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1. Rosewood owner explores partial sale of hotel group
Henry Cheng, the principal owner of the Rosewood Hotel Group via holding company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, has begun looking for a partial exit, according to Bloomberg. The news agency reported the family-office ownership group has “approached potential buyers to gauge interest in acquiring a stake or certain assets of the high-end hotel chain. … Discussions are at a preliminary stage.”
Bloomberg added the group is “in a race to overcome liquidity challenges.” Cheng’s daughter, Sonia Cheng, is the CEO of the Hong Kong-based group, which has 58 hotels and two hotel brands — Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and New World Hotels & Resorts, as well as a wellness club Asaya and a members’ club Carlyle & Co.
2. UK disposable income to rise only marginally
The United Kingdom’s Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that disposable income across the next four years will rise by only 0.4% due to “low productivity growth and tax rises.” Its findings follow the government’s Nov. 26 budget that was largely in line with its 2024 budget statement of increasing taxes.
The previous five-year period saw a fall in disposable income of approximately 0.2%, but between 2015 and 2019 U.K. disposable income rose 1.1%. A year ago, the U.K. government said it would not increase taxes but added it wished to obtain a firm grip on government borrowing/debt.
The IFS stated that the Office of Budget Responsibility said “before accounting for any (government) policy changes, [Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves] would have had a small current budget surplus of £4 billion ($5.3 billion) in 2029–2030. After accounting for the policy U-turns since the spring, it would have been a very small deficit. It certainly could have been worse for the chancellor.”
3. Third-party operators increase presence in Caribbean
While major brands are still a major player in hotel management throughout the Caribbean, the region has seen an evolution in hotel management with more third-party operators, CoStar News’ Natalie Harms reports. Speakers at the recent Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit said that “as third-party management continues to grow in the Caribbean region, hoteliers face three big island-related challenges: lengthy development timelines, hiring and procurement.”
Marco Selva, senior vice president of Stonebridge, said the relationship with hotel brands is closer today than it has historically ever been, adding there are a lot of partnerships.
“As a matter of fact, brands very often come to us as third-party operators and are saying, ‘we have an asset here in this place that we think you guys could probably do better than we can,’” Selva said.
4. October hotel occupancy in Macau climbs above pre-COVID levels
Macau's hotel market saw its October average occupancy level rise to 89.3%, exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels for the month. The Statistics & Census Service for the autonomous Chinese region said occupancy across its 147 hotels and resorts increased 0.9% year over year, pushing occupancy to its highest level since 2018, according to Macau Business.
Macau’s approximately 45,200 hotel rooms saw a 3% year-over-year increase in visitors to 1.21 million. Through October, Macau welcomed 33.1 million visitors, up 14.1% over the same period in 2024. However, the newspaper added that “58.5% of visitors (approximately 19.4 million) arrived on organized tours and spent less than one day in the city.”
5. Premier Inn to add 15th Edinburgh hotel
Whitbread has received permission to build its 15th Premier Inn hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland's capital. The City of Edinburgh Council granted planning permission to Whitbread to convert Capital House into a 195-room Premier Inn. Whitbread said it will now invest £21 million ($27.8 million) in the conversion and expansion of the former office building that spans more than 65,000 feet.
Jill Anderson, Whitbread’s acquisitions manager in Scotland, said the firm is “fortunate to have an established network of 14 trading Premier Inn hotels in Edinburgh, which welcome a million visitors a year and drive £32 million in annual external spending in the city.”
In London, Whitbread acquired Victory House on Kingsway for an undisclosed price. The property will be its “fourth major Central London investment in 2025, collectively totaling more than £100 million.” The company plans to convert the 1920s building into a 200-room hotel.