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1. Braemar Hotels Acquire Four Seasons Resort
Braemar Hotels & Resorts reached a deal Tuesday to acquire the 210-room Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $267.8 million, reports Hotel News Now's Dana Miller.
"The acquisition of the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale is an exciting opportunity for us to acquire a timeless, luxury resort ideally located in picturesque North Scottsdale," Richard Stockton, Braemar's president and CEO, said in a company news release. "This exquisite property fits perfectly with our strategy of owning high [revenue per available room] luxury hotels and resorts and further diversifies our portfolio.”
2. New York Salary Transparency Law in Effect
The deadline for New York City employers to comply with a new salary transparency law is Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports. The law requires job listings with a company that has four or more workers to include a pay range in an effort to close gender pay gaps.
Employers who don’t comply with the law could face civil penalties and fines up to $250,000, the newspaper reports. Some companies are considering listing a pay range for all of its job listings across the U.S. to keep in line with its New York postings.
“A lot of employers are deciding, should this just be their practice for all job positions going forward?” said Melissa Camire, a partner in the New York office of Fisher & Phillips LLP. “Because that’s not an easy task.”
3. Business Travel 'Up and Down' Across US
Hoteliers searching for more business travel demand are setting their sights for 2023, as demand hits its typical lull in the final months of the year, HNN’s Dana Miller reports.
Mark George, senior vice president of sales and marketing at West Palm Beach, Florida-based hotel management company Island Hospitality, said compared to group travel demand, business travel is “a different animal.”
"We'd love to say that it's going to come back, that there's a boom," he said. Instead, he described it as "up and down."
4. Global Hotel Demand Nears 2019 Levels
Global hotel demand reached a pandemic-era high in September, according to STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics company. Demand in the month was down just 6% from the same mark in 2019.
September was the fifth consecutive month of global demand hovering over 90% of pre-pandemic levels, likely a sign of a shift in demand mix.
“The shift in demand mix indicates sustainability for the hospitality industry, as reliance on the full historical complement of demand drivers should help hotels maintain demand across the seasonal shifts in demand, political instability, and economic challenges affecting the various world regions,” a news release said.
5. Rates Improve at Extended-Stay Hotels
The Highland Group’s latest report on extended-stay hotels shows average daily rate grew for the first time in five months in that segment in September.
Average daily rate increased 12% in September 2022 compared to September 2021, mostly driven by upscale extended-stay hotels. Economy and mid-price extended-stay segments had its smallest gains in monthly ADR for 18 months.
“September’s widening gains in average rate across the extended-stay segments indicates higher rate growth resistance at lower price points,” Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group, said in a news release.