Madinah just posted the highest hotel occupancy in Saudi Arabia at 82% with a $99 RevPAR, and the development pipeline has 105,000 rooms headed for the kingdom. The question every operator watching the Middle East should be asking isn't whether demand is real... it's what happens when 252,000 new keys chase the same pilgrim.
The Fed held at 3.50%-3.75% but three FOMC members just dissented against the easing bias, and a new hawkish chair arrives in six weeks. If you're carrying floating-rate hotel debt originated in 2022-2024, the next move isn't a headline — it's a line item on your debt service schedule you need to model this week.
Julienne Smith spent six years building IHG's Americas development pipeline before returning to Hyatt with a mandate to scale Essentials brands into secondary markets. If you're an independent owner in a tertiary market who thought the big flags weren't coming for you, this is the wake-up call you didn't want.
Manhattan RevPAR climbed 7.1% in the first half of 2025 while outer borough segments dropped up to 4.4%. Same city, two completely different P&Ls.
