LOS ANGELES — 2025 is not just the year of the snake. It could be the year of the hotel expert.
Noble Investment Group CEO and founder Mit Shah said he thinks this could be a better year for doing deals in the hotel industry but it could require a higher level of knowledge and expertise.
Speaking with Hotels News Now during the 2025 Americas Lodging Investment Summit, Shah said his company is seeing several signs on the horizons that the new year could be a better one for experienced and sophisticated hotel investors.
"This is a business that requires you to be a specialist," he said. "And while our friends that are large capital allocators that will allocate to the space still like the yields that come out of it, when things happen in our industry that cause volatility, it is that operating expertise, that specialization, that really allows you to find a pathway through and then a recovery upwards."
From his perspective, the most active investors in 2025 will be "family offices that essentially think about owning assets forever" or groups that foresee demand and revenues significantly outpacing expenses.
Where the industry will remain challenged is likely on the new construction side, he said, noting it remains difficult to pencil development deals with the high cost of debt.
His company has been focusing its development efforts primarily in urban markets and in the midscale, extended-stay segment.
"We expect that business will continue to be a very significant part of our development growth and our strategy," he said.
For more from HNN's interview with Noble Investment Group's Mit Shah, covering topics such as innovation needed from hotel brands, the increasing viability of modular construction, the hotel industry's role in Los Angeles' recovery and more, watch the video above.