Crestline Hotels Bulks Up

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

James Carroll, Crestline

Crestline Hotels & Resorts, L.L.C. has added 13 full, select, and extended stay hotels in eight states to its management portfolio, increasing its guestrooms by 1,493 to a company-wide total of more than 13,500 keys.

The 13 properties, owned by American Realty Capital Hospitality Trust, Inc., are situated throughout the U.S., from Nevada to South Carolina and are comprised of upper upscale and upscale hotels within the Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and IHG family of brands, including Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Hyatt Place, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Holiday Inn.

“These properties are a welcome addition to our managed portfolio, which continues to exhibit strong growth,” James Carroll, Crestline’s president & CEO, said in a prepared release. “We anticipate a seamless transition as our senior leaders work with each property’s employees to introduce our vision, values and best practices, while working to enhance excellence in guest service.”

the Baltimore Courtyard

The hotels added to the portfolio are Courtyard Chicago Elmhurst/Oakbrook Area; Hyatt Place Minneapolis Airport-South; Courtyard Jacksonville Airport Northeast; Residence Inn Jacksonville Airport; Hampton Inn Grand Rapids-North; SpringHill Suites Grand Rapids-North; Hampton Inn East Lansing; Hampton Inn Boston/Peabody; Homewood Suites by Hilton Boston-Peabody; Hampton Inn Champaign/Urbana; Hampton Inn & Suites Nashville/Franklin (Cool Springs); Hyatt Place Las Vegas; and  Holiday Inn Charleston – Mount Pleasant.

The relationship between the companies is nothing new. In fact, earlier this year, Crestline added 34 properties to its portfolio in conjunction with ARC Hospitality’s acquisition of the Equity Inns portfolio from Goldman Sachs.

“ARC Hospitality seeks to engage best-in-class management companies to operate its hotel portfolio,” Mark Fowler, ARC Hospitality’s vice president, said in a prepared statement. “We are excited about growing the number of Crestline-managed properties in our portfolio given their demonstrated asset management expertise and ability to drive RevPAR at their managed hotels.”

According to the March 2015 edition of PKF Hospitality Research’s Hotel Horizons, the U.S. lodging industry will continue to achieve very strong growth in RevPAR during both 2015 and 2016. The report further forecasts that the composition of the factors driving the RevPAR is starting to shift with record-setting occupancy yielding ground to growing average daily rates.

“In 2015, RevPAR growth will be achieved by healthy increases in both occupancy and ADR, similar to the pattern we have seen since 2011,” R. Mark Woodworth, senior managing director of PKF-HR, said in the report. “However, beginning in 2016, we are forecasting that ADR gains will be the dominant, if not sole, driver of RevPAR growth through 2019.”