Affordable Hotels In Carolina Beach|"Hotels Swell In Manhattan"

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Category        :    Affordable Hotels In Carolina Beach
By                  :     CRAIG KARMIN
Posted By     :    Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Affordable Hotels In Carolina Beach

New York is experiencing its biggest hotel expansion in a generation, attracting a host of new brands and developers betting that the good times will continue. But the race to build or convert dusty properties into modern lodgings already has sparked a debate about whether the additional rooms can be absorbed without putting downward pressure on hotel-room rates by next year.The number of hotel rooms in Manhattan is expected to rise about 10% to more than 90,000 by the end of 2014, says Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which tracks hotel projects planned and under way. Manhattan's expected lodging growth tops the U.S. by a wide stretch and is more than double the rate of the next fastest-growing major markets, Miami and Washington, according to forecasts from Lodging Econometrics.

The surge in new Manhattan properties—ranging from luxury names such as the SLS Hotel New York to limited-service brands like Best Western—is part of a broad revival in the hospitality industry. It also reflects New York's pull as a global business center and tourism mecca that is recovering from the economic downturn faster than most cities. While many luxury retail companies are willing to pay among the world's highest rents for a prime spot on Fifth Avenue, hotel companies view landing a Manhattan showpiece as important for promoting themselves, lodging analysts say. Hyatt Hotels Corp. H -0.84% and a partner, for example, are spending about $375 million for New York's first Park Hyatt, the company's top-of-the-line brand. It is slated to open in 2014 in the lower 20 floors of a luxury Midtown condominium across the street from Carnegie Hall. "That location will help grow the Park Hyatt brand and enable the company to get more hotel management contracts over the next 20 years," says Ryan Meliker, a hotel analyst for MLV & Co.

New York attracted more than 52 million visitors last year, and the city's tourism office is projecting an increase to 55 million by 2015. The average hotel occupancy rate this year through August was around 84%, which is above precrisis peak levels, according to Smith Travel Research. Daily room rates also continued to rebound, averaging $238 in the eight-month period, a 4% rise from the same period last year. Richard Born, principal of BD Hotels, which owns and operates 25 hotels in New York, says he likes the city's long-term prospects but worries that the wave of new supply could put a damper on the market. He sees occupancy falling beginning next year because hotel supply is expanding 6% to 8% a year, while city tourism is rising at a slower rate of around 4% to 5%.

"That could put downward pressure on daily rates or cause new hotel construction to slow," he says. Others are more optimistic. Mr. Meliker says that a better gauge for hospitality is the city's employment growth, which continues to look positive and will drive more business travel, he says. That means room rates can continue to climb even if occupancy stays the same, Mr. Meliker adds. A number of projects are joining the Park Hyatt on or around Manhattan's 57th Street, creating a burgeoning hotel row within sight of Central Park. The area, which sprouted hotels 50 years ago ahead of the city's 1964 World's Fair exhibition, is witnessing its biggest replenishment in decades. Barry Sternlicht, who created the boutique W Hotel brand for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, HOT -0.08% is developing two new hotel brands near 57th Street for his real-estate investment firm Starwood Capital: the five-star hotel and luxury condo Baccarat Hotel & Residences and 1 Hotel, which he says is a more energy-efficient hotel.

The 1929 Buckingham Hotel has been completely made over as a 208-room luxury hotel called the Quin. Developed by Alan Kanders, a former Lehman Brothers managing director in the hotel group, the Quin opens next month with a rotating program featuring contemporary artists. In an unusual move, the 240-room Viceroy New York changed hands last month only weeks before its opening this Wednesday. A real-estate investment trust agreed to pay $148.5 million to ARK Partners for the hotel. "We wanted to be on 57th Street," says Nicholas Schorsch, chief executive of American Realty Capital, ARCP -0.41% which sponsored the REIT that bought the hotel. Despite the attention on new luxury projects, much of Manhattan's hotel growth is coming from more-modest, limited-service hotels that have been popping up in the city after years of skewing to the suburbs. Brands include Hilton Garden Inn and Courtyard by Marriott. "We haven't seen this much supply of select-service hotels in the past," says Jeffrey Davis, a hotel broker for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

Source : online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304441404579121911381744056.html