Hotel owners in New York City signed the industry’s most expensive union contract, raising hourly wages by about 50% over eight years. Rising labor and other mounting expenses will push up hotel owners’ annual property operation costs by an estimated 15%.

The first quarter’s total hotel transaction volume of $5.6 billion was up 14.4 percent from Q1 2025, but down 47 percent since the cyclical peak in 2022. Single-asset transaction volume reached $5.4 billion, up 33 percent year over year, and five of those single assets sold for more than $100 million, up 24 percent in volume year over year.

Revenue per available room improved through March, but noted ongoing “bifurcation” with RevPAR at luxury hotels up 7.3 percent while economy hotels were down 2.1 percent. Nationally, RevPAR is holding at $96, up 3.8 percent year to date through March.

Many Airbnb hosts are experiencing soft demand for bookings for the World Cup, despite significant investments. In Philadelphia, 42% of short-term rentals are booked during the World Cup, with Boston being the only host city with more than half rented.

Sysco, the biggest U.S. food distributor to restaurants, hospitals and schools, struck a deal to acquire family-owned Jetro Restaurant Depot for roughly $29 billion, including debt. Under the terms of the acquisition, Jetro Restaurant Depot shareholders will receive $21.6 billion in cash and 91.5 million Sysco shares. A total deal value of $29.1 billion, including debt, represents a multiple of over 14-times Restaurant Depot’s operating income.

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.