6 Playa Hotels Are Rebranded to Hyatt
The DJIA rose 317 points, the Nasdaq was up 294, the S&P 500 rose 56 points and the 10 year treasury yield was up .03 to 4.45%. Lodging stocks were mostly higher today, led by SOND with a 7% rise, while PEB and SHCO were both up 6% on the day.
Truist Securities reported on the conference call they held last week with CoStar to discuss their updated U.S. lodging forecast and recent industry trends. CoStar's presentation at the NYU conference showcased a bumpy macro backdrop, decelerating YTD lodging results, and a lowered 2025/2026 lodging forecast. They labeled international demand as sliding/likely getting worse while mentioning a slower development pipeline and slow asset transaction activity. As you can see, they did not have a lot of good things to talk about. Summer travel is a bit tricky to decipher as the bookings are down, but travelers are still booking, but closer to the arrival dates. CoStar is not super worried about weak on the books and views the negative headlines as a false negative, but there is not much visibility into peak months with the short booking window. The luxury segment continues to outperform with strong demand and very healthy pricing power.
Baird reported on six of Playa's hotels being rebranded to a Hyatt flag. When Hyatt moved on to the acquisition of PLYA, seven of their hotels did not carry a Hyatt flag. The change resulted in Hilton losing four properties and Wyndham losing one. Hilton now only has a dozen remaining all-inclusive resorts globally. The Wyndham Altra Playa del Carmen continues to accept reservations. Baird believes this hotel could be sold separately.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has projected a landmark achievement for Mexico's tourism sector in 2025. According to their latest forecasts, the industry is expected to contribute $281 billion to the national GDP, making up 15.1% of the country's total GDP. The WTTC's Economic Impact Report, developed in collaboration with Oxford Economics, suggests that by the end of 2025, the tourism sector will support nearly 8 million jobs in Mexico, accounting for 13.3% of all employment in the country. The report also forecasts that international visitor spending will reach $39.6 billion, a 7.5% increase compared to 2019, and domestic tourism spending will surge to $209.9 billion, up 9.9% from previous highs. Looking towards 2035, the WTTC anticipates that Mexico's Travel and Tourism sector will contribute $362.3 billion to the economy, representing 16.2% of the national GDP. In North America, by 2025, travel and tourism are expected to contribute $3 trillion to the GDP, accounting for 8.8% of the regional economy. International visitor spending is anticipated to exceed $233 billion this year, with domestic spending projected to grow by 1.4% annually to $1.8 trillion.
A Philadelphia developer is planning major changes at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, Scannapieco Development Corporation plans to make half of the Sheraton's hotel rooms apartments. The remaining 250 rooms on the 3rd to 9th floors will be renovated. The apartments will primarily be made by combining two hotel rooms into one apartment. The 131 new apartments will cater to the over-55 crowd. There will be one gym for the hotel section of the building and another for the apartments. The hotel and the apartments will share the lobby. The hotel renovations should be finished in less than a year, and the apartment transitions are expected to take 18–20 months, with work beginning later this year.
VP Management celebrated the grand opening of the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott located in Beckley, West Virginia. The 95-room hotel features an outdoor patio, indoor pool, fitness center, and meeting rooms.
TownePlace Suites Pensacola has recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation transforming the all-suite hotel's communal spaces and 97 guestrooms and elevating the guest experience. The renovation touched the lobby and breakfast area, the fitness center, and the pool and patio. TownePlace Suites Pensacola is owned by Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. and managed by McKibbon Hospitality.
The Indianapolis Airport Authority broke ground on the new Westin Indianapolis Airport hotel to be built on the airport's terminal campus. The Indianapolis Airport Authority expects work on the hotel to be finished in December 2027. The hotel will include 253 guestrooms, a full-service restaurant, a fitness center, a seventh-floor bar and lounge area, approximately 10,000 square feet of meeting space, and a pedestrian passage through the hotel to the airport garage.
A new Hilton-branded hotel held a grand opening on June 11 in Spring Lake, North Carolina. The Spark Hotel by Hilton offers 88 guestrooms, a communal lobby, a breakfast bar, a fitness center, and an outdoor pool.
Millennium Hotels and Resorts announced the rebranding of Millennium Downtown New York as M Social Hotel New York Downtown, scheduled to debut in the summer of 2025. Located within Manhattan's vibrant Financial District, the hotel boasts 569 newly renovated rooms, including 98 suites; 3,500 square feet of versatile event space across six meeting rooms; and a fully transformed lobby. The property plans to open the Beast & Butterflies restaurant by late 2025.
The Hyatt Regency Austin has begun a full hotel renovation, which is expected to be completed in September. According to a news release, the Hyatt Regency Austinrenovation includes a comprehensive redesign of the hotel's 448 guestrooms and suites, corridors, meeting facilities, and public spaces. The hotel will also introduce a new hotel dining option, Ripple & Roots. The hotel will remain open during the renovations, with new spaces opening in phases.
Royal Beach Hotel Punta Cana will officially open for guests on July 1, 2025. The 66-room resort features a restaurant, lobby bar, a pool with a bar, fitness center, spa, and 2 meeting spaces. The resort will fall under the JdV by Hyatt brand.
Barbados is witnessing a luxury hospitality renaissance as the collection of resorts previously gathered under the Elegant Hotels banner undergoes a $150 million renovation and relaunch. Seven luxe beachfront properties in all are part of the initiative, which will see them re-imagined and integrated into Marriott International's high-end brand portfolios: Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, and The Luxury Collection. The Waves Resort & Spa in Saint James has reopened as Barbados' first all-inclusive wellness-focused boutique luxury resort, under the Autograph Collection banner. The partly adults-only sanctuary has been completely re-imagined and features a spa and two distinct dining concepts. Treasure Beach has now reopened as the Treasure Beach Art Hotel, also under the Autograph Collection. The 35-key, all-inclusive boutique luxury property is located on Barbados' legendary Platinum Coast. Completing the initial phase of the renovations is The House, which also recently reopened as part of the Autograph Collection portfolio. The upgrade project extends beyond these initial properties, with additional transformations scheduled through 2025 for Tamarind, which will also reopen as an Autograph Collection property; as well as Crystal Cove and Turtle Beach, both scheduled to reopen as all-inclusive resorts under the Tribute Portfolio. The Colony Club, on the west coast of Barbados, will reopen as a Luxury Collection resort.
Personnel News
Westgate Resorts announced the appointment of Angel Miranda as its new Chief Information Officer. Miranda has been serving as the company's Interim CIO since the beginning of the year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mortgage interest tax deduction: How it works and when it makes sense
When you file your income tax returns each year, the mortgage interest deduction (MID) can be one of the most valuable benefits of homeownership. Or it can be worthless. That contradiction exists because the value of the MID depends on whether your itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction, and that depends on how much mortgage interest you paid during the year, your other deductions, and your standard deduction for your filing status and the tax year. Sounds complicated? Well, it is. This embedded content is not available in your region. Dig deeper: What is mortgage interest? In this article: Is mortgage interest tax deductible? How to claim the home mortgage interest deduction Should you buy a home to get the mortgage interest deduction? FAQs Mortgage interest is generally tax deductible. However, you should be aware of some important rules, limits, and exclusions before you claim this deduction on your tax returns. The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) limited the MID to interest paid for the first $750,000 of mortgage debt for loans originated after Dec. 15, 2017. Previously, the limit was $1 million of mortgage debt. For married couples filing separately, those limits are cut in half. The TCJA continued to allow mortgage interest for both a primary residence and a second home to be deducted, but the new law excluded interest paid for home equity loans or home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) unless the funds were used to build, buy, or make significant improvements to the home that secures the loan. Previously, interest paid for up to $100,000 of home equity debt could be deducted regardless of how the funds were used. The previous rules are still important because the TCJA is scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025. After the 2025 tax year, the previous rules will again be in effect unless Congress extends the TCJA MID provisions or makes other changes to the MID. To claim the MID, you'll have to itemize your deductions on your tax returns. Itemizing can be complicated and generally makes sense only if your deductions exceed your standard deduction, which is available if you choose not to itemize. For the tax year 2024 — which you will file in 2025 — the standard deduction for most taxpayers is $14,600 for individuals, $29,200 for joint tax filers, and $21,900 for heads of household. Those amounts are "indexed" (i.e., adjusted) for inflation, so they can and typically do change from year to year. Before the TCJA changed the rules at the end of 2017, the standard deduction for most taxpayers was $6,500 for individuals, $13,000 for joint filers, and $9,550 for heads of household. The higher amounts will be in effect until the TCJA through the 2025 tax year unless Congress extends the standard deduction provisions of the law or makes other changes to the standard deduction. Since the standard deduction is indexed for inflation, it's impossible to predict in advance what the amounts will be for 2026 or subsequent years. If you itemize your deductions, you may be able to deduct some or all of your property tax as well as your mortgage interest on your tax returns. The property tax deduction could help you boost your itemized deductions to exceed your standard deduction and make itemizing worth the effort. There's also another reason the value of your MID may vary from year to year: With a typical fixed-rate mortgage, the interest portion of your monthly mortgage payment — the part that may be tax-deductible — gets smaller as a portion of your payment over time. A smaller deduction may diminish your tax savings. The MID is part of the federal tax code. State tax codes typically also allow this deduction. Special rules may apply if you rent out your home for part of the year or use part of your home as a home office for business purposes. As a general rule, the more income you earn and the bigger your mortgage is, the more valuable the MID may be for you if you itemize your deductions and your itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction for your filing status for a given tax year. That said, the MID shouldn't be a reason to get a bigger mortgage — or any mortgage — if you can't afford the monthly payment or you're not financially comfortable with the payment, the other costs of owning a home, and all your other expenses. If you are going to buy a home and itemizing your deductions makes sense for you, the MID could be a nice tax-saving opportunity to take advantage of. Learn more: 8 tax deductions for homeowners This embedded content is not available in your region. It depends on how much housing debt you have. For most borrowers, you can deduct interest payments on up to $750,000 of home loan debt in 2024 — including your primary mortgage and any second mortgages, such as home equity loans and HELOCs. If you're married filing separately, your mortgage interest is tax deductible on up to $375,000 of mortgage loan debt. No, you are not limited to deducting $10,000 of mortgage interest. As long as you itemize your tax deductions, you can deduct interest paid on up to $750,000 of mortgage debt (or $375,000 if you're married filing separately). You can still deduct mortgage interest if you opt to itemize your tax deductions rather than take the standardized deduction. Interest paid on home equity loans and HELOCs are no longer deductible unless you use these second mortgages to buy or build a house, or to make significant home improvements. This rule is in effect through the end of 2025.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Few Stocks Match Coca-Cola's Dividend Stability
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is among the best dividend stocks for a bear market. The company has paid a dividend since 1920 and has raised its annual payout for 63 consecutive years, a streak topped by only a few publicly traded companies. A row of factory workers assembling bottles of sparkling soft drinks on a conveyor belt. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) operates in a space that offers rare stability, even when the economy takes a hit. Its strength lies in two key factors: consistent demand and the ability to raise prices without losing customers. As a provider of consumer staples, the company benefits from steady demand even during economic downturns. While it isn't immune to challenges, its core operations tend to hold up well when the broader market struggles. In addition, when sales volume dips, Coca-Cola can often raise prices without losing customers. This resilience is reflected in its valuation, both its price-to-sales and price-to-earnings ratios are above their five-year averages. Given its strong fundamentals and track record, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is well-positioned to continue increasing its dividend in the years ahead. The company's five-year average payout ratio is around 80%, and given its solid cash generation, investors expect growing dividends in the coming years as well. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) offers a dividend yield of 2.88%, as of June 17. While we acknowledge the potential of KO as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and Disclosure. None. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Middle East tensions put investors on alert, weighing worst-case scenarios
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) -Investors are mulling a host of different market scenarios should the U.S. deepen its involvement in the Middle East conflict, with the potential for ripple effects if energy prices skyrocket. They have honed in on the evolving situation between Israel and Iran, which have exchanged missile strikes, and are closely monitoring whether the U.S. decides to join Israel in its bombing campaign. Potential scenarios could send inflation higher, dampening consumer confidence and lessening the chance of near-term interest rate cuts. This would likely cause an initial selloff in equities and possible safe-haven bid for the dollar. While U.S. crude prices have climbed some 10% over the past week, the S&P 500 has been little changed as of yet, following an initial drop when Israel launched its attacks. However, if attacks were to take out Iranian oil supply, "that's when the market is going to sit up and take notice," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth. "If you get disruption to supply of oil product on the global marketplace, that is not reflected in today's WTI price and that is where things get negative," Hogan said. The White House said on Thursday President Donald Trump would decide on U.S. involvement in the conflict in the next two weeks. Analysts at Oxford Economics modeled three scenarios, ranging from a de-escalation in the conflict, a complete shutdown in Iranian production, and a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, "each with increasingly large impacts on global oil prices," the firm said in a note. In the most severe case, global oil prices jump to around $130 per barrel, driving U.S. inflation near 6% by the end of this year, Oxford said in the note. "Although the price shock inevitably dampens consumer spending because of the hit to real incomes, the scale of the rise in inflation and concerns about the potential for second-round inflation effects likely ruin any chance of rate cuts in the U.S. this year," Oxford said in the note. OIL IMPACT The biggest market impact from the escalating conflict has been restricted to oil, with oil prices soaring on worries that the Iran-Israel conflict could disrupt supplies. Brent crude futures have risen as much as 18% since June 10, hitting a near 5-month high of $79.04 on Thursday. The accompanying rise in investors' expectations for further near-term volatility in oil prices has outpaced the rise in volatility expectations for other major asset classes, including stocks and bonds. But other asset classes, including stocks, could still feel the knock-on effects of higher oil prices, especially if there is a larger surge in oil prices if the worst market fears of supply disruptions come true, analysts said. "Geopolitical tensions have been mostly ignored by equities, but they are being factored into oil," Citigroup analysts wrote in a note. "To us, the key for equities from here will come from energy commodity pricing," they said. STOCKS UNPERTURBED U.S. stocks have so far weathered rising Middle East tensions with little sign of panic. A more direct U.S. involvement in the conflict could, however, spook markets, investors said. Financial markets may be in for an initial selloff if the U.S. military attacks Iran, with economists warning that a dramatic rise in oil prices could damage a global economy already strained by Trump's tariffs. Still, any pullback in equities might be fleeting, history suggests. During past prominent instances of Middle East tensions coming to a boil, including the 2003 Iraq invasion and the 2019 attacks on Saudi oil facilities, stocks initially languished but soon recovered to trade higher in the months ahead. On average, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% in the three weeks following the start of conflict, but was 2.3% higher on average two months following the conflict, according to data from Wedbush Securities and CapIQ Pro. DOLLAR WOES An escalation in the conflict could have mixed implications for the U.S. dollar, which has tumbled this year amid worries over diminished U.S. exceptionalism. In the event of U.S. direct engagement in the Iran-Israel War, the dollar could initially benefit from a safety bid, analysts said. "Traders are likely to worry more about the implicit erosion of the terms of trade for Europe, the UK, and Japan, rather than the economic shock to the US, a major oil producer," Thierry Wizman, Global FX & Rates Strategist at Macquarie Group, said in a note. But longer-term, the prospect of US-directed 'nation-building' would probably weaken the dollar, he said. "We recall that after the attacks of 9/11, and running through the decade-long US presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, the USD weakened," Wizman said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
