Early Check-In

Blackstone and Starwood Capital's extra $180 million sweetens the pot for the planned Extended Stay America takeover, but this is no done deal. There is still a very loud opposing group of shareholders that could sway the vote this week.

Lifestyle hotels come in many forms, with some focused more on the hip and trendy while, others like Hilton see it as an opportunity to scale up more experiential and food-focused properties around the world. Long story short: we still don't have a textbook definition for what a lifestyle hotel actually is.

Building better roads and airports across the U.S. will help build hotel profits, but not everyone will see an infrastructure windfall. This is largely a boost to brands like Choice and Wyndham — already profitable and not facing the uncertain recovery hurdles that some competitors face with business travel.

Nobody is anticipating any major financial windfall news from Marriott this week, but shareholders still want to hear where future growth is coming from during an investor update. All-inclusive resorts and home rentals, relatively new divisions of the company, will certainly be on the list.

Hotel companies with a strong focus on leisure and drive-to properties are going to show the strongest development numbers this cycle, but don't expect a massive downturn in construction from even the more business-oriented brands. Real estate is a long-term play.

Leaving Las Vegas gives Las Vegas Sands more than $6 billion in capital to beef up non-gaming assets in markets like Singapore and Macau and potentially dip its toes in the uncharted gambling waters of Texas.

Major travel companies like Hilton Grand Vacations are pumping millions, if not billions, of dollars into the idea travelers favor the familiarity of a brand. If it pays off, the vacuum of boutique offerings will be the next travel investment opportunity.

The pace of hotel development in the Middle East has fallen for more than a year, but companies aren't shying away from introducing new brands to the region. If it can sustain its winter travel appeal — and that's a big if — expect the development pendulum to swing in a positive direction.

The pandemic shows just how futile it is to build a hotel just for the sake of an event like the Olympics. Real estate is a long-term play.

What distress? The $6 billion price tag on Extended Stay America is a result of its real estate and durable customer base. Period. That is why it is significantly outpacing the rest of the hotel industry during the pandemic.