Skip to content

Search

Latest Stories

Wyndham, sbe, launch ‘Project HQ’ smart lifestyle brand

The new brand targets young travelers who are looking for experience at affordable cost

Wyndham, sbe, launch ‘Project HQ’ smart lifestyle brand

WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS and lifestyle hospitality developer sbe launched a new soft brand during the American Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles last week. Temporarily dubbed “Project HQ Hotels & Residences,” the new brand aims to attract younger travelers looking for an experience.

Project HQ is meant to represent sbe’s “smart lifestyle” hotel category that is designed to draw in Millennial and Gen Z guests by providing memorable experiences at more affordable rates, according to Wyndham. The name is based on the idea that Project HQ hotels, which will be affiliated with Wyndham’s Registry Collection Hotels, will serve the guests’ headquarters in the heart of cities where they are located.


Project HQ hotels will include pre-approved FF&E packages, supply chain, technology integrations, OS&E packages and programming to monetize otherwise underutilized spaces of the property. Led by Sam Nazarian as chairperson, sbe provides F&B packages that include Casa Dani from Chef Dani García; MXO, a Mexican Steakhouse by Chef Wes Avila; and Katsuya by Chef Katsuya Uechi.

“What Sam has created here, and is creating, is just such a fresh take right now,” said Geoff Ballotti, Wyndham’s president and CEO. “We talked a lot about how our membership in Wyndham Rewards continues to become younger, our overall guest demographic and makeup continues to become younger. And they're looking for this type of experience and appealing to these millennials, these Gen Z travelers.”

Project HQ is sbe’s first hotel brand after the 2020 sale of its hospitality brand and management platform, which included more than 100 hotels, more than 150 restaurants and lounges and more than $4 billion of luxury residential sales. Nazarian said the process of determining what packages go in each hotel is a matter of collaboration with individual owners.

“When you have cuisine categories with some amazing culinary talent on the full-service side, that's powerful, because you can then populate generally. When there was just room for one legacy signature restaurant, we can put three, because we control the brands, and we control the execution and the kitchens and we can drive more experience. And then we can drive more revenue, with a much more reasonable ROI. That's kind of the model we have built for quite some time,” Nazarian said. “I think the things we've been focusing on continues to be on owners that really want this product and are willing to partner with us and both of us jumping into the deep end together with real data and real proven out brands. But also the ability of listening to our owners and seeing what's important to them.”

Sbe also will incorporate a smart lifestyle residential program in Project HQ, such as student housing, workforce housing and more. Entertainer Marc Anthony is a sbe equity partner through his company Magnus.

Wyndham and sbe plan to open 50 Project HQ hotels with approximately 7,500 rooms by 2030. About 50 percent of its properties stateside with 50 percent of openings internationally, and a mix of 80 percent conversion Projects and 20 percent ground up new construction.

Wyndham continues to resist an acquisition attempt by Choice Hotels International.

More for you

Peachtree Group loan
Photo credit: Peachtree Group

Peachtree backs $42M loan for AFC deal

Summary:

  • Peachtree provided a $42 million floating-rate loan to Banyan Street Capital for the acquisition and repositioning of Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead.
  • The deal delivers capital at a reset basis, with comps pricing 98 percent higher, reflecting strong collateral and execution.
  • It recently launched a $250 million fund to invest in hotel and commercial assets mispriced from market illiquidity.

PEACHTREE GROUP PROVIDED its first mortgage loan to Banyan Street Capital for the acquisition and repositioning of the 914,774-square-foot Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead, Georgia. Peachtree said the office sector is at an inflection point, similar to the retail segment previously.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s Proposed Visa Fee Threatens Seasonal Hospitality Workforce

Report: Trump visa fee sparks summer staffing fears

Summary:

  • Trump’s proposed $250 Visa Integrity Fee faces pushback from groups relying on seasonal J-1 workers from Latin America and Asia.
  • J-1 visa holders often work as housekeepers, amusement park staff, and lifeguards from pre-season through Labor Day; more than 300,000 use the visa annually.
  • DHS and the State Department have not clarified how the fee will be implemented or who qualifies for a refund.

A $250 VISA Integrity Fee in President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is drawing criticism from groups that rely on seasonal workers from Latin America and Asia on J-1 and other visas, Newsweek reported. The organizations warn the cost, though sometimes refundable, could reduce the summer workforce that supports U.S. beach towns and resorts.

Keep ReadingShow less
Wyndham & Grubhub Offer Free Delivery to Guests & Staff

Wyndham, Grubhub offer free delivery to guests, staff

Summary:

  • Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is partnering with Grubhub to offer free product delivery to guests and staff at nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels across 20 brands.
  • A Grubhub account is required to activate the complimentary Grubhub+ membership; no credit card is needed and the membership does not auto-renew.
  • Wyndham recently deployed Elavon’s cloud payments interface to more than 6,000 U.S. and Canadian franchisees.

WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS and Grubhub, an online ordering and delivery platform, will offer item delivery to guests and staff with no delivery fees and other benefits. The service is available at nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels across 20 brands, with orders placed through the Grubhub app on-site or by scanning a hotel QR code.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Hotel Construction Hits 20-Quarter Low in June

CoStar: Hotel construction drops in June

Summary:

  • U.S. hotel rooms under construction fell year over year for the sixth straight month in June, hitting a 20-quarter low, CoStar reported.
  • About 138,922 rooms were under construction, down 11.9 percent from June 2024; the luxury segment had 6,443 rooms, up 4.1 percent year over year.
  • Lodging Econometrics recently said Dallas led all U.S. markets in hotel construction pipelines at the end of the first quarter, with 203 projects and 24,496 rooms.

THE NUMBER OF U.S. hotel rooms under construction declined year over year for the sixth straight month in June, reaching a 20-quarter low, according to CoStar. Additionally, more than half of all rooms under development are in the South, mostly outside the top 25 markets.

Keep ReadingShow less
G6 Hospitality Launches 24/7 Guest Support From August 1
Photo credit: G6 Hospitality

G6 launching 24x7 guest support on Aug. 1

Summary:

  • G6 Hospitality will launch 24x7 guest support on Aug. 1, expanding the current 18-hour window.
  • Escalations from phone, email and social media will be handled promptly by trained staff.
  • The service supports G6’s tech and service investments, including the AI-powered My6 app.

G6 HOSPITALITY, PARENT of Motel 6 and Studio 6, will launch a 24x7 customer support service for guests starting Aug. 1. The service extends the previous 18-hour window to full-day availability via phone, email and social media.

Keep ReadingShow less