to $136.06).
AIMBRIDGE HOSPITALITY LAUNCHES DATA, REPORTING TOOL: Aimbridge Hospitality is strengthening its technology leadership with a new proprietary data reporting platform, called Aimbridge Intelligence. The platform will provide greater transparency and collaboration with owners. Housed in OwnView, the portal will be available to Aimbridge owners and create new opportunities for owners with easy access to information, including key performance data to offer more flexibility and self-service capabilities. Built on Power BI to automate data integration and updates, Aimbridge Intelligence provides owners with near real-time access to STR performance, RevPAR index, profitability guest service and turnover data. The data tool will allow owners to view the metrics associated with their individual hotels or an entire portfolio, allowing for expedited implementation of relevant strategies to address areas of opportunity. Upcoming features will incorporate AI and machine learning for demand forecasting, with other possible expansions of functionality to add more comprehensive data sets for deeper comparisons and trend tracking.
