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PM Hotel Group has announced a merger with lifestyle and micro-hotel-focused developer and operator Modus Hotels.

“Our approach and values have been aligned with Modus’ for years. The opportunity now to join together to harness our combined talent, teamwork and expertise positions us to scale while raising the overall level of service excellence for our guests,” PM Hotel Group President Joseph Bojanowski said in a news release. “Over time we will integrate our current roster of independent and branded luxury and lifestyle hotels with the existing Modus collection.”

This marks PM's second such deal in the span of three months, following its November merger with Paramount Management Associates.

Airlines are changing and canceling flights across the U.S. today amid worries that newly launching 5G cell phone signals will interfere with "critical airplane technologies," CNN reports.

Emirates, for example, canceled flights at airports in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle.

"We are working closely with aircraft manufacturers and the relevant authorities to alleviate operational concerns, and we hope to resume our U.S. services as soon as possible," Emirates said in a statement.

Many hotel owners who had to kick the can down the road on needed renovations due to the pandemic are now facing significant supply chain and labor issues as they look to do that work now, HNN's Bryan Wroten reports.

Lead times for furniture, fixtures and equipment, for example, are coming down somewhat but remain exceptionally long.

“A few months ago, we were seeing up to 30 weeks for some items,” Suzanne Saunders, vice president of design and construction at Hospitality Ventures Management Group, told Hotel News Now. “I am pricing out a project right now, and my lead times are 20 to 22 weeks, so we are seeing improvements.”

Investment volume for hotels in Scotland hit £185 million [$252 million] in 2021, which marks a 166% increase over 2021, according to Savills as reported by CoStar News' Andrew Dickson. The total volume was made up of 18 individual deals with domestic buyers representing 54% of the money spent.

“Despite the inevitable impact of hotels essentially being closed during the pandemic, Scotland was high up the staycation list when restrictions began to ease after the first lockdown," said Steven Fyfe, associate director in Savills Scottish Hotels team. "As a result, our hotel market has performed relatively well over the last 12 months and we have seen renewed interest from investors who have shown confidence in the sector."

The Ashford Group of companies — which includes Ashford Inc and real estate investment trusts Ashford Hospitality Trust and Braemar Hotels & Resorts — announced the end of an SEC investigation into the companies. Ashford officials said they received notice from the SEC that "enforcement staff does not intend to recommend any action against" the companies, according to a news release.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2020 that the companies were under scrutiny for "related-party deals, including an agreement to renegotiate billions of dollars in mortgage debt where Ashford Hospitality Trust said it could no longer afford to make interest payments."

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