SHELTON, CT— New Castle Hotels maintains it had a good year in 2004, with many of the 20 properties in its portfolio performing well and the company is hoping 2005 brings more of the same. “New England was especially good in 2004, we saw substantial growth in RevPAR at some properties,” according to Gerald Chase, president/COO. As an example, he cited the Courtyard by Marriott in Brookline, MA where RevPAR increased 34% over the previous year. There was also significant RevPAR improvement elsewhere, Chase added, noting that the Courtyard by Marriott in Somerset, NJ had a 16.6% increase compared to the previous year. Companywide, Chase reported that there was an 8% improvement in RevPAR for comparable properties; a 6% gain in ADR; and a 2.6% increase in occupancy. For the first two months of 2005, New Castle properties were showing a 16% improvement in RevPAR over last year, according to Chase. “The best two performers [for the first two months]were the Brookline (MA) Courtyard, which had a 46% improvement in RevPAR, and the Rochester (NY) Hampton Inn & Suites, with a 25% improvement,” he said. A few areas where New Castle operates are not showing the strength of properties in the Northeast, Chase noted. “In the Midwest [Marriott in Racine, WI] there has been a more gradual recovery” from the economic downturn, he said. Additionally, he pointed out that the SARS crisis negatively impacted Ontario, Canada. “That area was struggling, but it is now showing growth and we anticipate more improvement in ’05,” he said. New Castle operates the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario. On the whole, “the industry is growing at a nice pace and the investment community is very positive. It’s a good time to be in the hotel industry,” Chase said. So far this year, New Castle has picked up two new management contracts, one for a property in the Northeast and the other in Florida. Chase expected to announce the finalization of those deals in late March. “There has been more activity in RFPs in the last 60 days than during the last couple of years. We are being solicited by a number of owners for third-party management. These are individual properties acquired by funds or individuals who don’t have third-party management,” he said. Of the 20 properties currently in New Castle’s portfolio, seven are third-party management, four are 100% owned by New Castle, and nine are owned through joint ventures. Fourteen of the properties fly Marriott, Starwood or Hilton flags while six are independent. Chase expects the portfolio will grow by 20% this year. Along with the two new management contracts, “we are booting up several new projects, both new-builds and acquisitions, which we will own,” he said. Land has already been acquired for four new-builds, including two sites in New England and two in Canada, according to Chase, who said they will be Marriott, Hilton and Starwood-branded properties. “We will be breaking ground on three of those properties this year and one in ’06,” he said. New Castle is also looking for acquisitions on Florida’s east coast, Chase noted. “That market is growing,” he said. As far as number of acquisitions, “we anticipate acquiring one or two this year,” he said. He noted that if there was an opportunity to acquire a portfolio of properties, “it would be considered but we’re not really looking for that.” New Castle has a new executive in place to help it implement its growth plan. Lisa Blank was recently named vp, development. She previously held similar positions with Marriott and Lodgian.
