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

Hotel brand leaders, owners and developers at the recent NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference discussed the state of financing and construction, the push towards extended-stay hotel brands and whether a recession might happen this year, the Hotel News New editorial staff reports.

Noble Investment Group CEO Mit Shah sat down with Hotel News Now's Sean McCracken to dive into Shah's excitement around the midscale extended-stay segment. Noble has been investing in branded select-service and extended-stay hotels for decades. Brands that have recently launched extended-stay products include Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Hilton.

"You could ask yourself, 'Why is all of that happening?' And I think it's really the trends of how consumers are thinking about how they stay and how they live," Shah said. "This product type, let's not mistake it with some of the top-tier, upscale, extended-stay brands like Residence Inn and Homewood Hotels and Hyatt House. But these are types of hotels that really do cater to the widest swath of travelers and those who live for longer than 30 days."

Tysons, Virginia-based real estate investment trust Park Hotels & Resorts stopped its payments this month toward a $725 million non-recourse loan for two San Francisco hotels that will mature in November, reports Hotel News Now's Dana Miller. The loan, which is Wells Fargo is the servicer of, covers the 1,921-room Hilton San Francisco Union Square and the 1,024-room Parc 55 San Francisco.

"We made the very difficult, but necessary decision to stop debt service payments on our San Francisco CMBS loan,” Park chairman and CEO Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., said in a news release. “After much thought and consideration, we believe it is in the best interest for Park’s stockholders to materially reduce our current exposure to the San Francisco market. Now more than ever, we believe San Francisco’s path to recovery remains clouded and elongated by major challenges — both old and new: record-high office vacancy; concerns over street conditions; lower return to office than peer cities; and a weaker-than-expected citywide convention calendar through 2027 that will negatively impact business and leisure demand and will likely significantly reduce compression in the city for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the continued burden on our operating results and balance sheet is too significant to warrant continuing to subsidize and own these assets."

Remington Hotels rebranded as Remington Hospitality this month as executives see an opportunity to grow the portfolio of managed properties beyond hotels. Properties that Remington has an appetite for are all-inclusive resorts and alternative accommodations such as glamping and eco-tourism, reports Hotel News Now's Dana Miller in an exclusive interview with Remington CEO Sloan Dean and President Chris Green.

"We're getting more and more into non-traditional lodging, and so the noun 'hotels' seemed a little too isolated or too specific," he said. "We've got several glamping projects here in the states as well as in Costa Rica and Mexico that we're partners on. It's non-traditional lodging; it's more eco-tourism. We thought that 'hospitality' was better suited if we're getting into that type of management," Dean said.

Nashville, Tennessee-based lodging and real estate investment trust Ryman Hospitality Properties has agreed to purchase the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust for $800 million.

Ryman President and CEO Mark Fioravanti said in a news release announcing the deal that his company had identified this hotel as "an ideal acquisition target quite some time ago." He added that the property is located in a growing market with no emerging competitive supply.

“Where you invest matters, and Ryman’s unsolicited outreach demonstrates the strong investor demand for BREIT’s portfolio, which is concentrated in the highest growth sectors and geographies. This sale, which generates approximately $275 million in profit over a five-year hold period through COVID, represents a terrific outcome for BREIT shareholders," Nadeem Meghji, head of Blackstone Real Estate Americas, said in the release.

• Aimbridge Hospitality appointed Aly El-Bassuni as divisional vice president, enhanced select service. El-Bassuni has previously held positions at Radisson and Wyndham.
  
• Essex Hotel Management added the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Fort Myers Estero in Estero, California. The expansion brings the company's portfolio count to 15 hotels under management.
• San Francisco-based interior design firm Bamo completed a $100 million renovation of the 434-room Ritz-Carlton, Chicago. All guest rooms received an extensive update, as well as the 12th-floor lobby, spa, Torali Restaurant and meetings and events venue.

• The Fontainebleau Las Vegas appointed Mark Tricano as president. Additionally, Michelle Reda has been named chief casino marketing officer and Kimberly Virtuoso has been promoted to senior vice president of people. The hotel is expected to open December 2023.

• Hospitality Ventures Management Group appointed Bryan Gatzemeyer as vice president of business intelligence, leading its data and analytics strategy.
  
• Pacifica Hotels purchased the Kimpton Hotel Vintage Seattle in Seattle for $33.7 million. Pacifica plans to renovate the hotel, including a refresh of all 125 guest rooms as well as the restaurant and lobby. Kimpton will continue to manage it.
• JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group arranged the sale of the 121-room Hampton Inn & Suites Fredericksburg South in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Sunil Mehta sold the property to Sachs Companies for $13.5 million, or $111,570 per room.
• JLL's Capital Markets group arranged a $750 million construction loan for the first phase of the mixed-use project near Harvard University called Enterprise Research Campus. The first phase will include a 345-unit multi-housing building, a hotel and a conference center operated by Harvard University.
• An affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corp. entered into a management agreement with Grupo Murano for a 616-room Hyatt Vivid Grand Island in Cancun, Mexico. It's expected to open in 2023 as part of the Inclusive Collection, part of World of Hyatt.
• Hotel Equities promoted Dan Block to senior vice president of operations. Block joined the company in March 2022 through its partnership with Greenwood Hospitality, where he held the position of vice president of operations.
• Marriott International will debut its first Marriott all-inclusive resort at the site of the the Marriott Cancun Resort, which shut down in March for an extensive renovation and conversion. The resort is expected to open in early 2024.

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