By the end of this year, Noble Investment Group’s extended-stay hotels portfolio will reach 100 properties thanks in part to its recent acquisition of 35 Sonesta Simply Suites hotels.
Noble launched in earnest its branded long-term accommodations platform, known internally as BLTA, in August 2023, said Dustin Fisher, senior vice president of investments at Noble.
He called the platform "a focus on the nexus of hospitality and flexible living."
The Simply Suites portfolio deal "bolts into that strategy as a good way to add to that platform and scale,” he said. “That’s really key when we’re trying to grow a platform that gets to a durable cash-flow yield where we can add operating alpha and generally get into good markets that have this depth of extended-stay generators.”
The acquired portfolio sits across 19 states and 25 unique markets, mostly in the Southeast and Sunbelt regions. The portfolio comprises more than 4,000 rooms.
Noble bought the hotels from real estate investment trust Service Properties Trust, which has been progressing in a long-term strategy of selling off some of its Sonesta-branded hotels to reduce debt levels and increase liquidity. Initial data showed the portfolio size as 31, but Noble has shared the portfolio size is 35.
The hotels in the portfolio are in locations that Fisher said would be difficult to enter and build on their own, thanks to the lack of available land and cost of construction. Entering attractive markets this way, Fisher said, means Noble can implement its own operating strategies to achieve desired results.
Noble will make some guest-facing improvements to the hotels to bring them into alignment with its planned operating model, Fisher said.
"We're pleased with the product," he said, adding that in general, the hotels are well built, with good room layouts and public areas that are in good shape.
The extended-stay space has been attractive to Noble for some time, Fisher said. Earlier this year it bought 16 WoodSpring Suites hotels in two portfolio transactions. Recently, the company has broken ground on several purpose-built StudioRes by Marriott extended-stay hotels and opened one, in Newnan, Georgia.
The extended-stay space proved its resiliency during the pandemic and recovery, Fisher said. Even though the segment has had some challenges lately, that’s mostly a U.S. macro statistic, and Noble’s extended-stay portfolio hasn’t experienced that much turbulence.
“When you focus in on the types of markets that we’re selecting to invest in, you don’t get necessarily the amount of noise that you see at the U.S. macro,” he said.
Through Noble’s 30 years in business, the company has invested through every cycle, Fisher said.
“There’s no pause,” he said. “We always remain opportunistic, and we do so with an ability — unlike I think a lot of groups — to create operating alpha, which differentiates us from just a pure leveraged finance acquisition model, which is obviously difficult right now if that’s your investment strategy.”
Noble has closed on $600 million in hotel acquisitions so far this year with another $450 million under agreement, he said, adding the company isn’t waiting around for moments of perfect clarity. Other investors may be holding back, and some institutional capital is moving to other sectors, such as data centers and artificial intelligence.
“We kept plugging away I think, for lack of a better term, because we think we can find value at any point in the cycle, and that's what I think we've done this year,” he said.
Noble also has sold a few hotels this year. With no strict disposition goals in mind, the company's deals are all opportunistic, Fisher said.
Fisher said he expects an uptick in overall hotel deals volume into next year. The Noble team senses there’s a moment of capitulation bubbling up that is manifested by some of the softening seen through the fourth quarter that will prompt more activity next year. Refinancing alternatives will remain attractive, so traditional sale processes will be solved through the capital markets. Debt will end up being a tailwind and that will make for a more efficient capital markets environment, which helps spur transaction activity.
“We're bullish on the volume,” he said. “I think the overall landscape should be more liquid than it was this year.”
Correction, Dec. 9, 2025: This story has been updated to correct Dustin Fisher's title.