Market Trends

🏖️ SLS Hotels & Residences, under Ennismore, to open SLS Punta del Este Residences in Uruguay with an 80-room hotel. The project, developed by GNV Group and designed by Gómez Platero, includes 314 luxury apartments and penthouses with amenities like rooftop pool, spa, and on-demand services. Sizes range from 67 to 223 square meters. Accor One Living supports the sector's growth, with Ennismore operating over 35 properties worldwide.

🏖 Rosewood Hotels & Resorts to open Rosewood Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic by 2029 in partnership with Grupo Puntacana. The ultra-luxury resort will feature 78 suites, including overwater villas, eight dining venues, an Asaya-branded wellness center, and a range of facilities on 50 acres of beachfront within a 15,000-acre resort community. The resort is 10 minutes from Punta Cana International Airport, adding to Rosewood's Caribbean portfolio alongside Rosewood Baha Mar and Rosewood Little Dix Bay, among others.

🏨 Whitbread has opened seven new Premier Inn hotels since March 2024, adding 1,000+ rooms. Key locations include London Waterloo (137 rooms), Torquay Harbour (120 rooms), York Layerthorpe (188 rooms), Bristol Parkway (103 rooms), Paddington Station, Cambridge City Centre (120 rooms), and Lambeth North, London (137 rooms). With over 85,500 rooms across 855 properties in the UK and Ireland, and a network of over 10,000 rooms in Germany, Whitbread aims for 125,000 rooms in the future, targeting 40 new locations around the M25 and 13 sites in Ireland. Whitbread's growth strategy involves leasehold developments and converting vacant office buildings to reduce CO2 emissions.

🏨 Global hotel brands are utilizing key money—a payment not exceeding 5% of total deal cost—to secure hotel management or franchise agreements. Marriott uses key money in about 33% of deals, while Hilton does so for roughly 9%. Sonesta International Hotels, managing 1,100 hotels, employs key money to stimulate growth and compete for conversions. The trend has surged in the past 24 months due to higher construction costs, supply-chain issues, and inflation. Choice Hotels spent 21% of gross fees on key money in 2023, and Wyndham's spending represented 9% of their gross fees. Key money can also be a defensive strategy to maintain marquee assets. Despite its benefits, some owners and operators, like Stonebridge Companies, view key money critically, preferring performance-based relationships without the strings attached.

🏠 Minor Hotels aims to reach over 850 properties by 2027, growing from its current count of over 560 hotels and 81,000 rooms. With half its portfolio in Europe, the group will diversify with over 100 new properties in Asia, 60+ in the Middle East and Africa, and 40 in Australia and New Zealand. They plan to add 47,000 rooms in three years, focusing on luxury and upscale segments, wellness, and branded residences. Exciting 2025 openings include Tivoli Kopke Porto Gaia Hotel, nhow Rome, Avani+ Barbarons Seychelles Resort, Anantara Kafue River Zambia Tented Camp, and NH Collection Maldives Reethi Resort.

🌇 IHG announces the Holiday Inn Express Generation 5 design to launch in EMEAA in 2023, targeting 500 properties in the region over the next three years. The design, developed from guest behavior research, offers experiential zones and caters to the rising demand for vibrant, dynamic spaces. Holiday Inn Express Riyadh, set to open in 2026, will debut the concept. Ten projects in the UK and Europe are early adopters, plus 20 interested parties. Generation 5 follows the 2016 ‘Next Generation’ update. Currently, there are 3,206 Holiday Inn Express hotels (340,054 rooms) with 644 properties (79,079 rooms) in the pipeline.

🏡 The Admiral Fell Inn in Baltimore's Fells Point will reopen as The William Fell, a Hilton Tapestry Collection hotel, after a multimillion-dollar renovation in April. Owned by Meyer Jabara Hotels, which also operates 31 hotels and 20 restaurants, it's their first Hilton-branded property and third in Baltimore. The renovation by RD Jones + Associates includes a preserved 18th-century exterior, a modern interior with nautical art, and various room options. The hotel honors William Fell, Fells Point's first settler. Meyer Jabara Hotels was founded in 1977.

🏡 Dusit International, a Thai hotel company, partners with IDC Prime to manage two new hotels in Mindanao, Philippines, under the Dusit Princess brand. The hotels, located in Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro, are opening in late 2029. Dusit Princess Moena in Bukidnon will feature 184 rooms and facilities like a business center, dining restaurant, and gym. The 14-story Dusit Princess Firenze in Cagayan de Oro will have 180 rooms and amenities like a gym and spa. These projects join Dusit's 302 properties in 19 countries and expand its Philippine presence, which includes Manila, Cebu, Davao, and Samal Island.

🏠 London, as a global hub, welcomed around 20.3 million overnight visitors in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (UK), nearing the 2019 pre-pandemic level of 21.7 million. This influx boosts accommodation demand and supports the tourism sector, highlighting the city's diverse events from business conferences to cultural and sporting activities as key drivers of tourism performance.