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HOTEL INVESTORS AREN’ T THROWING IN THE TOWEL. THEY ARE WAITING FOR THE CLIMATE TO DRY OUT.
By DAVID EISEN
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A TLANTA—“ It’ s the economy, stupid” is an aphorism that stretches beyond the American voter. It also impacts the way hotel investors invest, the way hotel operators operate. In this current economy, both are tight as a drum and seeking out a softer cloud in which to cozy into.
At the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, a gathering of dealmakers, large and small, sounded deathly similar: 2025 was positioned to be a year of growth; it could end
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up being a year of reckoning. The jury remains out. Consider two of the biggest in global asset management, Blackstone and Brookfield, with a combined AUM of $ 2 trillion between them. These are bold investors, but, of late, have been less intrepid on the acquisition side and more game on the sell side. Blackstone last September agreed to sell the Motel 6 chain to India’ s Oyo and is rumored to be looking to sell Spain-based Hotel Investment Partners. Brookfield has recently sold hotels, including The Diplomat |
Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla., Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa, Calif., and Conrad Seoul. Scott Trebilco, senior managing director in Blackstone’ s real estate group, said it sold $ 2 billion in assets last year.
Buying is where they’ ve been reluctant— especially in the U. S. Recent Blackstone deals focused on the East: In December 2024, Blackstone added three hotels in Japan, The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa, Kise Beach Palace and Nest Hotel Osaka. Shortly before
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10 hotelsmag. com May / June 2025 |