Hyatt closes $2B sale of Playa assets
CHICAGO — As expected, Hyatt Hotels Corp. has completed its sale of the real estate portfolio it previously acquired from Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. to Tortuga Resorts for $2 billion.
The closing, announced on December 30, includes 14 all-inclusive resort assets in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. The sale was initially announced in late June to the joint venture between an affiliate of Denver-based KSL Capital Partners and a Mexican family office called Rodin. Hyatt can earn up to an additional $143 million in earnouts if certain operating thresholds are met, and it has retained $200 million of preferred equity in Tortuga in connection with the transaction.
The real estate portfolio initially included 15 properties, but Hyatt previously disclosed during its third-quarter earnings that it sold one of those properties, Playa del Carmen in Mexico, to an undisclosed third-party buyer on September 18 for $22 million.
The closing of this transaction means Hyatt was able to achieve a fully asset-light transaction of its $2.6 billion acquisition of Playa Hotels & Resorts earlier this year. Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay the delayed draw term loan that funded a portion of the Playa acquisition. Hyatt expects pro forma net leverage to remain consistent with thresholds necessary to maintain its credit profile.
In addition, Hyatt and Tortuga have entered into 50-year management agreements for 13 of the 14 properties in the portfolio. The remaining property is subject to a separate contractual arrangement.
As a result of damage from Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, seven Hyatt properties in Jamaica (including four in this transaction, the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall, Dreams Rose Hall Resort & Spa and Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort & Spa) are expected to remain closed until the fourth quarter of 2026.
Hyatt’s acquisition of Playa dramatically expanded its all-inclusive portfolio in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. On June 16, it was reported that six of the seven Playa-owned hotels that did not previously carry a Hyatt flag were rebranded to Hyatt or Apple Leisure Group (which Hyatt acquired in 2021) brands. Hilton lost four flags in the rebranding, and Wyndham lost one. One resort, the 238-key Wyndham Alltra Playa del Carmen in Mexico, has remained under Wyndham’s flag.
Analyst C. Patrick Scholes of Truist Securities told Hotel Investment Today in June that the real estate sales themselves don’t represent a massive upside; completing them by the end of 2025 removes several downside risks for Hyatt stock, especially as it continues to tout its growth as an asset-light company.
“While we/investors assumed Hyatt had long been engaged in discussions for divesting the [Playa] assets, there was, of course, no certainty that Hyatt could sell the assets, particularly in a time of macro volatility,” he said at the time.
Analyst Michael Bellisario told HIT in June that the primary motivation of this deal was for Hyatt to flip the below-market franchise agreement to a market value and allow the company to charge a higher per-room management agreement while also extending the contracts, especially for the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara properties, which are roughly 70% to 75% of the revenues, fees and EBITDA for Playa.
“This closing is the culmination of a transformative transaction for Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection,” said Javier Águila, president, Inclusive Collection, Hyatt. “Throughout this process, we’ve seen strong cultural alignment grounded in care between Playa and Hyatt, which has been key to achieving this milestone.”
“The completion of this transaction marks a defining moment, establishing Tortuga as a scaled, leading platform in luxury beachfront hospitality across Mexico and the Caribbean,” said Leo Schlesinger, who was recently named CEO of Tortuga. “We are excited to deepen our partnership with Hyatt and to work closely with our brand partners, property teams and investors to unlock new opportunities for growth.”
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PHOENIX — Nashville-based REIT Ryman Hospitality Properties has signed an agreement to purchase the 950-key JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Arizona from Honolulu-based Trinity Investments for $865 million, one of the largest hotel transactions so far in 2025. “The JW Marriott Desert Ridge has been one of our top acquisition targets for many years. Given the limited availability of marquee group-focused assets that complement our existing portfolio and group strategy, we are thrilled to acquire this resort,” said Mark Fioravanti, president and CEO of Ryman. “Considering the strength of our forward bookings, the durable nature of our group business model and our early success with the 2023 acquisition of the JW Marriott Hill Country, we believe this is the right transaction for creating long-term customer and shareholder value.”
Trinity purchased the property for $602 million in 2019 and in 2023 put nearly $100 million in capital investments into the resort, including renovating its rooms, lobby, adding a new water complex and reimagining its F&B outlets. The resort will continue to operate under the JW Marriott flag.
According to Ryman, the purchase price represents a 12.7x adjusted EBITDAre multiple on the resort’s 2024 results. The property’s 2025 results are expected to be impacted by construction disruption related to a meeting space renovation currently underway and ongoing through the third quarter of this year. Ryman said it expects the acquisition of the property to be accretive to adjusted funds from operations per fully diluted share for 2026.
The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. Fioravanti said the resort has no new competitive supply under development.
“Furthermore, consistent with previous investments, we look forward to pursuing both near and long-term value creation opportunities at this property, which over time we believe will further improve the customer value proposition and enhance shareholder returns.”
The resort sits on approximately 402 acres of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and has approximately 243,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space.
Analysis of the deal
Analyst Patrick Scholes of Truist Securities said the balance of acquisition costs is expected to be funded with cash on hand and debt, possibly including the REIT’s revolving credit facility. He also said the resort is a natural progression from Ryman’s initial success of acquiring the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country in Texas in 2023.
“We are not terribly surprised that [Ryman] is acquiring a resort in the greater Phoenix area, as they have suggested in the past they would like to own in this region,” he said. “This continues to diversify [Ryman] geographically as its first hotel in the Southwest.”
Scholes said the resort is a “very rational addition” but with one caveat.
“One big wrinkle… regarding this acquisition and timing is where we are in the lodging cycle — with macro downside risks/uncertainty not just to leisure demand but also group,” he said. “[Ryman] defended its views, but we maintain some caution as to why purchase now. We question if investor and analyst attention may end up focusing more on this acquisition and less on fundamentals for the other properties, particularly as Desert Ridge should have very easy group comps in 2026.”
Scholes said Ryman views the acquisition as solid and has strong competitive advantages during short-term market dislocation.
Why CitizenM sold out to Marriott, and what's next
INTERNATIONAL REPORT – Being asset-heavy and newbuild-focused proved unfavorable for citizenM when the 2019 pandemic struck and seems to have been a key factor behind the sale of the brand to Marriott International, which is expected to close this year.
“As we continue to operate in a challenging macroeconomic environment, the company faced headwinds as we pursued ground-up developments,” Robin Chadha, son of founder Rattan Chadha and co-founder/chief brand officer of citizenM, told Hotel Investment Today. “citizenM originally sought to secure additional growth capital and instead explored an alternative investment structure [with Marriott].”
In 2021, when citizenM had around 24 open hotels, existing shareholders Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, Dutch pension fund manager APG Asset Management and Founder Rattan Chadha reportedly raised $1 billion to add new hotels, complete existing ones and replace revenue lost due to COVID-19. The brand expanded to the current 36 operating hotels, plus three others under construction scheduled to open by mid-2026, giving it more than 9,100 rooms.
But issues such as rising labor costs in markets such as the U.S., along with supply chain constrictions and higher construction prices, appeared to hit home, even though citizenM uses modular construction for guest rooms. Moreover, many citizenM hotels were built entirely from ground up rather than less expensive conversions.
By last March, the chain started exploring a sale of the business, with Morgan Stanley and Eastdil Secured as financial advisors.
Alternative investment structure
The alternative investment structure with Marriott enables the seller to continue managing the 39 owned or leased assets under long-term franchise agreements with Marriott. It also promises the seller to earn up to $110 million more if the brand grows and does well over the next few years, on top of the $355 million Marriott is paying to acquire the brand and related intellectual property.
As well, Marriott’s distribution capabilities, loyalty plan, and development engine will open doors to new customers for the brand’s biggest hotel owner.
But while the 39-strong stable of citizenM hotels managed by the founding company is a critical mass that assures brand image and consistency is upheld, future growth lies in the hands of the global behemoth. Although Marriott has professed to preserve the brand’s ethos, this is clearly a wait-and-see.
While Rattan Chadha continues to be the chairman of the existing real estate, the remaining company will be restructured to reflect the fact that a lot of the activities will be taken over by Marriott, including key individuals on the leadership team, said Robin Chadha, who is leading the brand integration with Marriott and is dedicated until the end of the year.
When asked if the seller intends to own/lease more CitizenM hotels in the future, he budged the question, saying “both Marriott and citizenM see the prospect for meaningful expansion globally over time.”
It's hard to tell what “meaningful growth” is at this stage. “It’s still early days,” said Marriott President Asia-Pacific, excluding China, Rajeev Menon, when asked for more specifics on Marriott's expansion targets for citizenM. In announcing the deal, Marriott only hailed “the prospect of significant additional growth across Marriott’s global regions over the next decade.”
“We see a global opportunity, with particularly strong prospects in EMEA and Asia,” Menon added.
A disrupter when it launched in the Netherlands in 2008, citizenM is present in key European cities including Paris, Rome, London, Geneva and of course its birthplace Amsterdam. Likewise, its footprint in America is strong, in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and so on.
Asia, however, remains a non-event so far with only two open hotels. A joint venture with Shun Tak Holdings’ Artyzen Hospitality Group announced in 2016 was dissolved in January 2019. Artyzen was to introduce the brand to Asia, with the first opening in Taipei in 2017 and Shanghai to follow afterwards. But the Shanghai hotel did not happen, although a property in Kuala Lumpur did.
At press time, Artyzen did not respond to Hotel Investment Today’s request for a comment.
Marriott’s Menon is eager to scale the brand in Asia Pacific, excluding China, in convenient locations across primary and secondary markets. His strategic vision is for citizenM to be a predominantly managed upscale brand in the region, although Marriott will remain open to franchise and conversion opportunities.
Owners in the region are increasingly looking for brands that combine smart design, operational efficiency, and distinctive identity, said Menon, adding “we are already seeing strong interest from potential partners across Asia Pacific.”
As well, the brand matches evolving Asian consumer preferences, he said.
“What sets citizenM apart is its tech-savvy in-hotel experience, thoughtful use of space, grab-and-go food and beverage options, and a focus on art and design. The brand combines tech-enabled convenience, bold aesthetics, and vibrant communal spaces, creating a distinct offering that aligns with shifting traveler expectations across Asia-Pacific,” Menon said.
Meanwhile, when asked what’s on his wish for citizenM going forward, Robin Chadha said “the ambition is for the values and culture that have been in place at citizenM from the beginning to be upheld.
“citizenM will strive to continue on the same path in working with local communities across the world; this distinction is one of the many reasons Marriott decided to purchase the brand. We also know Marriott will bring the brand to new heights on a global scale,” he said.
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