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San Francisco hotel owner stops Hilton and Parc 55 loan payments
Since Covid, San Francisco has been struggling with a surge in petty crime and homelessness, possibly to do with the very lenient laws introduced. Park Hotels and Resorts, a real estate company, said that it had stopped paying back a $725 million loan on its main San Francisco hotel properties and will probably give two of the largest hotels in the city back to its lender.
The two hotels include the city’s largest, the Hilton San Francisco Union Square—as well as its fourth-largest hotel—the Parc 55 San Francisco. This is not a good sign for tourism in the city.
Alan Reay, president of hotel consulting firm Atlas Hospitality Group, said some hotels are facing high vacancies compared to pre-Covid occupancy rates. This is probably due to the number of businesses that have left the area leaving many office buildings vacant.
“You tend to see issues, particularly in large, full-service hotels that have been focused on the business and commercial side of the business, like those focused on meetings and conventions,” Reay said.
However, out of the city in places such as Napa, Sonoma and Monterey, smaller more leisure-focused hotels are doing great business.
The fear now is that there will be a domino effect resulting in further problems.
In a statement, Park Hotels said it plans to “materially reduce our current exposure” to the San Francisco market. Park Hotels also owns the 344-room JW Marriott Union Square and the 316-room Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf.
Alex Bastian, President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco said that the Hilton Union Square and Parc 55 “are open for business and will stay open for business.”
“It is not uncommon for hotel ownership to change. While the timing of this may appear less than ideal, we fully expect new ownership to come forth,” Bastian said.
For the moment, it is business as usual with the hotels remaining open, but obviously, a change of owner could mean they don’t stay within the Hilton group potentially.
Good buy Avios bonus – 60% with Qatar Privilege Club
Even if you only collect Avios with BA, this offer is still relevant as you can easily transfer Avios instantly between accounts.
The Qatar offer is for 4 days only, during which you can collect up to 60% bonus Avios. All you need to do is complete your purchase between 19 and 22 June 2023.
I’d make sure you link your BA and Qatar accounts first, just to make sure there are no issues, before you buy any if you plan to transfer them.
It’s also worth considering the new Boost your Avios feature, which would give you only slightly less Avios for the money but saves transferring them. You can find the details here.
Hyatt Double Points Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia Pacific
Hyatt has launched a new offer for stays in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific between 1 July – 15 September 2023. You need to register by 31 July for the offer.
World of Hyatt members can earn double points but you only get them starting on your second stay during the offer period. You can earn a maximum of 25,000 bonus points.
The good news is that the offer also applies to Small Luxury Hotels stays and Lindblad expeditions in the same areas.
You can register on Hyatt’s website here.
4 comments
Hi. With regards the 60% qatar Avios sale – if you max out the 400k Avios it’s 4750€ (I can’t see GBP pricing but £4054 if converted), = 1.01p per Avios. If you max out the boost your Avios feature using x3 rates, in a recent personal example I paid £42.18 for 5043 (incl. current 10% bonus). That’s 0.84p per Avios. How does the Avios boost “give you slightly less for your money”. Notwithstanding for the 400k comparison you’d need to have earnt significant Avios in the last 30 days to multiply so high – and if you go above a certain figure with the booster the rate does get worse. Is the direct GBP pricing from qatar for buying Avios much better than in EUR, making it better pricing than the booster, as per the article? Thanks
The news from San Francisco is unsurprising. When I travelled across the US last year I flew into NY and had my inbound flight from SFO, when the California Zephyr arrived in Emeryville I went straight to the hotel next to Oakland airport and flew to LV on JSX the next morning. When I got back in SF after LV I did the minimum one night before flying home. If SF hadn’t become such a hole I may have spent a week there and cut down the time in LV. To be honest I have no sympathy for the people of SF, they love to virtue signal and now the chickens have come home to roost. They deserve all of this. I hope every shop closes, and every street is even more covered in the smelly brown stuff.
Annoyingly you need 1000 Avios in your Qatar privilege account to even see the rates and I’m loathe to transfer in 1000 just to be able to access a webpage to view the sale.
I’ve transferred back and forth a few times and had no issues. It’s been instant. The only problem I’ve heard is people not being able to link their accounts in the first place.
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