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1. A&O Hostels completes €874 million refinancing with Apollo
German hotel-hostel hybrid firm A&O Hostels has completed a refinancing package of €874 million ($1.03 billion) in a facility managed by Apollo. A&O said the agreement has been secured against its portfolio of 44 properties and approximately 30,000 beds, according to Europe Real Estate.
A&O’s principal backers are StepStone Group and Proprium Capital Partners, which acquired the hotel firm in 2023. Philipp Westermann, head of Europe and co-managing partner at Proprium, said, “despite its highly defensive characteristics and outperformance in recent years, underpinned by the attractive income profile, the hostels sector remains fragmented. This facility provides us with the firepower to capitalize on this opportunity and rapidly scale the platform.”
2. EU working population to fall to 50% by 2100
The European Union's Eurostat has released data that predicts the population of the EU is set to drop by 11.7% by 2100, or by approximately 53 million people. If the prediction proves correct, the EU population will fall from the current level of 451.8 million to under 400 million. Of note is that the working population will not make up the majority of the EU population by that year.
The statistics predict that the drop will start in 2029, when the EU population peaks at 453.3 million. Eurostat said “the results are based on assumptions of partial convergence of EU countries’ fertility, mortality and migration patterns.” Also seeing declines are specific age groups, such as those aged 0 to 19 will decrease as a share of the total population from 20% to 17%, and those aged 20 to 64 will decrease as a share of the total population from 58% to 50%.
3. Innovation, creativity, vital to hotel real estate
Success in the hotel industry in 2026 requires heightened degrees of creativity and innovation, with disciplined execution vital in such areas as streamlining guest experience, improving overall efficiency and bringing hospitality-like service to all forms of commercial real estate, writes CoStar News Hotels’ Sean McCracken.
“The overarching themes should revolve around making the complex more understandable,” Vincent Mezard, global head of residential and hospitality at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said at the recent International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA. He added such thinking is equally true across all the commercial real estate he oversees.
Gilles Clavie, CEO of Essendi, added that “more and more, real estate owners are interested in focusing on operations to enlarge value creation.”
4. US hotels post mixed performance metrics
For the week of April 5-11, U.S. hotel average daily rate increased by 1.5% to $165.23 and revenue per available room increasing rose 0.4% to $107.16, but occupancy fell by 1.1% to 64.9%, according to CoStar hospitality data. Upscale hotels posted a 2.2% decline in occupancy to 71.5% and a 1.9% decline in RevPAR to $120.64, and upper-upscale hotels posted a 5.7% decline in occupancy to 70.1% and a 5.4% decline in RevPAR to $165.76.
Of the top 25 U.S. hotel markets, Orange County, California, saw RevPAR increase 12.4% to $170.05. Las Vegas meanwhile, reported a 26.4% RevPAR decrease to $135.08.
5. Shaquille O'Neal invests in upcoming Baton Rouge Sports Illustrated hotel
Publicly listed firm Travel + Leisure Co. has announced plans for a new Sports Illustrated Resorts hotel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. One of the hotel's investors is NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, who attended the city’s nearby Louisiana State University, according to a press release.
The hotel is a conversion of the 291-room Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center. According to CoStar, it was acquired in January for approximately $40 million by Northshore Development and its investment partners, including Kituwah LLC, the economic development arm of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The seller was Rockbridge.