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AURO HOTELS RECENTLY ACQUAIRED the Residence Inn by Marriott Atlanta Buckhead/Lenox Park. Hunter Hotel Advisors helped broker the deal, which it said is another example of the strength of the extended-stay segment that has been seeing increased interest from major hotel companies such as Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. The 150-room Residence Inn is in Atlanta's upscale Buckhead neighborhood near shopping and dining outlets, such as Lenox Square Mall and Phipps Plaza, according to Hunter. Also, the hotel is across from AT&T corporate offices. "We are thrilled that the stars aligned on this acquisition - a smooth process with a highly professional seller, another collaboration with a trusted equity partner, and a further expansion of our relationship with Marriott," said D.J. Rama, CEO of Auro Hotels. "With the expertise brought by our investment, operations and design and construction resources, we believe strongly in the property's future performance potential."

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT management firm Noble Investment Group partnered with Host Hotels & Resorts to tap and expand travel, leisure and hospitality opportunities, a statement said. As part of the initiative, Host will invest $150 million as a limited partner in an existing Noble investment vehicle and provide Noble with first-look at select-service and extended-stay hotel opportunities sourced through Host's channels. Host also will become a minority investment partner in Noble's fee-based asset management business, according to Noble's press release. "As we continue to expand our institutional investment management platform, this strategic partnership further augments Noble's ability to develop, source, and execute innovative growth strategies in travel, leisure, and hospitality," said Mit Shah, Noble's CEO. According to the statement, the partnership will combine Noble's operational expertise and development acumen with Host's scale, market insights, data analytics, and breadth of resources. They aim to source differentiated investment strategies including property technology solutions, development, and alternative lodging.

THE STOP-AND-GO economy of 2021 did not slow down progress for Peachtree Hotel Group of Atlanta. The accrued a record of $2 billion in total capitalization through 140 transactions, including acquisitions, developments, lending and hotel investments. Representatives of the company, which is led by Mitul Patel and Jatin Desai as managing principals along with Greg Friedman as CEO, discussed the record year at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles last week. "We are extremely pleased to have completed an extraordinary year of investment activity," Friedman said. "Our strategy of investing up and down the capital stack and opportunistically pivoting as markets shift allows us to capitalize on investments during any business cycle. 2021 exemplified our ability, and we expect that 2022 should be another strong year on the investment side."

MARCH IS WOMEN'S History Month, a time to focus attention on women's role in business and society. It also is the second month for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' new "Women Own the Room" program that aims to open the door for more women to achieve hotel ownership. Two of the first participants in the program are Trusha Patel, founder and CEO of Platinum Holdings in Austin, Texas, and Neha Jadhav of Chantilly, Virginia, founder of Luminous Hotel Management. Both women are opening dual-brand La Quinta and Hawthorn Suites hotels with assistance from WOTR assistance. Correcting an imbalance Wyndham launched WOTR in January in an effort to overcome the common barriers women face in developing, opening and running their own hotel. The program provides assistance with financial solutions, personalized operational support and networking and educational opportunities. Programs such as WOTR are needed to counter hospitality industry data that shows women are significantly underrepresented in hotel ownership, real estate, and investment funding roles, Wyndham said in a press release. The company cited the most recent annual report from the Castell Project, a nonprofit focused on promoting women in the industry, that found that while there are more women in the hospitality industry they still lag behind in leadership roles.

KNOWLAND RECENTLY LAUNCHED Knowland Select, a tool designed for hotels with limited meeting space. Knowland Select subscribers will receive a curated list of target accounts for upcoming need periods directly to the seller's inbox. The general market release of the product is scheduled for later this summer, Knowland said in a statement. "Knowland Select empowers limited service hotels, hardest hit by the recent travel slowdown, with automated prospecting," said Jeff Bzdawka, Knowland's CEO. "It streamlines prospecting for the segment's diverse hotel teams by directly delivering qualified accounts and contacts to the seller's inbox, boosting productivity and group business growth. Importantly, Knowland Select expands our suite of platform offerings to provide valuable sales intelligence solutions for all hotel sizes and chain scales in a portfolio. And with its accessible price point, it lowers the barrier to entry for automated prospecting at scale and helps hotels unlock a clear return on investment."

NEWBOND HOLDINGS HAS acquired Aloft Tampa Downtown in Tampa, Florida, marking its third downtown riverfront hotel investment in the city in 24 months. This takes the company's total to more than 700 hotel rooms and more than 800 ft. of frontage along the Hillsborough River, Newbond said in a statement. Niel Luthra is the founding partner of New York-based Newbond Holdings. The 130-key hotel, located on the Riverwalk, provides both indoor and outdoor amenities, featuring a waterfront pool, gym, corporate meeting and event spaces, as well as a bar and lounge, the statement added. Newbond is planning a comprehensive hotel renovation to include all guestrooms, public areas and the pool deck. "Our third hotel investment in downtown Tampa since 2021 demonstrates our conviction in the long-term Tampa growth story," said Neil Luthra, founding partner of Newbond. "Tampa's robust job and population growth; flourishing convention and tourism business; and continued institutional investment have created one of the strongest real estate and hospitality markets in the country."

NOBLE INVESTMENT GROUP recently acquired two hotels in Savannah, Georgia. The hotels are the Hampton Inn Savannah Historic District and Holiday Inn Express Savannah Historic District. Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Noble, led by Mit Shah as CEO, acquired the hotels because of their position in Savannah's historic district. The city recently was named Travel + Leisure magazine's No. 3 Top City in the U.S. and included on TIME's list of The World's Greatest Places of 2021. The 7-floor, 143-room Holiday Inn Express has 2,765 square feet of meeting space, a rooftop pool and the Port Royal Tavern in the lobby. The 147-room Hampton Inn has an outdoor pool, a fitness center and a business center. In the historic district, the hotels are near museums, historic landmarks, mansions, and monuments from the Revolutionary and Civil War eras. Both hotels are on East Bay Street across the Savannah River from the Savannah Convention Center and River Street shopping and entertainment area.

DALLAS-BASED NEWCRESTIMAGE plans to acquire 45 hotels from a private investment firm. The portfolio includes approximately 3,300 rooms in 11 states, but other terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The hotels include 35 Marriott International-branded, seven Hilton-branded, two Choice Hotels International-branded and one Radisson Hotels-branded properties. They are in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, according to NewcrestImage. "The current financial environment makes it very attractive to buy rather than build, and this group of fine hotels in high-traffic locations provides us with an exceptional opportunity to immediately start generating significant revenue, profit, and return on investment," said Mehul Patel, NewcrestImage managing partner and CEO.

THE MANAGING PRINCIPALS of Atlanta-based Peachtree Hotel Group are forming a new company, Peachtree Group, to oversee its investment portfolio. Peachtree's hospitality division includes Peachtree Hotel Group, Peachtree Hospitality Management and Peachtree Hospitality Development. The new company will manage and control investments and direct investment strategies across different divisions, including hospitality, commercial lending, residential development and capital markets, the company said in a statement. The company is expanding in those areas, said Greg Friedman, Peachtree's CEO and managing principal. "The expanded breadth of investment types we are undertaking warranted the formation of Peachtree Group without hotel in the moniker," Friedman said. "This transformative structure provides a significant opportunity to unlock the full potential of our integrated real estate investment platform that has served us well in the hospitality sector to expand into other real estate sectors and businesses.

U.S. EXTENDED-STAY hotels registered an increase in occupancy and ADR in the first quarter of this year, according to hotel investment advisors The Highland Group. Record high demand, low supply growth and rising overall ADR are driving the strong performance. Economy and mid-price extended-stay hotels recovered RevPAR to their nominal 2019 values and the former is leading the recovery, the U.S. Extended-stay Hotels: First Quarter 2022 report said. However, the upscale extended-stay segment is lagging the overall recovery but reporting slightly better recovery performance as demand is at an all-time high, the report added. "There were 564,257 extended-stay hotel rooms open at the end of the first quarter. However, the 17,165 net gain in rooms open over the last year was the lowest annual increase since 2014, excluding 2020. Room nights available increased 3.1 percent over 2021, but supply growth dropped 50 percent from 2016 across all three segments," the report said.

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.

GEOFF BALLOTTI, PRESIDENT and CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, is the second recipient of the Arne Sorenson Social Impact Leadership Award. The award is presented by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation and the BHN Group. Ballotti will receive the award Jan. 22 AHLA Foundation's premier fundraising gala, Night of a Thousand Stars, and again during the 22nd Annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles on Jan. 24, according to AHLA. The award is named after Arne Sorenson, the former president and CEO of Marriott International who passed away in 2021, and in December of that year David Kong, the recently retired president and CEO of Best Western Hotel Group, was the inaugural recipient. "Geoff - much like Arne - is a true embodiment of all the good that hospitality represents. His empathy, his accessibility and his commitment to doing the right thing is what makes him one of our industry's greatest leaders," said Chip Rogers, AHLA president and CEO. "The story of his success, from dishwasher to CEO of the world's largest hotel franchisor, is inspirational - as is his dedication to ensuring the success of future hotel leaders. I am lucky to call Geoff a colleague and friend, and it fills me with pride to honor him with this award."

NEWCRESTIMAGE AND HOSPITALITY Capital Partners have acquired 11 hotels in seven states with a total of 1,551 rooms in a joint venture. Al Calhoun and Mark Fair at CBRE in Atlanta handled the transaction. The properties are 10 Courtyards and one Residence Inn in Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia, according to NewcrestImage. Dallas-based NewcrestImage owns more than 70 hotels across the country with almost 8,000 rooms. Since its founding in 2013, the company has completed more than $3 billion in transactions involving almost 275 hotels with almost 30,000 hotel rooms in 130 communities across the country. "Our company has a strong appetite for solid investment opportunities," said Mehul Patel, NewcrestImage managing partner and CEO. "These properties and markets offer attractive potential for both profits and appreciation value." HCP and its principals Keith Mishkin and Primo Parmar have owned nearly 50 hotels in the western U.S., including The Saguaro Scottsdale in that Arizona city's historic Old Town area. Other projects include 25 golf courses through their associated company, Parks Legacy Project.

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."

DALLAS-BASED INVESTMENT firm NewcrestImage has acquired Cambria Hotel Southlake DFW in Southlake, Texas, the company said in a statement. The company took over operations at the 175-room upscale hotel and the management will be provided by Aimbridge Hospitality. In January, NewcrestImage and Aimbridge contracted for Aimbridge for management services and NewcrestImage became a minority shareholder in the management company. "The Cambria Hotel Southlake DFW is a vibrant, contemporary hotel strategically located to attract both business and leisure travelers. We look forward to taking the hotel to new levels of performance, both for guests and for our investors," said Mehul Patel, managing partner and CEO of NewcrestImage.

AAHOA MEMBERS RECENTLY testified in support of New Jersey Assembly Bill 1958, which would make changes to the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act that could benefit the hospitality industry. The association's support for specific parts of the bill is at the center of a division between AAHOA and two major hotel companies over franchise reform. On March 22, 30 AAHOA members attended a hearing of the New Jersey Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee during which the bill was passed out of the committee. Several of the members also testified, according to AAHOA. AAHOA members own 45.4 percent of New Jersey hotels, representing 46,124 rooms, the association said. "As the largest hotel owners association, representing the exclusive interests of America's hotel owners, AAHOA showed up in New Jersey to testify in support of amendments to the legislation to improve the franchise model," said Nishant "Neal" Patel, AAHOA chairman. Last May, a contingent of AAHOA members testified in favor of the bill in front of the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee, particularly the aspects of the bill that match AAHOA's 12 Points of Fair Franchising. Specifically, the franchise reform changes supported by AAHOA include restricting non-competes for longer than six months; prohibiting requiring a relocation or capital investment greater than $25,000 more than once every five years unless hotel franchisers can establish a return on the investment; requiring a franchiser that receives "any rebate, commission, kickback, services, other consideration or anything of value" to fully disclose them to the franchisee and turn them over to the franchisee; putting restrictions on mandatory sourcing of goods or resources; and prohibiting suspending, restricting or preventing access to franchise services.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE lender Stonehill is ranked as the 10th largest U.S. commercial real estate hotel lender by origination volume based on the 2021 Mortgage Bankers Association loan origination rankings. The ranking comes after the company originated $822 million in loans across 30 transactions in 2021 with an average transaction size of $27.4 million. Stonehill is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Peachtree Hotel Group, led by Jatin Desai and Mitul Patel, who are principals of Stonehill and Stonehill PACE, as well as members of the Stonehill's investment committee. MBA's annual originations rankings report is a comprehensive set of listings of 149 commercial/multifamily mortgage originators, their 2021 volumes, and their different roles. "We are honored to be ranked in the MBA's leading industry list," said Mat Crosswy, Stonehill's president and managing principal. "Our top-ten position is a testament to our commitment to understanding our sponsors' business plans and accomplishing the transactions on their financial deadlines. We have a terrific opportunity to grow further as the hospitality industry is in a sustained recovery cycle. Hotel owners are looking for thoughtful options with capital partners that understand the industry's nuances, particularly considering the impact of the pandemic on hotel operators."

BANYAN INVESTMENT GROUP recently acquired the Castle Hotel, part of the Autograph Collection by Marriott, in Orlando, Florida. The hotel recently underwent an $8.2 million renovation on its guestrooms, public spaces and exterior. The 213-room hotel is on Universal Boulevard near the city's key attractions, Disney's Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios, according to Atlanta-based Banyan, led by Rakesh Chauhan, managing partner and CEO. Also nearby is the site of Epic Universe, a 750-acre, $1 billion theme park expected to open in 2025, which will be the largest Universal Park in the U.S. and second largest globally. The Castle Hotel, which is designed to look like a medieval fortress, also is close to the 270-acre Lockheed Martin regional headquarters that employs 8,000 people. Also nearby are the Orlando International Airport, including the recently opened $2.8 billion, 15-gate international Terminal C, as well as the Orlando Convention Center. Brightline High Speed Rail plans to open two stations in the area.

BANYAN INVESTMENT GROUP recently sold its Kimpton Goodland Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida, to DiamondRock Hospitality Co. for $35.3 million. The sale is expected to bring a substantial return for investors in the Atlanta-based company, led by Andy Chopra as managing partner. The 96-room hotel is near Las Olas and Sebastian Street beach parks, Bonnet House Museum and Gardens, Sea Turtle OP Headquarters and multiple shops and eateries. Hotel amenities include an outdoor, heated pool, fitness center, loaner beach cruisers and beach items including boogie boards to folding chairs. F&B options include food and tiki-themed cocktails at Botanic at the Goodland or poolside drinks and snacks at the Good Bar. Originally the company was planning to hold the deal for a longer period, Chopra said. However, conditions changed to allow a deal that could generate a 49.4 percent internal rate of return for Banyan's investors.

DALLAS-BASED INVESTMENT firm NewcrestImage will acquire four LaQuinta-branded hotels in a joint venture between Highgate and Cerberus. The properties, with 696 rooms total, include the LaQuinta Inn & Suites at Los Angeles International Airport that is NewcrestImage's first gateway location in California. The company, led by Mehul Patel as managing partner and CEO, also has received the Partnership Circle Award from Marriott International, a statement said. NewcrestImage closed on the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Irving DFW North, located two miles from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, on July 14. It expects to close in August on the other three hotels, including the LaQuinta Inn & Suites LAX, as well as LaQuinta Inn & Suites Anaheim and LaQuinta Inn Phoenix North. "These properties are uniquely-positioned in strategic destination locations, making them very appealing as we structure a strong investment-based portfolio," Patel said. Mahmood Khimji, Highgate's managing principal, said the four hotels are "well-located and well-positioned." "We are excited to expand our activities with Mehul and the talented NewcrestImage team, along with our friends at Wyndham - all of whom share Highgate's commitment to delivering exceptional guest experiences and operational results," Khimji said.