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Soho House, a firm of hotel-clubs for private members, has confirmed it is to float the company on the New York Stock Exchange at a value judged to be approximately $3 billion, according to a news release. To be listed under the ticker-tape symbol MCG, for Membership Collective Group, the firm owns 28 Soho House assets, nine Soho Works co-working spaces and hotels The Ned in London and Scorpios Beach Club in Mykonos, Greece.

According to newspaper The Guardian, the group intends to use any new funds to boost its portfolio to 46 Soho House assets by 2023. A fixed amount of shares will be offered to members, of which it has retained 92% of during the pandemic, with a waiting list of 48,000 applicants, according to the newspaper, which added that in 2020 its revenues almost halved to $384 million, with the business recording a $235 million loss.

Israeli insurance group Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings has acquired for 113.7 million pounds sterling ($158.29 million) a 49% stake in two hotels in London. The majority owner of each is owner-operator PPHE Hotel Group, according to a press release, which added “Clal will also be granted five million share appreciation rights to have a value upside if the gap between the group’s latest reported [European Public Real Estate Association Net Asset Value] and its current market price narrows over the maturity period.”

The two hotels are the 646-room Park Plaza London Riverbank and the 343-room Art’otel London Hoxton, which is due to open in 2024. The new majority owner said it is also spending a further 12.1 million pounds sterling to aid development of the Art’otel asset. PPHE has an exclusive license with Radisson Hotel Group to develop the Park Plaza brand.

Hoteliers with insufficient revenue-management skills are missing a trick in not making full revenue potential of their parking lots and spaces, which can become highly efficient profit centers, writes Hotel News Now's Dana Miller. Michael Doyle, managing director and executive vice president of asset management company CHMWarnick, said well-operated parking lots and facilities can benefit both the guest experience and returns for ownership.

Doyle said the difference between a parking space and a hotel room is the latter is more traditionally sold for 24 hours at a time, but a parking space can be used for 15 minutes, an hour, three hours or longer, and with hotel guests eager to get away and vacation, the demand for parking spaces has started to increase.

Following updated guidance on COVID-19 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the American Hotel & Lodging Association has eased its Stay Safe guidelines in regard to hotel employees wearing masks on property, according to a press release.

“In response to increasing vaccination rates across the country and of our workforce, and consistent with CDC and OSHA guidance, the hotel industry supports vaccinated employees being given the choice whether to continue wearing face coverings, in accordance with state and local laws” and “unvaccinated employees and guests should continue to wear face coverings and practice physical distancing at all times in common areas of the hotel facility. It is also important to note that employees and guests, including those who are vaccinated, are welcome to wear a face covering if that is their personal preference.”

Performance metrics for the U.S. show occupancy hit its highest level at 68% in 85 weeks for the week ending June 19, according to data from STR, CoStar Group’s hospitality analytics firm.

Average daily rate was $128.90 and revenue per available room was $87.62.

Tampa saw the only occupancy increase over 2019 at +1.2% to 77.5% among the top 25 markets. Miami saw the largest increases over 2019 in both ADR (+44.9% to $221.42) and RevPAR (+40.2% to $159.29).