Walton Street Capital, New Castle Hotels & Resorts Buy Downtown Hotels

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Orleans

As Mardi Gras continues to rage on in New Orleans, the city’s hospitality market is also having a blast, outpacing the national occupancy and RevPar average. Hot on the heels of The Blackstone Group’s $76 million, three-hotel deal, Walton Street Capital dropped $85.3 million on the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Orleans. According to Canal Street Beat, the $232,000-per-key deal included $72.8 million in loans from Starwood Property Mortgage. The 367-key hotel was picked up from Canal Street Property LLC, an entity affiliated with local hotel management firm Expotel Hospitality.

Located at 300 Canal St., the 17-story hotel features 16,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including a 5,000-square-foot ballroom; a 24-hour business center; a heated outdoor pool; a fitness room; the WoW Café sports bar and lounge; and the PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans coffee shop.

As previously reported, Walton Street Capital recently purchased a DoubleTree-branded hotel in Nashville for $70 million.

Comfort Inn & Suites Downtown

In other hospitality news, New Castle Hotels & Resorts also made a New Orleans hotel acquisition, purchasing the 103-key Comfort Inn & Suites Downtown for $9 million. Private equity firm Rockbridge provided financing for the acquisition.

The Baronne Street hotel will undergo a $10 million renovation, opening in time for the 2016 French Quarter Festival. Currently, the hotel features a fitness facility, a business center and the Voodoo Too cocktail lounge.

New Orleans’ hospitality market also caught the eye of Marriott International. The hotel giant recently announced that it will launch its European Moxy Hotels brand in the U.S. with eight projects in New Orleans, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago.

Click here for further New Orleans market data.

Image courtesy of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Orleans via Facebook and New Castle Hotels & Resorts