Dive Brief:
- Global investment firm Certares, along with hotel management and investment company HHM Hotels, acquired the 246-key Carté Hotel San Diego Downtown in San Diego, the companies announced jointly. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- The lifestyle property, under Hilton’s expanding Curio Collection brand of upscale independent hotels, is located in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood.
- With the acquisition, Certares and HHM Hotels strengthen their portfolios in San Diego, a high-growth market, according to Nolan Hecht, senior managing director at Certares.
Dive Insight:
Certares and HHM Hotels acquired Carté Hotel San Diego Downtown from Carté Hotel Partners, which will reinvest in the new ownership entity, the companies shared.
Originally built in 2019, the Curio Collection hotel features oversized guest rooms as well as “curated experiences” for guests, according to HHM Hotels President and CEO Naveen Kakarla. Amenities include a rooftop bar and lounge, an outdoor pool deck, a lobby restaurant and a 25,000-square-foot athletic club.
“We are excited to add one of the top lodging assets in the Downtown San Diego market to our growing portfolio,” Certares’ Hecht said in a statement. “This transaction is consistent with our strategy to acquire high quality experiential real estate in growing major markets.”
San Diego is set to see strong hotel performance growth in 2024, with occupancy, ADR and RevPAR all increasing year over year, according to a Marcus & Millichap market report. The commercial real estate firm forecasted that the metro area will represent one of just three major U.S. markets in 2024 where occupancy will surpass its 2019 levels.
A full schedule of cruise ship calls and conventions, as well as attractions like the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld and Legoland, will fuel a “healthy level of tourism” in 2024, Marcus & Millichap predict. And beyond this year, a rise in large-scale meetings could drive hotel demand, the firm noted.
In May, Cvent named San Diego as one of the top five meetings destinations in North America out of 50 markets.
With the Carté Hotel buy, Certares and HHM Hotels build on their existing San Diego presence, including the 245-room Courtyard San Diego Downtown, which they also jointly own.
Other hotel players investing in San Diego include global lifestyle brand Margaritaville, which opened its first city-center location in the market last year. Blackstone Real Estate, meanwhile, is working on a multimillion-dollar renovation of San Diego’s historic Hotel del Coronado.
