Jonathan Stanner, president & CEO of Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. (NYSE: INN), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2023 Investor Conference, held in New York June 6-8.
Stanner said that Summit Hotel Properties was “proud and honored” to be recognized by Hyatt Hotels Best Renovation award for the REIT’s renovation of the Hyatt Place across from the Universal Orlando Resort.
“We spent about $6 million [and] touched every inch of the building,” he said. “We did all the guest rooms, we did all the corridors, we did all of the public spaces. We even did the exterior of the building to create a better arrival experience.”
Stanner also spoke about Summit’s recent entry into glamping, which the REIT has been able to manage with limited staffing and a decrease in amenity and services costs.
“We’ve always been a believer in owning hotels with efficient operating models,” he said. “We believe that [a rooms/revenue driven model] drives higher risk-adjusted returns, and we think that glamping sits as a natural extension of that business.”
Turning to lodging trends at mid-year, Stanner said that the demand profile of Summit’s business has remained stable.
“We’re seeing more and more of our growth transfer from leisure-orientated markets to more urban/business/transient-orientated markets,” he said. “But we’ve very encouraged by what we’re seeing.”