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CHARLOTTE-BASED MAYA HOTELS has acquired two Hampton Inn hotels in North Carolina and South Carolina. The two Hampton Inns boast a total of 210 guest rooms and are Maya Hotels' second and third acquisitions over the last six months, the company said in a statement. The hotels are the 100-room Hampton Inn & Suites Charlotte-Arrowood Road in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the 110-room Hampton Inn Columbia Northeast-Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. Maya Hotels, led by JD Deva as CEO, acquired the hotels on March 11. The Charlotte property is near Carowinds Amusement Park and Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The Columbia hotel is near U.S. Army Fort Jackson the University of South Carolina and downtown Columbia. Amenities at each hotel include outdoor pools, fitness centers, meeting spaces, and business centers. "We are excited to acquire these two top-branded assets at a discount to replacement cost," said Krishna Deva, vice president of Maya Hotels. "Charlotte and Columbia have historically been top markets for us, and we are thrilled to grow our presence in these two cities with such a strong brand affiliation." The acquired hotels complement Maya Hotels' existing footprint and will increase the current operating synergies the company has across North Carolina and South Carolina regions. The hotels will be renovated and managed by Maya Hotels. "We are so happy to continue growing our relationships with the Charlotte and Columbia communities, as well as with Hilton. We are also thankful to each of our investors and banking partners," said Deva. "The success of this transaction is a testament to our track record in the hospitality industry and our ability to adapt quickly in a rapidly changing lending environment. We look forward to bringing out the full potential of each of these properties with our hands-on management approach and the completion of major renovations at each property."

TWO HOTELS HAVE joined Hospitality Lodging Systems' AmeriVu brand. One is a 61-room former Fairfield Inn in Grand Forks, North Dakota and the other is an 80-room former Super 8 in Aberdeen, North Carolina. The new additions bring the number of AmeriVu properties to 23 operating in nine states, according to HLS. The AmeriVu brand was started in 2015 by Nick Rai, CEO of Vishav Hotels, who signed a long-term exclusive licensing agreement with Atlanta-based HLS in 2016. "In today's uncertain economy and recovering hotel environment, hotel owners want lower costs, higher profits, and more peace of mind," said Doug Collins, Chairman and CEO of HLS. "Our brands effectively deliver dependable results."

OFFICIALS OF THE "She Has a Deal" annual hotel investment pitch contest announced the five teams selected to advance to the final round of SHaDPitch 2023. The competition allows early career women to compete for the prize of $50,000 of equity in SHaD's Prosperity Fund I, following the conclusion of a virtual, preliminary round of pitching, SHaD said in a statement. SHaD 2023 will be held at the new Marriott Headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 27 to 28. According to the statement, the goal of SHaD is to increase the number of women owning and developing hotels. It provides participants with the ability to source, analyse, raise capital and close hotel real estate investment deals. During the preliminary judging round, eight teams comprising 15 participants pitched their hotel investment acquisition or development projects live on Zoom to a judging panel of hotel business executives, entrepreneurs, and investors. The judges evaluated and selected the following five teams: Sydney Young and Rachel Nicholson with SpartanStone, graduates of Michigan State University, pitching a La Quinta Inn & Suites in Lewisville, Texas. Chandler Williamson with Chanders Core Commitment, graduate of North Carolina Central University, pitching a Hilton Garden Inn in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. Isabella Suffredini, Veronica Lewis and Alexandra Neoman with CROWN, graduates of Cornell University, pitching a TownePlace Suites in Houston, Texas. Makenna Price with Hookipa Hospitality, graduate of Washington State University, pitching a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Allison Busch and Hannah Takekawa with AH Hospitality, graduates of San Diego State University, pitching a Staybridge Suites in Austin, Texas "Every year, I grow more encouraged that we are making an impact," said Tracy Prigmore, founder of SHaD. "These are brilliant women who benefit from the education and programming that SHaD provides, and their hotel investment acumen has grown by leap

MAGNUSON HOTELS HAS added a new hotel to its Magnuson Independent Collection portfolio, the Studios & Suites 4 Less Charlotte, in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the sixth hotel added to the Independent Collection by owner Ray Patel of Charlotte. The 126-room hotel is near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, The Billy Graham Library, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Levine Museum of the New South, according to Magnuson. The new hotel looks to draw a 52-week nonseasonal business base from the regional banking, finance, software, and biotech sectors. Charlotte is also home to the Research Triangle Park, a globally prominent research center with over 170 companies and federal agencies in the U.S. "When Ray Patel called us in 2005, he wanted to build his own brand called Studios & Suites 4 Less, and that is exactly what Ray did," said Thomas Magnuson, CEO of Magnuson Hotels. As Patel's team manages the Studios & Suites 4 Less brand and operations, Magnuson Hotels provides the technology, distribution, and marketing for the brand. "We appreciate our partnership with Magnuson Hotels, which is now entering its 17th year of consecutive increases," said Patel of Charlotte. "It is a pleasure and privilege to continually add new properties in our home market of Charlotte, North Carolina," he added.

MAYA HOTELS HELD grand opening for its Tru by Hilton Mooresville in Mooresville, North Carolina. Maya Hotels is led by co-founders J.D. Deva and Baldev Thakor. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 19, though it opened in July. Attendees included Mooresville Mayor Miles Atkins and Leah Mitcham, executive director of the Mooresville Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Today's event was the culmination of many months of hard work and the collaboration with city officials, our construction team, and our Maya Hotels team members to bring this fresh, new Tru by Hilton property to the Mooresville / Lake Norman area," said Parimal Thakor, vice president of Maya Hotels. The 120-room hotel is in the Langtree Lake Norman mixed-use development in Mooresville. It is near to Lake Norman and Langtree Plantation. Amenities include mobile check-in and a fitness center. The hotel is pet friendly.

A JOINT VENTURE between NewcrestImage and Hospitality Capital Partners recently acquired 16 hotels for $137.3 million from Service Properties Trust, a Massachusetts-based REIT. The deal includes a total of 2,155 rooms in nine states. The portfolio consists of 13 Courtyard and three Residence Inn hotels by Marriott hotels, which are in Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Eleven of the properties underwent major renovations between 2018 and 2019, the company said in a statement. "This transaction suits our company's style of strategically acquiring properties with strong fundamentals, especially during times of a difficult or slowed down economy," said Mehul Patel, managing partner and CEO, NewcrestImage. "It's an opportunity for our joint venture with NewcrestImage to add revenue immediately, while also growing long-term profit potential and asset value," said HCP principals Keith Mishkin and Primo Parmar. The transaction was handled by Al Calhoun and Mark Fair at CBRE in Atlanta. "Closing this transaction was particularly satisfying given the size of the deal and the challenges we're facing in the debt markets," added Al Calhoun, vice chairman with CBRE Hotels in Atlanta. "We were able to complete this transaction by breaking it up into three deals with three different lenders. These lenders had great confidence in the sponsorship and the quality of the brands and markets."

The Aloft Mooresville is open in Mooresville, North Carolina. The boutique hotel is owned by Maya Hotels led by co-founders J.D. Deva and Baldev Thakor. The 128-room hotel is Maya Hotels' fifth property in Mooresville in the last 25 years, including its Tru by Hilton Mooresville opened in August. It is part of the Langtree Lake Norman mixed-use development near Charlotte, North Carolina, with nearby attractions including Lake Norman and Langtree Plantation. Amenities include an indoor pool and a fitness center. "We are incredibly excited to bring the upbeat Aloft brand to the Mooresville / Lake Norman market," Deva said. "We are pleased to grow our relationship with Marriott and to continue our investment into the Mooresville area."

Jessica Kramer is the new CEO of hotel operations and collaboration platform, Lodgistics. Also, Wendy Zapach joined the company as chief revenue officer and Jami Poe is the new vice president for sales. The three new appointments will support the expansion of the operations platform provider, led by Shaunak Patel, the company's co-founder as well as president of North Carolina-based Parks Hospitality Group. Kramer previously served in executive leadership roles at TravelClick, ALICE and SevenRooms, which included running sales, revenue operations, business development, mergers and acquisitions and partnerships, according to the company. "I am thrilled to welcome Jessica as our new CEO. Her deep expertise in hospitality and technology, combined with her history of success scaling SaaS businesses, make her the perfect pick for our company as we embark on our next era of growth." Patel said. "Lodgistics was born inside our hotels and created in direct response to our team members' daily challenges around effectively communicating across teams and efficiently carrying out the wide range of operational tasks that make great hotel experiences possible. That's why it was crucial to find an executive who had deep, hands-on experience with both fast-growing technology companies and hotel operations. It is this unique and critical intersection of Jessica's experience and Lodgistics' DNA that make this the right match."

The Tru by Hilton Mooresville in Mooresville, North Carolina, is now open. It is managed by Maya Hotels led by co-founders J.D. Deva and Baldev Thakor. The 120-room hotel is in the Langtree Lake Norman mixed-use development in Mooresville. It is near to Lake Norman and Langtree Plantation. Amenities include mobile check-in and a fitness center. The hotel is pet friendly. The Tru by Hilton Mooresville marks Maya Hotels' fourth hotel investment in Mooresville in the last 25 years, with a fifth hotel set for completion in the third quarter of this year.

MAYA HOTELS RECENTLY celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first ground-up hotel, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Belmont in Belmont, North Carolina. The event marked the hotel's evolution from a 65-room establishment in 1999 to a modern 92-key hotel, while showcasing original site plans, franchise approval letters, snapshots from the 1999 grand opening and earned awards over the years. IHG Hotels & Resorts representative Jason Miller, local government officials, along with associates, community members, vendors and investors attended the event. "We came to the United States with nothing, but we knew one thing - this is the land of opportunity," said Baldev Thakor, Maya Hotels' cofounder. "We knew we wanted to build a Holiday Inn Express in this community and we knew there were many guests not being served," J.D. Deva, Maya Hotels cofounder, said. "Here we are, 25 years later, and it has been a remarkable journey."

Nearly six months after opening its doors, the Aloft Mooresville in Mooresville, North Carolina, made it official. Maya Hotels, led by co-founders J.D. Deva and Baldev Thakor, held its grand opening for the property on May 28. Local officials, including Mayor Miles Atkins, Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Qualls, Commissioner Thurman Houston, and Commissioner Gary West, attended the event at the 128-room hotel that actually opened in December. There was live music and special cocktails at the hotel bar. "Our first hotel in Mooresville was over 25 years ago and our belief in the potential of this area has not wavered since. The Aloft Mooresville is our fifth hotel investment in this town, and we could not be more excited," said Deva, CEO of Maya Hotels The hotel provided 50 new jobs for the area. "This celebration is the culmination of a very long and rewarding journey," said Thakor, vice president. "We feel that this brand is a perfectly unique addition to Mooresville, offering an upscale venue for guests and members of the community to have fun and unwind."

WITH 67 PROJECTS and 7,772 rooms in its construction pipeline, Charlotte, North Carolina, ranks 15th among the top 25 U.S. markets by project count, according to Lodging Econometrics. LE predicts continued growth in the city's future. Hotels under construction in the city total 11 projects and 1,435 rooms at the end of the first quarter, with 31 projects and 3,466 rooms set to begin construction in the next 12 months, and 25 projects totaling 2,871 rooms in early planning. LE's first quarter hotel development data for Charlotte, released ahead of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference, showed that more than 65 percent of the projects are upscale and upper-midscale brands, totaling 44 projects and 5,007 rooms combined.

La Quinta by Wyndham Selma is now open in Selma, North Carolina. Owned by Jay Sai Corp., it is the 120th hotel to open using the La Quinta Del Sol prototype. The 80-room hotel is near Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Smithfield Community Park. Amenities include an outdoor pool. Another Del Sol hotel is expected to open in Galveston, Texas, this summer, according to Wyndham. There are 175 La Quinta hotels in the development pipeline and openings scheduled this year in several markets, such as Nashville, Tennessee; Santa Cruz, California and Denver.