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1. Analysts: Marriott won’t have long-term fallout from Sonder collapse
Analysts who follow the public hotel companies don't anticipate Marriott International will see any lingering effects from last month's breakup with Sonder Holdings, CoStar News' Bryan Wroten reports.
Michael Bellisario, senior research analyst at Baird, said there was a public relations and headline risk for Marriott, but the Bethesda, Maryland-based firm “will continue to move forward and find other partners and grow. There’s a short-term hit to the stock, but people realize it’s a blip and not a thesis-changing event. This is not a structural problem or challenge of Marriott’s. This is a Sonder-specific issue, and people are looking at it and looking forward.”
It was not a surprise that Sonder filed for bankruptcy, Bellisario said. He added that Sonder “had roughly $1 billion in lease-related expenses, negative free cash flow and the stock was trading at about $1 per share when the Marriott license agreement was announced. Though the stock price went up after the announcement, performance was poor since then. Sonder also wasn’t paying Marriott its fees as outlined in the agreement and instead restructured that into debt owed to Marriott.”
2. US hotels post very flattish rise in average daily rate
During the week of Nov. 23-29, both U.S. hotel occupancy and revenue per available room declined year over year but average daily rate was mostly flat, according to CoStar hospitality data. ADR increased just 0.2% to $141.31 while occupancy fell 1% to 49.8% and revenue per available room decreased 0.7% to $70.42.
Among the top 25 U.S. hotel markets, the best was San Francisco/San Mateo, California, where hotel occupancy increased 11.4% to 48%, ADR increased 3.1% to $161.44 and RevPAR increased 14.9% to 77.47. The worst-performing market among the top 25 was Tampa Bay, Florida, which posted a 21% occupancy decrease to 54.4%, a 9.8% ADR decrease to $138.84 and a 28.7% RevPAR decrease to $75.50.
3. Accor signs largest Mövenpick hotel on planet
Accor has signed its largest Mövenpick-branded hotel on the planet in an agreement with Filipino company MegaWorld Corp for the 1,530-room Mövenpick Manila Bay Westside. To open in the middle of next year, the hotel will be the France-based hotel firm’s 13th hotel in The Philippines. Accor's hotel portfolio in The Philippines has more than 4,700 rooms.
The move also will see Accor becoming the largest hotel firm by hotel count in The Philippines. Accor executives added the company has a further 16 properties in development across the country. According to CoStar, the hotel currently trades as the 800-room Grand Westside Hotel. It was built in 2024, rises 19 floors and is officially owned by MegaWorld division Global One Hotel Group.
4. Increase in billionaires potentially good news for high-end hotels
There are now 2,891 billionaires — in U.S. dollar terms — on the planet, according to the Global Wealth Report 2025 released on Dec. 4 by UBS. As of 2024, those billionaires have 6,441 children, a 56% increase since 2015, potentially good news for luxury and upscale hotels and hotel-industry performance metrics in general, the report added.
UBS said 31 individuals in its database have wealth of more than $50 billion and that the strongest gains in wealth have been in Greece, Poland, Qatar and Singapore, whereas the strongest declines are in The Netherlands and Uruguay.
5. Scottish World Cup fan books 22 hotels before group-stage draw
With the draw for the group stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday, Dec. 5, some fans cannot wait to make their hotel bookings. A soccer fan in Scotland has already booked 22 hotels — presumably at a rate that permits cancellation. The U.S., Canada and Mexico will co-host next summer's tournament.
Daris Nesbitt told the BBC that his booking plan “has been a bit of a headache, but the more hotels I book the less stressed I feel. I have now covered every venue.” He added it was an “almighty logistical challenge of planning a trip to a 48-team World Cup, played across three countries, without knowing where Scotland would end up.” Scotland last appeared in the World Cup in 1998, being knocked out in the group stage with one tied match and no wins.