ST. CHARLES, MO. — Cullinan Properties will construct a 180-room Drury Inn and Suites hotel, which will be part of the Streets of St. Charles, a 27-acre mixed-use community. In addition to the seven-story hotel, a second parking deck will be added to the development providing over 300 additional spaces. Construction of the parking deck is already underway, and work on the hotel is expected to start in April. Both projects are slated for completion by the summer of 2017. The Drury Inn and Suites at Streets of St. Charles will feature king and queen suites and deluxe two-room suites. The hotel will offer meeting space, an indoor/outdoor pool, Wi-Fi and hot breakfast. Drury Inn and Suites is the latest of several new tenants to be announced at Streets of St. Charles including Orangetheory Fitness, PF Changs, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and Noodles & Co. which are all currently under construction and scheduled to open this summer.
Hospitality
MILWAUKEE — Home2 Suites by Hilton has opened a new 110-room hotel in Milwaukee. Raymond Management Co. will own and manage the Home2 Suites by Hilton Milwaukee Airport. The pet-friendly hotel will feature fully equipped kitchens, modular furniture, Internet access, a combined laundry and fitness area, complimentary breakfast, indoor pool and outdoor grill area. The hotel also provides a 24-hour shuttle to and from the General Mitchell International Airport, which is one mile away. The hotel is located at 5880 S. Howell Ave.
ATLANTA — When it comes to successfully operating a full-service hotel there is no silver bullet for achieving success, but there are some smart steps owners and operators should take, say industry experts who spoke at the 28th annual Hunter Hotel Conference. The three-day event at the Marriott Marquis drew 1,300 attendees, up 8 percent from a year ago, according to conference organizers. In a panel titled “The Evolution of Full-Service Hotels,” professionals from Horwath HTL, GF Management, Davidson Hotels and Resorts, Legacy Ventures and Hyatt Hotel Corp. emphasized time and again that full-service hotels are in no way dying. They are simply evolving, and owners and operators must also evolve if they have hopes of being successful. “It’s still a street corner business,” said Thom Geshay, senior vice president of business development for Davidson Hotels and Resorts. “You have to look at the market you’re in, you have to define and profile your customer and give them what they need.” 1. Get Creative in Controlling Costs — Full-service hotels have a slew of amenities, and each amenity presents a new place to create revenues. “Our job is to find something that is broken or not maximized in some way …
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — RCP Cos. has inked a deal with Marriott International to bring a 150-room AC Hotel to CityCentre at Big Spring, a $100 million mixed-use development in Huntsville. In partnership with Yedla Management Co., Marriott will bring the European-inspired hotel brand to only its 10th market in the U.S. Construction will begin this summer. Located on Williams Avenue, the hotel will feature a lounge area, kitchen with self-serve European fare, complimentary Wi-Fi, mobile check-in and check-out and a 24-hour fitness center. Yedla plans to bring another hotel concept yet to be named to CityCentre at Big Spring, according to RCP.
BOISE, IDAHO — PMZ Realty Capital has arranged a $27 million refinancing for a four-property hotel portfolio in Boise. The Boise Airport Hotel Portfolio includes the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Boise, Hampton Inn Boise – Airport, Holiday Inn Boise Airport and the La Quinta Inn & Suites Boise Airport. The portfolio contains more than 300 hotel rooms.
ATLANTA — There are many moving parts when refreshing or renovating a hotel property, and the key is engaging everyone involved early and often. This was the message delivered on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, by a panel of hospitality experts during the 28th annual Hunter Hotel Conference held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Titled “Design to Inspire: Creating the Unexpected,” the breakout session featured a four-member panel that included Libby Patrick, president of Atlanta-based interior design firm Sims Patrick Studio; Bethany Warner, director of design management for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide; Sam Cicero Jr., president of Plainfield, Ill.-based Cicero’s Development Corp., a general contractor specializing in commercial renovation; and Alan Benjamin, president of Boulder, Colo.-based Benjamin West, a furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) purchasing firm. Johnathan Nehmer, chairman and founder of Rockville, Md.-based architecture firm Jonathan Nehmer + Associates, served as moderator. The session was the first design-focused panel in the conference’s history. “How do we create the unexpected in design?” asked Nehmer. “How do we put that ‘wow’ factor out there and what role does design play in the hospitality experience? What we’re going to talk about today is how designers and contractors and purchasing agents do that.” …
STAMFORD, CONN. — Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) has increased its bid to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE: HOT) to $13.6 billion. Marriott had previously offered $12.2 billion to acquire the hospitality company, which owns the Westin, St. Regis, Sheraton and W hotel brands, before being outbid by Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group at $13.2 billion. The new Marriott offer values Starwood at $79.53 per share, topping Anbang’s offer of $78 per share. Marriott’s initial offer in November would’ve given shareholders 0.92 share of Marriott stock and $2 cash for each share of Starwood they own. The new offer will give shareholders less Marriott stock — 0.8 share — but considerably more cash at $21 per share, according to The New York Times. Under the new agreement, the “break-up fee” — what Starwood will have to pay Marriott if it backs out of the deal — has been increased from $400 million to $450 million. On a conference call this morning, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson noted that Anbang could still make another offer to disrupt the deal, according to Hotel News Now. The Starwood and Marriott shareholders are both scheduled to vote April 8 on which proposal to accept. “We are pleased that …
DAVENPORT, IOWA — Homewood Suites by Hilton has opened a new 102-room hotel in Davenport. Homewood Suites by Hilton Davenport is Hilton Worldwide’s newest property and features studio, one- and two-bedroom suites. Davenport Lodging Group developed and owns the hotel. Amenities at the hotel include complimentary breakfast, Wi-Fi, a basketball court, grocery shopping service, fitness center and indoor swimming pool with hot tub. The hotel is located at 4750 Progress Drive.
STAMFORD, CONN. — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. is considering terminating its planned acquisition by Marriott in light of a new offer from a Chinese-led joint venture. Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group is leading the new offer of $13.2 billion, which includes investment from J.C. Flowers & Co. and Primavera Capital Limited. The joint venture is collectively known as Anbang Consortium. Starwood, which is based in Stamford, said that the Anbang bid is a superior proposal to the price tag that Marriott agreed to pay in November. Marriott’s cash-and-stock proposal was valued at $68.06 per share, or $13.06 billion as of Thursday’s closing price, according to The Wall Street Journal. Anbang Consortium would pay $78 per share, an increase from the $76 per share proposal it made on March 10. Click here to read the details on the initial Marriott offer. Marriott has until March 28 to make a counter offer to Starwood, and has stated that it “continues to believe that a combination of Marriott and Starwood is the best course for both companies and offers the best value to Starwood shareholders.” Under the terms of the original merger agreement, Starwood, which owns the Westin, St. Regis, Sheraton and W hotel …
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $58 million sale of the 154-room Hampton Inn & Suites located at 310 4th Ave. S. in downtown Nashville. The hotel is situated across the street from the new Music City Center, two miles from Vanderbilt University and eight miles from the Nashville International Airport. Opened in 2007, the hotel features a breakfast buffet, wireless Internet access, fitness center, indoor pool and 2,500 square feet of meeting and event space. Georgia Krewson and Wes Tiner of Marcus & Millichap’s National Hospitality Group (NHG), along with Scott Franco, Zach Moore and Kelley Deibler of Marcus & Millichap’s Nashville office, represented the seller, MR Hotels LLC, in the transaction.