Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Who Will Buy These 564 Airport Adjacent Hotel Rooms?

Starwood Hotels plans to sell off Aloft, the Sheraton Suites, and the Four Points, three hotel properties right next door to Philadelphia International Airport. Reps from the chain say it's not an indicator of poor performance, but part of the Starwood chain's overall "asset light" strategy.
Market trends or misdirection?
The sale of these hotels comes in addition to the recent announcement that the Downtown Marriot is also up for sale. Though sources interviewed in a Philly.com article explained the glut of large hotels on the market as related to "a reflection of improvements in the credit markets, where lending continues to become more available for hotel purchases", one wonders if these sales have anything to do with the Pennsylvania Convention Center's declining fortunes.
The sale of the airport hotels may be exactly what Starwood says it is: an attempt to pursue a strategy they've been attempting to implement for eight years. However, the massive all-at-once dump strategy is strange at best, and could be indicative of problems for the three airport hotels. 

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