First, we had the pandemic. That was obviously a big deal.
Then we had the immediate and surprising recovery.
Then we had a prolonged period of waiting for the other shoe to drop, counting the months until we hit the seemingly inevitable recession we were told was necessary to fend off inflation — the fever that was needed to fight off the economic infection.
Now, we have ... business as usual?
That is my extremely broad and only partly accurate description of the various eras we've had in hotel earnings over the past three and a half years. But I don't think I'm going out on too much of a limb to say this quarter, and perhaps the other recent earnings seasons, have felt more "normal" than any point I've seen since 2019. It's autumn and we're seriously discussing the impacts of seasonality! Group pace and an uptick in business demand! These are all reassuringly regular things.
Real estate investment trusts are buying and selling — at least a little bit. Hotel brands want to gobble each other up and take over the world. This is normalization in action, folks.
It seems like Park Hotels & Resorts Chairman, President and CEO Thomas J. Baltimore Jr. hopes I'm at least partially right. Baltimore declared in his company's more recent earnings call that the saga for his company in San Francisco — where two of their larger hotels are now in receivership — is effectively over now that they no longer have financial responsibility for the Parc 55 San Francisco, the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and the $725 million loan attached to them.
"We've eliminated the noise around San Francisco," he said. "We could not be prouder. ... We are glad to be moving forward. There is a clear path forward and really positive tailwinds for Park as we look forward."
But beyond that, we've got companies such as Sunstone Hotel Investors reveling in their $370 million sale of a property in Boston and the opportunities that opens up.
We've got Choice Hotels International openly and continually chasing after Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Wyndham quickly and clearly spurning them. As dramatic as that it, it feels like we're talking about business again rather than impending doom.
I look forward to enjoying this moment of so-called "normality" for a few months until the next unforeseen calamity hits. But until then, things will be good forever, probably.
Let me know what you think on Twitter, LinkedIn or via email.
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