Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. Host Acquires Two Nashville Hotels for $530 Million
Host Hotels & Resorts has acquired the fee simple interest in two adjacent hotels in Nashville, the 215-room 1 Hotel Nashville and 506-room Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville Downtown for $530 million in cash. Hotel News Now’s Bryan Wroten reports that the acquisition price “represents a 12.6-times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization multiple or a cap rate of approximately 7.4% on the property’s 2024 estimated results.”
James Risoleo, Host’s president and CEO, said “the newly built property has a prime location in Nashville, a top-performing market, which had an impressive revenue per available room compound annual growth rate of 7.7% from 2000 to 2023, even while absorbing new supply. … We expect the property will generate outsize growth as it stabilizes, enhancing the quality of our portfolio and driving additional value creation for our stockholders.”
Host reports its first-quarter earnings today.
2. India Leads G20 GDP Growth Projections Through 2025
India is projected to have the strongest gross-domestic-product growth across 2024 and 2025 among G20 countries, with year-over-year growth of 6.6%, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The group of 20 countries will see an average GDP growth over the period of 3.1%, but there are some notable laggards: United Kingdom at 0.4% growth; Germany at 0.2% growth; Saudi Arabia with a 0.2% decline; and Argentina with a 3.3% decrease.
Mathias Cormann, the OECD’s secretary-general, said “policy action needs to ensure macroeconomic stability and improve medium-term growth prospects. Monetary policy should remain prudent, with scope to lower policy interest rates as inflation declines, fiscal policy needs to address rising pressures to debt sustainability, and policy reforms should boost innovation, investment and opportunities in the labor market particularly for women, young people and older workers.”
3. Las Vegas’ Venetian Unveils $1.5 Billion Renovation
The 4,000-room Venetian Resort in Las Vegas has announced the property will undertake a $1.5-billion renovation, according to a press release. The project will also include $188 million of improvements to its convention center.
“This redevelopment marks more than just a surface-level renovation, it signifies a deep understanding of our guests and a profound reimagining of an iconic resort unlike any other in history. The beauty of this project lies within the balance of the beloved familiar and the never-before-seen,” said the hotel’s president and CEO, Patrick Nichols.
4. US, Canada Hotel Performance Falls as April Ends
U.S. hotel performance for the week ending April 27 saw declines in all three performance metrics. Occupancy fell 1.2% to 65.7%, average daily rate dipped 1.3% to $154.44 and revenue per available room fell 2.5% to $101.42, according to CoStar hospitality data. Hotels in Detroit, where the NFL draft was held from April 25-27, posted the highest ADR and RevPAR increases as ADR increased 21.8% to $147.83 and RevPAR increased 25.6% to $94.74.
During the same week, Canadian hotels reported increases in ADR and RevPAR but a drop in occupancy, which fell 0.7% to 67.2%. Its ADR increased 3.4% to 189.70 Canadian dollars ($137.82), and its RevPAR increased 2.6% to CA$127.4.
5. Federal Reserve Keeps Interest Rates Steady in Face of Stubborn Inflation
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said U.S. interest rates would remain at 5.3%, which still represents a two-year high. The decision is driven by persistent worries about inflation, which at 2.7% is higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, according to the New York Times.
“What we’ve said is that we need to be more confident” that inflation is coming down sufficiently and sustainably before cutting rates, Powell said. “It appears that it’s going to take longer for us to reach that point of confidence.”