During Day One of The Lodging Conference in Phoenix, AZ, hoteliers discussed the future of the industry, accepting slow but steady growth in months to come. Uncertainty in the industry and talk of a downturn coming at some point in the future was discussed during the morning’s general session, which matched the theme of this year’s conference, “Enjoy the ride.” Hoteliers in sessions throughout the day also talked about loyalty programs, developing new hotels, what owners are doing at this stage in the cycle and more.

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The hotel lending community is confident for the upcoming year, but the outlook gets hazier the further lenders look out. Speaking during the recent Hotel News Now Lender Roundtable, Aries Capital Chairman and CEO Neil Freeman said he has some concerns when projecting more than 12 months.

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The 116-suite Residence Inn by Marriott in Woodbury, Minnesota, opened in September 2016. Located at 205 Radio Drive, the all-suite Residence Inn St. Paul Woodbury will operate as a Marriott franchise, managed by TMI Hospitality of Fargo, North Dakota.

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Red Lion Hotels Corporation, a growing hospitality company that operates and franchises upscale, midscale and economy hotels, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the global brands and brand operations of Vantage Hospitality Group, Inc. based in Coral Springs, FL, for an initial aggregate price of $23 million in cash and 690,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.

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Six hotels, all under different brands, in the two downtowns will add more than 1,000 rooms to the Twin Cities hospitality market, which already has about 40,000 total rooms. Just this past week, a Hyatt Place opened in the old Post Office building in St. Paul. Hundreds more rooms are expected to follow in the coming years. Hospitality industry experts say the market can easily absorb the new capacity, at least while the economy is strong.

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