2026/04/13 – 2026/04/26
Korea
- Hotel Lotte Pursues Financing for Lotte New York Palace Land Acquisition: Hotel Lotte is pursuing approximately KRW 450 billion in external borrowing to fund the acquisition of land underlying the Lotte New York Palace, a luxury hotel in New York City. The company had originally planned to use proceeds from the sale of Lotte Rental, but the deal collapsed following the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s prohibition on the business combination, and a sharp rise in the KRW-USD exchange rate prompted Hotel Lotte to revise its funding structure to expand external borrowing to more than half of the total. The land purchase price is approximately USD 490 million, and combined with a capital increase at the U.S. subsidiary, the company plans to raise total funding of USD 550 million. Meritz Securities is reportedly reviewing the deal.
- Series by Marriott Brand Begins Korean Market Entry in Earnest: Marriott International is accelerating the Korean market entry of its new Series by Marriott brand with the April opening of its Seoul Jongno property. UH Series by Marriott Seoul Jongno Hotel targets domestic and international tourist demand by leveraging its proximity to Seoul’s tourism core, including Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbokgung Palace, and its adjacent location to Cheonggyecheon. In addition, two existing properties—Aneuk Hotel Incheon Guwol in Guwol-dong, Incheon, and Aneuk Signature Hotel Seoul Guro in Guro, Seoul—will be rebranded under the Series by Marriott banner, with renovation works expected to be completed and operations to commence within the first half of the year.
APAC
- Hoshino REIT Divests Sol Vita Hotel Naha in Okinawa: Japan’s Hoshino Resorts REIT has agreed to sell the 200-room Sol Vita Hotel Naha, located in the Matsuyama district of Naha City, Okinawa, to Japanese real estate developer Samty for JPY 4.65 billion. The transaction reflects a price of approximately JPY 23.3 million per key. The eight-story asset, which opened in 2007, is a five-minute walk from Miebashi Station on the Okinawa Urban Monorail and is adjacent to major tourist destinations including Kokusai Street and Tomari Port. Amid an ongoing trend in the Japanese REIT sector of divesting non-core regional assets and reallocating capital toward core holdings, this transaction is regarded as a representative example of the pattern.
- Ascott Signs 7,300 Keys Across Southeast Asia in 2025: Ascott, the lodging operating subsidiary of CapitaLand, announced on April 20 that it signed more than 7,300 new keys across Southeast Asia in 2025, representing a 55% increase from 4,700 keys the previous year and marking a record performance. The result places Ascott among the top three in Southeast Asia for new signings according to Horwath HTL data. The 1,165-key Ascott Tay Ho Hanoi is scheduled for completion in 2027 in Hanoi’s Tay Ho district, while coastal resort development projects in Vietnam, including HARRIS Resort Cam Ranh in Cam Ranh, are also moving forward. The activity signals strengthening conviction by global hospitality capital toward Southeast Asia’s resort market.
Americas
- Brickell Property Reopens as Luxury Collection Hotel in Miami: Hotel AKA Brickell, located in downtown Miami and owned by HEI, officially debuted on April 14 as Brickell Arch, Luxury Collection Hotel Miami following a comprehensive repositioning. The 201-key property has joined Marriott’s Luxury Collection brand and has been integrated into the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty system. Interior design was led by New York-based Gabellini Sheppard, and the hotel targets select luxury demand in the core of Miami’s financial district. The conversion is interpreted as part of Marriott’s broader push to accelerate the penetration of its Luxury Collection lineup across key U.S. cities through an asset-light model.
- Mandarin Oriental Miami Redevelopment Underway: Swire Properties initiated the first phase of a USD 1 billion luxury mixed-use development on April 12 by demolishing the 23-story Mandarin Oriental, Miami in Brickell Key via controlled implosion. The hotel, which had operated for 25 years since opening in 1999, will be redeveloped as The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami. The project comprises a 34-story North Tower housing the 121-key Mandarin Oriental North American flagship hotel and 28 Hotel Collection Residences, alongside a 66-story South Tower containing 228 luxury condominiums. As of April, presales have surpassed USD 1.3 billion, with groundbreaking targeted for late 2026 and completion in 2030.
Europe
- Capital Concentrates in European Gateway Hotel Markets: Hotel transactions exceeding EUR 500 million were closed in a single week, reaffirming the firm momentum of the European hotel investment market. French investment firm Covivio acquired four 4-star hotels in Milan, Italy, totaling 900 keys, from Invest Hospitality for EUR 217 million via a sale-and-leaseback structure, with an expected yield of approximately 7% over the 21-year lease term, including revenue-linked rent. Manchester-based MCR Properties acquired four boutique hotels in London’s Kensington and Chelsea for GBP 123 million, while Morgan Stanley’s Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel was sold to Luxembourg-based Batipart, further driving deal flow.
- U.S.-Iran War Emerges as Variable in European Hotel Market: The European hotel investment market in 2025 demonstrated resilience, recording 267 transactions totaling approximately EUR 14.6 billion and maintaining quarterly capital deployment exceeding EUR 3.4 billion despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. However, entering 2026, the U.S.-Iran conflict has emerged as a new variable, with luxury demand bound for the Middle East increasingly redirected toward European gateway cities such as London and Paris. Following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, Dubai’s occupancy fell to 22.8% as of March 14, 2026—the lowest level since the early days of the pandemic—while the Paris luxury and upper-upscale segment posted a sharp uplift in RevPAR, supported by Middle Eastern demand inflows and the dispersion effect of the Winter Olympics.
