RENAISSANCE HOTELS OPENS IN NYC’S HARLEM: Renaissance Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s global portfolio of more than 30 brands, has launched its fifth hotel in New York City with the opening of the Renaissance New York Harlem Hotel. Located in the iconic neighborhood, on the site of the historic Victoria Theater and steps away from the Apollo Theater, the hotel features the original landmark marquee. The hotel is the tallest building north of Central Park and Renaissance Hotels’ first hotel in Harlem. The hotel offers 211 rooms and suites, a restaurant, a bar and more than 9,000 square feet of event space spread across five venues. The hotel building earlier housed the Victoria Theater, which was later transformed into a cinema and was lying vacant for quite some time. The hotel has retained the outer façade, marquee, outdoor ticket booth and grand staircase. The hotel’s design was led by AJC Design. Renaissance New York Harlem Hotel is owned by NYC-based Lam Generation, who developed Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel, and is managed by Ocean City, Md.-based Real Hospitality Group. Currently, Renaissance Hotels has more than 170 hotels across 40 countries.
IHG ADDS SIXTH CROWNE PLAZA IN CANADA: IHG Hotels & Resorts has opened a new Crowne Plaza hotel in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. IHG has partnered with Devansh Group of Hotels to open the hotel, which marks the sixth Crowne Plaza property in Canada. An existing hotel was renovated and converted to open as the Crowne Plaza Saint John Harbour View. Located close to the Saint John Airport, the pet-friendly hotel has 135 rooms, 5,500 square feet of meeting spaces and a business center. The hotel also offers a heated indoor pool and hot tub, a fitness center, an arcade and an onsite restaurant. This hotel joins two more Crowne Plaza properties on the East Coast. Currently, Crowne Plaza has more than 520 open or pipeline properties globally. The brand plans to renovate 70% of its existing hotels in the Americas by 2025 and add over 120 new hotels globally.
$260M REFINANCING FOR SHERATON TIMES SQUARE: MCR Hotels, Island Capital Group and JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group have announced that MCR and Island have closed on a $260 million refinancing of the 1,780-key Sheraton New York Times Square. The four-year, floating-rate loan retires $250 million in outstanding seller financing, sourced when MCR and Island acquired the property in April 2022. The new financing was provided by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Located in Midtown Manhattan, the 50-story property is among New York City’s largest hotels by key count and one of the key event venues in the city. The hotel includes 61,800 square feet of event space, with a 23,000-square-foot ballroom. The hotel also offers several onsite dining options, a business center, a fitness center, onsite parking and ground-floor retailers. The third-largest hotel owner-operator in the U.S., MCR currently has a $5 billion portfolio of 150 premium-branded hotels.
U.S. PERFORMANCE UPDATE: Hotel performance in the U.S. improved from last week and showed positive YOY comparisons, according to CoStar’s data through November 11.
- Occupancy: 64.8% (+0.8%)
- ADR: $156.01 (+4%)
- RevPAR: $101.13 (+4.9%)
Among the top 25 markets, Denver recorded the largest YOY occupancy gains (+9% to 69.3%). Dallas saw the highest lift in ADR (+12.6% to $136.34) and RevPAR (+22.3% to $101.84). The steepest RevPAR declines were seen in New Orleans (-13.4% to $117.26) and San Diego (-8.6% to $138.29).
HILTON TOPS BEST PLACE TO WORK LIST: Hilton has been recognized as the best place to work by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work. This is the first time a hospitality company has been named as the No. 1 World’s Best Workplace, Hilton said in a statement. The recognition follows Hilton’s eight consecutive appearances on the ‘World’s Best’ list. The group first featured on the spot in 2016 and has focused on creating an inclusive workplace, offering growth opportunities and providing the kind of support that empowers its 460,000 team members globally to thrive, Hilton said. The hospitality company said it provides “best-in-class” benefits to hourly and salaried employees, including extended parental leave, adoption assistance and travel benefits through its Go Hilton employee travel program. Hilton and the Hilton Global Foundation announced that it will introduce Hilton Cares, a program that will provide $500,000 in scholarships and financial assistance for employees and members of the community interested in exploring careers in the hospitality industry. Applications will open early 2024.
