Market Trends

🏠 Policronica redesigned the 850-square-metre Hotel Elysée Montmartre in Paris, using eucalyptus wood for nearly all furnishings, sourced locally and crafted in their Lisbon workshop. Architect Julien Labrousse highlights the project's low carbon footprint due to in-house production and lack of repetitive shipping. The 16-room hotel's warm, neutral design features plant fibres, brass, and natural fabrics, aiming to evoke simplicity and functionality with influences from Nordic and Japanese architecture. Hotel Elysée Montmartre is set to open in January 2025, with plans to add ten more rooms within a year, and it is shortlisted for a Dezeen Award 2024.

🏕 andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp, after a 6-month refurbishment, reopened in October 2024 on the Timbavati River, South Africa. The redesign features spacious guest tents with secluded outdoor spaces, indoor and outdoor showers, and al fresco bathtubs. New guest areas, expanded decks, a larger swimming pool, and a gym complement the camp's elegant mix of traditional and contemporary design. The camp welcomes children over twelve, offering a private experience distinct from Ngala Safari Lodge.

💸 Inflationary pressures persist with 9 out of 10 foodservice categories experiencing month-on-month price increases. CEO of Prestige Purchasing, Shaun Allen, emphasizes the need for proactive and adaptable procurement strategies due to market volatility. Vegetables, particularly potatoes, remain highly inflated, while the largest month-on-month increase is in the oils and fats category, influenced by rising butter prices. The sugar, jam, syrups, chocolate, and vegetable categories show the highest year-on-year inflation, with ongoing pressure on revenue and margins expected through 2024 and into the next year, according to Reuben Pullan, senior insight consultant at CGA by NIQ.

🏨 CMBS loans offer lower capital costs for hotel borrowers and can involve complex structures with "sliced and diced" tranches of varying risk and return levels. Post-closing, the master servicer handles day-to-day operations while a special servicer manages loans with performance issues. Borrowers should negotiate loan terms for operational flexibility and tailor recourse carveouts at the term sheet stage. CMBS loans require adherence to strict financial covenants and consideration of unique asset particularities, such as seasonality in revenue. Michael D. Maloff, a partner at Dentons in Louisville, highlights the importance of proactive loan document negotiations to navigate the CMBS market successfully.

🛠 Philippe Starck and Duravit celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Starck barrel, introducing an update with glossy and matt ceramics, new lacquers, and c-bonded technology. The design maintains its minimal essence, aiming for timelessness and eschewing trends. Stark emphasizes durability, sustainability, and the notion of a product being an essential part of human life that should extend beyond temporary fashions. His approach to sustainability is rooted in his experiences since age 17, questioning necessity, promoting longevity, and prioritizing intelligent, sustainable design for generational use.

📍 Booking.com reported a growth of over 40% year-over-year in connected trip transactions for Q3 2024, a category now constituting a high single-digit percentage of total transactions. Expedia, a main competitor, has pushed the concept since 2004, yet connected trips represent less than 10% of their overall bookings. Traditional tour operators have offered such packages for 175 years, and despite the advent of connected trips online, less than 10% of Europeans travel abroad on packages, with the U.S. figure below 5%.

🏨 Main Street Hospitality's place in the hotel industry, the qualities of a good partner, asset management, and what hotel owners should seek are discussed in this video. Insights from Sarah's experience in the fashion industry, including working with Ralph Lauren and applying her career learnings to hospitality, are shared. Concepts of "dynamic stability," operational frameworks, responsible growth, and the importance of culture within Main Street Hospitality are explored. The discussion extends to the potential of hospitality to unite people.

📝 In October, the U.S. national unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, consistent since May 2024 and higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 3.5%. The restaurant and bar industries saw a slowdown in job growth, adding just 3,700 jobs with an employment rate of 3.7%. This was a stark contrast to September's initially reported 70,000 jobs, which was later adjusted to 39,300. Overall, August and September's job growth was revised down by nearly 65,000 jobs. Despite these adjustments, the National Restaurant Association indicates the employment trend remains positive, with industry employment above the pre-pandemic peak of 12.3 million jobs. Full-service restaurants are still 4% below February 2020 employment levels, while limited-service and snack/non-alcoholic beverage sectors are 3% and 17% above, respectively.

📍 The article concludes a mid-century modern series by collating 28 influential proponents, furniture designs, places, materials, and companies. Danish architect Arne Jacobsen is known for the Ant chair and the Egg chair initially made for the SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen's first skyscraper. Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich designed the Barcelona chair for the 1929 International Exhibition, popularized in the 1940s by Knoll. Charles and Ray Eames innovated with molded plywood, creating the Shell chair and Eames lounge chair. Textile designer Lucienne Day impacted Britain with her Calyx pattern, earning a gold medal at the Milan Triennale. Eero Saarinen, known for the Gateway Arch and Tulip furniture, designed the GM Technical Center. Florence Knoll's Planning Unit produced enduring furniture and promoted designers like Mies van der Rohe. Gio Ponti's works include the Pirelli Tower and the Superleggera chair. Hans J Wegner, the "Master of Chairs," created over 500 designs, including the Wishbone Chair. Isamu Noguchi's Akari lights and Noguchi table remain popular. Grete Jalk's GJ Bow Chair is still made today. Poul Kjaerholm's steel furniture is featured in major museums. Lina Bo Bardi, celebrated for her architecture in Brazil, was posthumously awarded the Special Golden Lion in 2021. Moulded plywood

🏨 STAAH, a hospitality service provider, offers weekly hotel industry quizzes to keep hoteliers informed and sharp on the latest trends. The latest quiz touches on luxury hotel brands and essential hotel software. Participation is encouraged to test knowledge and stay updated, with previous quizzes available for those who missed out.