Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. Travelodge CEO resigns following spate of security lapses
Travelodge Group, the British budget hotel firm that has more than 630 hotels, has a new interim CEO following the resignation of Jo Boydell following a spate of security lapses, one of which resulted in a sexual assault and the incarceration of the perpetrator, CoStar News Hotels reports.
The firm replaced Boydell with Ray Reidy, Travelodge's chief financial officer, who will take on the role in an interim capacity. The news came during the firm’s half-year 2026 earnings report, which showed six-month revenue of $491.3 million ($669.7 million), a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased slightly, by 1.27% to £47.9 million.
2. China Evergrande boss sentenced to life imprisonment
The CEO of Chinese developer China Evergrande, which had interests in hotels among other real-estate classes, has been sentenced to life imprisonment, NPR reports. The firm and its affiliates also have been penalized $2.35 billion.
Hui Ka Yan, who founded the group, was sentenced this week in the Chinese city of Shenzhen and had all his personal assets confiscated, for “inflating the group’s assets and concealing its liabilities” and “orchestrating financial fraud and misappropriating company assets,” according to the article.
CoStar News Hotels previously reported that Hui pleaded guilty in April to, among other charges, “embezzlement of assets and corporate bribery” and that the company when it collapsed in 2021 had a stock market valuation of more than $50 billion.
3. REICs principal buyers of European hotels in first half of 2026
Real estate investment companies were the principal buyers of hotels and hotel real estate in Europe during the first six months of 2026, business advisory HVS reports. They spent a combined €4.1 billion ($4.8 billion), “accounting for 43% of the total volume transacted.”
HVS said that this signaled a reversal from the same period in 2026 when REICs were net sellers.
Overall, the U.K. saw the highest activity with a transaction volume of €3 billion, followed by Spain (€1.5 billion) and France (€1.3 billion).
4. San Diego leads the way as US hotels post positive numbers
U.S. hotel performance for the week ending Aug. 15 in year-over-year terms saw a full sweep of increases across the three major metrics, with occupancy rising 2.6% to 68%, average daily rate rising 3.5% to $163.56 and revenue per available room rising 6.2% to $111.29, according to data from STR, CoStar’s hotel analytics division.
In terms of chain scale, every segment of the industry also saw positive numbers across all three metrics, too, with luxury having the highest percentage increases, with its occupancy increasing 3.3% to 66.6%, its ADR increasing 6.4% to $401.81 and its RevPAR increasing 9.9% to $267.50.
In the top 25 markets, only seven markets saw any RevPAR negativity. The best-performing market in the period in terms of RevPAR was San Diego, which saw an increase of 22.8% to $201.10. Its ADR increased 12.6% to $249.71.
5. Dual-branded New Orleans hotel refinanced for $120 million
Access Point Financial and TMGOC Ventures partnered to co-originate a $120 million bridge loan and preferred equity investment to recapitalize the conversion of a historic New Orleans office building into a dual-branded Fairmont by Accor and Element by Westin for owner Kailas Companies, CoStar News Hotels' Bryan Wroten reports.
The recently completed conversion includes 150,000 square feet of Class A office space and Emeril's Delmonico restaurant, in addition to the 250-key Fairmont and 216-key Element. First built in 1970 as an office building, Kailas Companies acquired the property in 2014 with the intention of converting it to hotel use.