Hotel Openings

🏨 NH Hotels to open NH Maldives Kuda Rah Resort on September 1 in South Ari Atoll, Maldives, featuring 51 suites and villas, 25 minutes from Male by seaplane. ECHO Suites by Wyndham launches second U.S. location in Plano, Texas, with plans for 25 more. Hotel Engadinerhof in Pontresina, Switzerland, acquired by Lang & Schwander, to undergo renovations until 2026. Driftwood Capital provides $12.1M loan for refinancing 714-key, five-hotel portfolio in Utah, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Texas.

🏨 Marriott to boost inventory by over 9,000 rooms by end of 2024, with 1,500+ future rooms. New "Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy" collection targets younger travelers, offers apartment-style and boutique hotels in cities. Partnership includes Marriott earning royalty from Sonder's room revenue.

🏡 The George Hotel, a boutique property in Georgetown's Hammock Coast, South Carolina, housed in the former Georgetown Times building, opened in May 2024. It's the first hotel on historic Front Street in over 50 years and The Indigo Road's first in South Carolina. The hotel features 18th- and 19th-century architectural design, 42 water-facing guestrooms with 50-inch Samsung smart TVs, Malin + Goetz products, and Bellino linens. It includes a seafood restaurant, outdoor bar, and event spaces like The Indigo Room. Owned by Winya Properties and operated by The Indigo Road, it has 56 rooms.

🥞 Milkshake Concepts, founded in 2015 in Dallas, operates eight brands, with Serious Eats most recently opening Aug. 2 in Grand Prairie. Vidorra, launched in 2018, aims to open 10 locations by 2026, including a Nashville venue post-Grapevine launch. Currently, there are Vidorra locations in Dallas' Deep Ellum, Addison, and Grand Prairie, with Rockwall and Grapevine next. CEO Imran Sheikh cites a multisensory experience for Vidorra's success, planning a total of nine DFW locations by 2026, while also considering expansion into Houston, Austin, Denver, and Phoenix/Scottsdale.

🏦 Graduate by Hilton launched Graduate Princeton in Princeton, N.J., marking the first opening since Hilton's acquisition. The hotel, situated on Nassau Street, is housed in a 1918 dormitory converted into a 180-key boutique hotel with 6,000 square feet of public space. The project is a collaboration between AJ Capital Partners and Stonehill Taylor. Princeton has been a target for Graduate Hotels for a decade. Graduate Princeton is the first new hotel in the town in 90 years and features interiors with Princeton University references, including a Gothic-inspired lobby and a restaurant named Ye Tavern. Earlier in the year, Hilton acquired Graduate Hotels for $210 million from AJ Capital, with over 35 hotels currently open or planned near educational institutions in the U.S. and U.K.

🏖 Driftwood Hospitality Management completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, a 295-key hotel in Florida. The refresh includes seven floors, over 10,000 square feet of meeting space, a lobby with ocean-themed artwork, and guestrooms with blue tones and surfing photos. Amenities like Waves Craft Bar & Kitchen and Castaways Beach Bar are updated, and a redesigned pool with fire pits and a surf lounge is added. Located near Port Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center.

🏠 Filippo Brivio Sforza launched Casa Brivio in Milan, aiming to offer guests an authentic local experience. Gaining a deep understanding of cultures during his time at Glion Institute of Higher Education, Filippo's hotel reflects Milan's design heritage, featuring work by local designers Matteo Thun & Partners. Casa Brivio, which officially opened in April 2024, offers a hand-drawn map in every room to guide guests to local spots. Future plans include a bistro, event space, gym, spa, and potential expansion to cities like London and Paris.

🏠 In June, the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve unveiled a redesigned lobby lounge, library, and bar by Bishop Pass, featuring Italian-inspired neo-baroque and rococo furnishings. Custom damask, in three patterns, and a color scheme of reds, golds, greens, sage, and rosemary enhance the ambiance. Key elements include Murano Glass fixtures from Venice's Sogni DI Cristallo, custom-made lobby rugs by Blended LA, and local craftsmanship from Composition Hospitality and iWorks. The renovation maintains original stenciling, marble arches, and limestone fireplaces, supporting sustainability through reuse and refinishing.

🏠 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts launched Trademark Collection in South Korea with La Vie D’or Hotel and Resort in Hwaseong-si, 30 minutes from Seoul. This addition brings Wyndham's presence to 30+ hotels in the country and nearly 20 Trademark hotels in Asia Pacific. The 190-room property covers 330,000 square meters, featuring a nine-hole golf course, fitness center, spa, pools, saunas, fine dining, event spaces, and a business center. South Korea, focusing on tourism for economic growth, saw 3.4 million tourists Jan-Mar, nearing pre-pandemic levels, with March recovering 97%. In 2023, 11 million visitors were welcomed, with tourism projected to hit $13.66 billion.