Read the latest hotel industry news from around the Americas region.

Choice Hotels International's plans to acquire Wyndham Hotels & Resorts officially have become hostile with Choice's exchange offer for all outstanding shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

Choice's latest offer is unchanged from the terms it offered Wyndham's board in November to acquire Wyndham at $49.50 in cash and 0.324 shares of Choices common stock for each Wyndham share, for a total value of $90 per share. Choice disclosed that it had already acquired roughly 1.5 million shares of Wyndam common stock, valued at roughly $110 million.

"While we would have preferred to come to a negotiated agreement, the Wyndham Board's refusal to explore a transaction has left us with no choice but to take our proposal directly to Wyndham's shareholders," Choice President and CEO Patrick Pacious said in a statement. "Wyndham chose to publicly reject our last proposal without any engagement even after we addressed their concerns, including adding significant regulatory protections for their shareholders."

During an interview for Hotel News Now's podcast network, FibraHotel Chief Investment Officer Guillermo Bravo explained why FIBRAs — hotel-focused real estate investment trusts in Mexico — are "growing up."

While REITs in the U.S. have been around for decades, FIBRAs have only been around for 10 years. Now, more large-scale investment groups have an appetite for investing in FIBRAs.

"The all-inclusive model has been in Mexico and in the Caribbean for 30 years and at first ... it didn't appeal to many customers. But that has evolved very much; now we see Hyatt buying Apple Leisure Group, now you see Marriott doing very big transactions both within the business side but also in the all-inclusive," Bravo said. "The reality is it has become a lot more institutional and that's very powerful for Mexico and for the perspective it gives. They're actually putting in their own capital, which is very rare for some of these companies and betting on the country."

Chicago, one of the U.S. top 25 hotel markets, had been a laggard in performance recovery since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with room demand increasing, its average daily rate and revenue per available room are nearing historical highs.

Hotel News Now's Bryan Wroten hosted a podcast conversation with First Hospitality President and CEO David Duncan and CoStar News' Chicago-based senior staff writer Ryan Ori to discuss why office occupancy still lags as tourism heats up.

Duncan said while Chicago offices are at roughly 50% occupancy, the situation is improving.

"It seems to be heading in the right direction with a lot of corporate travel and corporate office policies appreciating work from home as wonderful for a lot of different things, but if you're going to build culture, you need to see people, and we're seeing a lot of that sort of resurge," he said.

• Denver-based Stonebridge Companies acquired a portfolio of five hotels totaling 1,200 keys. The properties include the Embassy Suites in Walnut Creek, California, and a full-service Marriott in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
• Aspen Tennessee has sold Hotel Preston, a boutique hotel near Nashville International Airport, to an LLC affiliated with Hermitage-based Imagine Hospitality for $26.5 million. The new owner plans to spend $7 million to convert the hotel into a Delta by Marriott.
• Pebblebrook Hotel Trust completed the $68.5 million sale of Hotel Zoe Fisherman's Wharf.
• Ashford Hospitality Trust has handed back the keys to five of the hotels that the REIT had previously stated would go back to lenders. The five hotels are Embassy Suites Flagstaff in Flagstaff, Arizona; Embassy Suites Walnut Creek in Walnut Creek, California; Marriott Bridgewater in Bridgewater, New Jersey; Marriott Research Triangle Park in Durham, North Carolina; and the W Atlanta in Atlanta. Ashford plans to hand back keys to another 14 hotels by early 2024.
• A Pacific Investment Management Co. real estate investment fund has surrendered a 20-hotel portfolio holding $240 million in debt. The hotels were valued at $326 million when the debt originated in 2017. That valuation was eventually cut to $272.8 million.
• The Moxy Houston Downtown has opened in downtown Houston, marking the first Moxy-branded hotel in the area. The hotel is owned by Highrock Hospitality.
• Margaritaville Beach Resort opened on Fort Myers Beach in Florida. The 254-room resort sits on 7.25 acres along Fort Myers beach and includes direct beach access as well as view of the Gulf of Mexico.
• A 1,100-acre luxury Evermore Orlando Resort is under development and scheduled to open Jan. 1, 2024. The resort is in close proximity to Disney World.
• The Hilton Garden Inn San Jose Airport City Mall in Costa Rica has opened as the Hilton Garden Inn brand's 1,000th property.
• The Cabot Collection has opened the 375-acre Cabot Saint Lucia Resort.
• Waramaug Hospitality has appointed current partner and principal Ferit Ferhangil as CEO effective Jan. 1, 2024.

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