ATLANTA — Family-office investment firm NewcrestImage was aggressive in its pursuit of hotel acquisitions in 2022, and has plans to acquire more than 100 hotels this year.
Speaking with Hotel News Now during a video interview at the 2023 Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, NewcrestImage CEO and managing partner Mehul Patel said to boost its portfolio by triple digits, the company will prioritize portfolio deals of 20 or more hotels.
So far in 2023, the company has finalized its purchase of a 45-hotel portfolio that totals roughly 3,300 rooms in 11 states and includes Marriott International, Hilton and Choice Hotels International brands. A joint venture of NewcrestImage and Hospitality Capital Partners closed on an acquisition of 11 Marriott-branded hotels. Then, the same joint venture closed on an acquisition of 16 Marriott-branded hotels for $137.7 million.
“We’re underwriting many deals, and we have many [letters of intent], so we hope to win at least a few portfolios,” Patel said.
NewcrestImage is keen on “lifestyle hotel campuses,” which Patel describes as clusters of hotels totaling to 500 to 700 rooms in the lifestyle, extended-stay and select-service segments. This gives the traveler a choice of which hotel best fits them, he said.
The company has developed several hotel campuses, including one in downtown Frisco, Texas, but has since sold off the hotels.
"When the market is ready, in a certain market, we will definitely do another 500 to 700 [room] campus," he said.
In 2021, Summit Hotel Properties, through its joint venture with GIC, entered into an agreement to purchase 27 hotels within NewcrestImage’s portfolio for $822 million. Summit then struck management agreements with global third-party management company Aimbridge Hospitality to operate all 27 hotels.
Expansion in India
In addition to its expansion across the U.S., NewcrestImage opened its first Courtyard by Marriott in Vadodara, India, and is in the process of acquiring a resort in Karalui. The resort currently has 51 guest rooms, and his company plans to add 20 glamping accommodations.
"India doesn't have that glamping concept yet, and we would be the first one to kind of introduce that new glamping concept in India," he said.
Current State of Lending
Patel is an owner of Dallas-based community lender American Bank and has spent more time in the past month educating lenders on what’s really happening with the U.S. banking crisis.
He said financing from regional banks is possible, but now requires more effort.
For more from HNN's conversation with Mehul Patel, watch the video above.