Goldman Sachs Bets on India’s Samhi Hotels

Here are some excerpts from Daily Lodging Report from the past week. If you’re not a subscriber, you should be. Get news on hotel deals, development, stocks, and career moves. Sign up here, now.

Sunday, April 2

The first beachfront resort with a private airport in the U.S., and the largest beach bar in the Texas Gulf Coast, are both coming soon from Bolivar Investment Group, the Houston Chronicle reported. Dubbed “The Peninsula Beach Resort”, the 110-acre, multi-phase development will be located in Crystal Beach, Texas. The first and second phase of the ambitious projected by Bolivar will include the construction of the 41,000 square foot The Zoo Beach Bar & Grill. The Zoo will be anchored into a 110-acre integrated beachside resort development featuring a private guest clubhouse with two Olympic-size pools, cabanas, and a giant spa. Phase one and two of the project will also see the construction of 222 luxury cottages.

Domenic Gatto Jr., the embattled developer of the Banyan Cay Resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, is waving the white flag. Banyan Cay Resort & Golf LLC filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, with a plan to sell the 200-acre property to pay off debtors, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The proposed plan is to hire Keen-Summit Capital Partners to market the property. The Hyatt-affiliated Banyan Cay Resort & Golf consists of a 150-room Hyatt-branded hotel under construction, and a 130-acre golf course. The development entity also owns adjacent development sites that are approved for 179 condo units, 28 single-family homes and 22 villas. An affiliate of Calmwater Capital won a $95.1 million judgment against Banyan Cay Resort & Golf and Gatto for defaulting on a $61 million construction loan, The Real Deal reported.

Oyo disclosed they are reducing the size of their long-awaited initial public offering to between $400 million and $600 million, Skift reported. The original offering plans, many moons ago, was for the Indian hotel company to raise $1.1 billion. Oyo pre-filed its draft red herring prospectus last Friday, filing under the confidential pre-filing route. 

Skift Note: The southeastern U.S. arc from Texas through Georgia and down into Florida are probably the hottest markets for hotel deals and development right now.

Monday, April 3

Kimpton’s first-ever resort in the Western Caribbean is officially opening this summer, with the debut of the new Kimpton Grand Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras. The hotel, owned and developed by Vista Capital, is a complete re-imagining of the former Grand Roatan Caribbean Resort, Caribbean Journal reported. The property will have 119 guest rooms and suites, four dining and beverage outlets, a destination spa, and around 6,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space. Kimpton is also planning to open its first-ever Caribbean all-inclusive resort with the in-development Kimpton Hacienda Tres Rios Resort, Spa and Nature Park in the Riviera Maya on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. The resort will also include a destination spa. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, Goldman Sachs is investing between 150 million and 200 million euros in three seaside resorts in the northern region of Halkidiki. Unnamed sources told the Journal that Goldman bought the hotels in October and now planned to renovate them. The Journal also reported that Goldman was looking for more properties in Greece and elsewhere in Europe with a view to run them under a single brand potentially. The properties would be run by Goldman’s asset management division, which is seeking stable sources of revenue outside the more volatile financial sector.

Goldman Sachs-backed Samhi Hotels, the owner of some Marriott hotels in India, has refiled its draft prospectus for an IPO. The company had first filed its papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an IPO in September 2019. They had intended to raise capital of Rs $238 million) but also to sell 19.14 million shares by existing shareholders. The new filing shows a cut to $120 million, while the offer for sale by selling shareholders will be reduced to nine million shares. Samhi Hotels will also use the proceeds to repay debt.

Key International purchased The Perry Hotel on the waterfront in Key West, FL as part of an ambitious expansion of its $2 billion portfolio. CBRE Hotels in Miami, alongside CBRE Marina Investments, represented the sellers, SIMV Hotel 1 LLC and Longstock II, LLC, in the transaction. The Perry Hotel is located on Stock Island and offers 100 rooms, two outdoor pools and two restaurants. Key International selected EOS Hospitality to manage the hotel.

STR said Japan’s recovery is moving in the right direction. In the final two months of 2022, Japan’s hotel performance surpassed 2019 levels, first with average daily rate in November, followed by ADR and RevPAR in December, STR said.

Skift Note: What will the Goldman Sachs-backed inns be branded as? Vampire Weekend? Marcus Inns by GS?

Tuesday, April 4

Lightstone announced the April 12 debut of the 37-story, 727-key Moxy & AC Hotels Downtown Los Angeles. The AC Hotel offers 347 guest rooms and the 380-key Moxy is the first Moxy property in Los Angeles. With two unique hotels under one roof, the Moxy Downtown LA and AC Hotel Downtown LA boast 12 dining and drinking options and 13,000 square feet of meeting and events space.

Sotherly Hotels reported preliminary operating results for 1Q23 for their 10 wholly-owned properties. RevPAR was up 21.4% led by an 11.4% jump in occupancy. We really have no idea why SOHO did this unless they were trying to balance the 20,000 share sale by their chairman the other day. Most other lodging REITs have been seeing insider buying. 

Extended Stay America announced the opening of the Extended Stay Premier Suites Fredericksburg, located in Virginia. The property was developed and will be managed by the owner KARA Hospitality. The four-story, 92-room, newly constructed property offers a fitness room, an outside grilling area, onsite guest laundry and a spacious lobby with additional vending options.

Choice Hotels’ Cambria Hotels unit and HOS Management celebrated the grand opening of the first Cambria Hotel in Georgia, the Cambria Hotel Savannah Downtown Historic District.

The all-new Pacific 19 Kona debuted as a completely renovated and re-envisioned island-urban hotel. Managed by Springboard Hospitality, the 122-room hotel is located in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. A giant monkey pod tree and lush flora anchor the open-air lobby entrance while steps outside of the lobby guests will find a daybed, pool, and firepits. The property is home to Café P19 and a lobby retail shop.

William H. Curry II and Jill H. Curry plan to buy the Hotel Lenhart in the Village of Bemus Point, New York, and then turn it into a modern hospitality venue, the Buffalo News reported. The renovated hotel will have 40 guest rooms with updated features. Chautauqua Lake Hospitality LLC will pay $3.5 million to acquire the site from the current owners, Lenhart Enterprises and John, Deborah and Barbara Johnston.

Sayaji Hotels is planning to open 10 new hotels in India. The properties will come up in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Skift Note: Marriott has leaned heavily on Lightstone to develop the Moxy as a Millennial-friendly brand. Dual-brand hotels are one of the emerging hot trends in U.S. hotel deals and development. In the independent space, see Skift’s profile of Springboard Hospitality to get context on its new hotel opening in Hawaii.

Wednesday, April 5

The PKF Hospitality Group held a spotlight event in Riyadh, focusing on Saudi Vision 2030, with the focus areas on the $800+ billion that will be spent on tourism, health infrastructure and education. Many of the projects have already broken ground despite PKF saying there are questions on how realistic these projects are in the time frame. PKF expects some to be completed on time, the first being Trojena, the official host location of the Asian Winter Games 2029. PKF said that no matter what, Saudi Arabia will surprise many and will be a changed country in the years to come. PKF called Saudi Arabia the single biggest opportunity for hospitality and tourism, set to continue for at least another five years.

Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts with a Buy rating and $79 price target. DB said they believe the recent underperformance of WH shares is overdone and primarily related to regional banking concerns on funding availability for development/unit growth. They believe this gives investors an entry point in what they think will be a relative outperformer.

Banyan Tree Group, closing out the 2022 fiscal year with 63 properties across its global portfolio of 10 hospitality brands, expects to get to 113 hotels by the end of 2025. They added eight newly built or converted hotels in 2022, and the Singapore-based group is on track to double its footprint by 2025 across 23 countries.

Radisson Hotel Group announced the opening of Lewit Hotel Pattaya, located in Jomtien, on Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard and features 100 rooms.

Skift Note: Once China’s international visitor rebound fills hotels with guests, expect the hospitality sector to obsess over the opportunity in Saudi.

Thursday, April 6

The Bulgari Hotel Tokyo has opened its doors. The hotel opening seemed to be overshadowed by multiple news reports about what actress Anne Hathaway wore to the party there but outside of that, the hotel is located on the 40^th-45^th floors of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, a new skyscraper overlooking the Tokyo Station, the Imperial Palace Gardens and the city. The new hotel offers 98 luxurious rooms and suites, including the 400 square meter Bulgari Suites. The 40^th floor includes two ballrooms and a 110-meter Terrace Room. The luxurious 1,000-square-meter Bulgari Spa offers nine treatment rooms, a 25-meter indoor pool, and a fitness center. Looking ahead, there are four additional Bulgari Hotels set to open in Rome, Miami, the Maldives and Los Angeles between 2023 and 2026.

On March 8, 2022, NexPoint Hospitality Trust began the marketing process to sell its DoubleTree portfolio. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has sold its Beaverton, Vancouver, and Bend properties for a combined purchase price of $67.5 million. The Company has executed purchase and sale agreements on the Tigard property for a purchase price of $24.5 million and expects this transaction to close in the second quarter of 2023. The Company will use the proceeds from the sale to pay down the outstanding debt on the DoubleTree portfolio. The Company has opted to no longer sell the Olympia property at this time. We believe all these properties are in Oregon or Washington State. The press release did not specify and their website does not list their properties.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, in partnership with Related Group and Dezer Development, announced Rosewood Residences Hillsboro Beach, located two miles from both Boca Raton and Pompano Beach, Florida. Rising ten stories, the project offers a collection of 92 ultra-luxury waterfront condominium homes and villas and 11 private boat slips. Rosewood Residences Hillsboro Beach will offer resort-style amenities, including a wellness center.

Skift Note: Bulgari is arguably the most successful fashion house to create a lodging brand with staying power, thanks to mostly behind-the-scenes help from Marriott International.