Canadian hotel sales totalled $750 million in the first quarter of 2024, up 130 per cent from the comparable period last year. Newly released statistics from Colliers Hotels also show a 12 per cent climb in the average price per room, to $168,000 in Q1 2024.

That’s in keeping with the “positive momentum in lodging demand” Colliers analysts foresaw in their investment report released earlier this year. A total deal volume of $1.72 billion in 2023 trailed the 10-year average, but was an improvement over $1.63 billion in 2022.

As 2024 began, analysts suggested “the challenge lies in the limited supply of hotel opportunities on the market” following a year when 130 transactions represented an 18 per cent year-over-year decline in deals. Seven single-asset sales topped $50 million, while portfolio deals accounted for just 6 per cent of total volume.

In contrast, Morguard’s $410-million portfolio divestment accounts for more than 60 per cent of this winter’s deal activity. That involved two separate deals: the $311-million sale of the InnVest Hotels Group holdings throughout Ontario and Nova Scotia; and the $99-million sale of Manga Hotels in Ontario.

Among the quarter’s 28 single-asset transactions, major deals included sales of the 340-room Fairmont Winnipeg and 236-room Sheraton Hotel Ottawa. Lombard Hospitality acquired the Winnipeg hotel for an undisclosed price, while Sunray Group paid $43.2 million for the Ottawa property. Both hotels are now slated for major capital upgrades.