Thomas Pritzker, the billionaire scion to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, who has served as executive chairman of the company board since 2004, resigned from the role effective immediately over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
The Chinese owners of the famed Waldorf Astoria in New York City are preparing to put the hotel up for sale, only months after it reopened following a multibillion-dollar, much-delayed overhaul. The Waldorf’s transformation was completed last year about five years behind schedule and more than $1 billion over budget. Developers and real-estate executives say it was likely the most expensive real estate conversion ever attempted in the U.S.
U.S. Hotel investment in 2025 transaction volume climbed 17.5 percent year over year to reach $24 billion. The uptick in activity was driven by private equity activity and strengthening debt markets.
Among all U.S. markets, New York City and Phoenix are set to open the most hotel rooms in 2026. Top markets by projected 2026 room openings are: New York City with 4,852 rooms, Phoenix with 3,650 rooms, Dallas with 3,558 rooms, Orlando with 1,988 rooms, Miami with 1,954 rooms.
Leaders of the Maasai ethnic group in Narok, Kenya are seeking a court order to demolish a new Ritz-Carlton luxury safari camp they say blocks a key route of the famous Serengeti migration.
Blackstone is set to acquire the 277-room Four Seasons hotel in downtown San Francisco for approximately $130 million.
The average daily room rate at a U.S. luxury hotel is a record high at $394 this year. It is also $168 more than the average cost for a room in the next-priciest tier. The divide has been widening since 2008, when the difference was $60, but it has grown sharply in recent years to its largest ever.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) estimates that the government shutdown costs the economy $31 million in lost activity that would have been generated by hotel stays. As of last week, the AHLA estimated that the hotel industry had already lost $650 million in business.
The total cost of the Waldorf acquisition and makeover came to about $6 billion, including the purchase price and eight years of lost revenue while the hotel was closed but the owners were still paying property taxes and insurance. Much of it was covered by the Chinese government.
Among hotel properties with commercial mortgage-backed securities debt, the delinquency rate was 6.59% in July — up slightly from the 6.17% posted within the sector in July 2024 but still lower than the 6.9% delinquency rate recorded among retail properties in July 2025 and 11.04% within office real estate that same month.
