NATIONAL REPORT— With hotel valuations higher than ever and new construction still not getting off the ground despite a period of sustained growth for the industry, many hotel owners have maintained or even pruned their hotel portfolios in the hopes of boosting their bottom line.
More than ever, hotel owners are refining their portfolios, in many cases trading up to upscale or upper-upscale hotels either through renovations or acquisitions in an effort to take advantage of increasing RevPAR levels and higher profits.
To further illustrate the fact that many hotel owners were not significantly adding to their portfolios in 2004, the top 10 owners in the HOTEL BUSINESS® Top Owners & Developers survey were identical to last year’s and in the same order as well.
In fact, the top three, respectively, Host Marriott, FelCor Lodging Trust and Hospitality Properties Trust, all saw their number of rooms decline in 2004 as compared to 2003. Host Marriott’s total number of rooms dropped from 56,931 to 54,689. FelCor’s total dipped even more significantly from 45,742 to 41,031 and Hospitality Properties Trust had its rooms scaled back from 38,584 to 34,489.
The next three in the Top 10 however, CNL Hotels & Resorts, Westmont Hospitality Group and Tharaldson Companies, respectively, did experience a slight increase in total rooms against 2003. For example, CNL went from 28,008 room in 2003 to 31,677 in 2004. Westmont saw its total jump from 28,027 to 30,000, and Tharaldson’s room count climbed from 24,821 to 25,813.
Rounding out the top 10, MeriStar Hospitality Corporation experienced a sharp decline in rooms from 24,733 to 20,319 and Columbia Sussex gained rooms from 19,480 to 20,129.
Lodgian Inc, saw its room count drop from 18,164 to 16,194 and John Q. Hammons rounded out the top 10, with 14,290, up slightly from 14,150 from 2003.
The top 10 in this year’s listing accounted for 292,631 rooms as compared to 297,673 in 2003. In addition, the top 10 had a total of 1,621 hotels open compared to just 1,497 in 2004.
When ranked by number of hotels, as opposed to rooms, the top 10 gets turned around significantly with Tharaldson leading the way with 348 hotels, albeit down slightly from its 358 in 2003. Hospitality Properties Trust had some 285 properties, up from 272 last year, and Westmont Hospitality Group had 200, down from 209 in 2003. Host Marriott, which was number one on the list by rooms, actually ranked seventh in terms of hotels with 107.
Noble House Hotels & Resorts, which ranked 100 on the list, actually led the way in terms of RevPAR, with $148.14. Noble was followed by Great Wolf Resorts, which generated a RevPAR of $136.04. Next in line were Tishman Realty at $123.26 and CNL Hotels & Resorts at $122.34.
