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

Hyatt Hotels Corp. finalized its acquisition of New York-based Dream Hotel Group and its brands, Dream Hotels, The Chatwal and Unscripted Hotels, Hotel News Now's Dana Miller reports.

The deal was said to be worth up to $300 million when Hyatt first announced the deal in November. The company then said it would pay a base price of $125 million for Dream's brand and management business. Also included in the final deal are 24 more hotels being signed to long-term management agreements in Dream's pipeline for $175 million.

Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano is now president and CEO of the company following the departure of former President Stephanie Linnartz, according to a news release.

Capuano began working with Marriott in 1995 and became CEO after the death of Arne Sorenson in 2021.

Many hoteliers believe the blending of business and leisure travel paired with sustained remote work models have created permanent shifts in business travel, reports Hotel News Now's Trevor Simpson from a roundtable in partnership with Pinkowski & Company.

“My gut tells me that’s somewhat of a permanent change,” Jerry Cataldo, president and CEO of Hostmark Hospitality Group, said in reference to the shift in travel patterns. “It might shift here or there, but it’s certainly not going to change in the near term, in my opinion, in those marketplaces.”

Romy Bhojwani, director of hospitality market analytics for the northeast and midwest regions at CoStar Group, anticipates total hotel transactions completed in 2022 will exceed $48.6 billion, reports Hotel News Now's Dana Miller from a private Lodging Industry Investment Council roundtable.

Jim Butler, founding partner of Los Angeles-based law firm Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, said 2023 "will have more transactions [but] there are a lot of things compressing value."

"We've still got a big receivership of a huge hotel on the East Coast that is probably going to get sold this year, maybe not at peak values," Butler said. "There will be ... final sales and resolutions on some of the stuff that hasn't been cleaned up [from] people who aren't holding on any longer, and all that capital that's been waiting forever for hotels is going to start to come in."

• OTO Development purchased the newly constructed AC Hotel by Marriott in the waterfront arts district of St. Petersburg, Florida.
• Dreamscape Companies, a New York-based real estate development and investment firm, opened boutique hotel The Palmetto in Charleston, South Carolina, in March.
• Daniela Trovato has been promoted to regional vice president and general manager of Four Seasons Hotel and Residences at The Surf Club. She will also have regional responsibilities including guidance of Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, Four Seasons Hotel Miami and Four Seasons Hotel and Residences For Lauderdale.
  
• Olivier Lau has been appointed general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner. He will also have oversight for the Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown, Washington D.C.
  
• The Steward, a Tribute Portfolio Marriott Hotel, will open this spring in Santa Barbara, California, with 87 all-suite rooms.
• Scott Snofsky has been named general manager for the Great Wolf Lodge Arizona.
  
• Fairmont Mayakoba in Riviera Maya named Jacco van Teeffelen as general manager.
  
• Hyatt Hotels Corp. opened the Dreams Flora Resort & Spa, the newest hotel in Hyatt's Inclusive Collection, in the Dominican Republic. It features 520 rooms.
• IHG Hotels and Resorts will open the new InterContinental Dominica Cabrits Resort & Spa this spring with 151 rooms.

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