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1. Hilton, Yotel sign exclusive franchise agreement
Hilton and Yotel have signed a franchise agreement, making Yotel the first brand in Hilton's new Select by Hilton portfolio, reports CoStar News Hotels' Terence Baker. Yotel will continue manage its 23 hotels, which will be available to book through Hilton's channels later this year.
“From the beginning, our ambition has been to challenge convention in hospitality through smart design, innovation and a distinctive guest experience. This collaboration allows us to scale that vision even further, leveraging Hilton’s industry-leading distribution and loyalty platform while remaining true to our independent spirit," Yotel CEO Phil Andreopoulos said in a LinkedIn post.
2. Chicago City Council approves new hotel tax
Chicago's City Council approved a Tourism Improvement District, raising the tax on hotel rooms in that area to 19%, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The tax rate outside of the district is 17.5% through the combination of city, county and state taxes on hotel rooms.
The city expects the higher tax rate will generate an additional $50 million in revenue it can use to promote Chicago as a destination, the newspaper reports.
3. Hoteliers say Fed rate decision means higher costs for longer
The U.S. Federal Reserve will keep the federal funds rate steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, but for hoteliers, that means the cost of debt will remain higher than desired for longer, reports CoStar News Hotels. The Fed last lowered interest rates in December, dropping them by 25 basis points for a total of 75 basis points for all of 2025.
While another 25-basis-point cut would not have had a material effect for hotel owners, it would have had a larger psychological impact, said Joseph Yi, chief investment officer at Palette Hotels. Keeping rates where they are will likely slow the overall real estate recovery.
“The most significant effect will be on the buy side for two reasons: Elevated rates continue to make acquisition underwriting challenging, keeping the bid-ask spread wide, and the shift by large asset allocators from private credit back to equity will be delayed, further weighing on the investment sales market,” he said.
4. Travel demand resilient despite higher flight prices
To offset the rising cost of jet fuel, airlines have been increasing the cost of flights, the New York Times reports. However, consumers are still buying tickets.
At an investor conference, airline executives from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines shared they've had to pay $400 million each in higher fuel costs, but ticket sales have been strong enough not to affect their profit projections for the first quarter.
“It’s across all segments, covering corporate, covering international, covering premium leisure, covering main cabin, covering our domestic system,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said at the J.P. Morgan 2026 Industrials Conference. “We’re seeing strength in every market that we look at.”
5. Worries grow over private credit
The private credit sector has reached an estimated $3 trillion in size, but problems in this form of lending are becoming more visible, NPR reports. Two companies backed by private credit declared bankruptcy last year, raising concerns over how carefully private credit lenders are vetting their clients.
Further compounding the issue is investors in several private credit firms are trying to pull back their money, and that is affecting Wall Street. Blue Owl, one of the largest private-credit lenders, has seen its shares fall about 40% since the start of the year. KKR, Apollo and Blackstone are down by 20% or more.
"When everyone is rushing to the door at the same time, there's an inherent panic that occurs that also affects sentiment. I think we're seeing some of that here," said Olaolu Aganga, head of portfolio construction for Citigroup's wealth-management division.