Dive Brief:
- French hotel company B&B Hotels launched its U.S. expansion with the opening of its first American property in Orlando, Florida, the company announced Monday.
- The 218-room hotel near the Universal Studios theme park will be followed by additional U.S. hotels in Miami and Jacksonville, Florida.
- The Orlando opening marks the beginning of B&B Hotels’ planned U.S. expansion. The midscale brand currently operates more than 770 hotels globally and hopes to grow its portfolio to 3,000 properties in the next decade.
Dive Insight:
Valerio Duchini, B&B Hotels’ U.S. CEO, called the Orlando opening “just the beginning.”
“We are eager to replicate our success in Europe and become a leading player in the U.S. market,” he said in the statement.
B&B Hotels describes itself as “Europe’s fastest growing midscale hotel brand.” In 2023, the brand added 170 hotels and achieved a revenue of $1.3 billion, according to the announcement.
The company, founded in Brest, France, now has a presence in 17 countries. B&B Hotels both rebrands existing properties and constructs new ones.
The company’s asset-light business model is intended to offer “lucrative opportunities for real estate investment partners,” according to the release. B&B Hotels’ partner for the Orlando hotel was Batipart, a private equity firm based in Luxembourg, which plans to renovate the hotel to further enhance the guest experience.
Midscale brands are in the spotlight of late, with Marriott’s CEO touting a new U.S. midscale brand in a recent earnings call. The company’s midscale extended stay brand, StudioRes, broke ground on its first property, also in Florida, last month. Meanwhile, IHG Hotels & Resorts is rapidly expanding its midscale conversion brand Garner.
Hotel company Sonder is also in the midst of a Florida expansion.
