DiamondRock Hospitality Company has announced the debut of The Hythe, a Luxury Collection Resort, Vail, following a rebranding and $40 million renovation of the slopeside Vail Marriott Mountain Resort. The resort is Marriott International’s only Luxury Collection alpine resort in North America. The design was led by the award-winning firm of Wilson Ishihara.
“We wanted to evoke the majestic and serene Rocky Mountain as the guests enter the lobby,” adds fellow Wilson Ishihara partner Yoko Ishihara. “The overall experience is inspired by the dramatic contrast of the grandeur of the mountain range, to the intimate and cozy Alpine Chalet. The space is punctuated with ’60s glamorous touches and historic ski references that brings guests a sense of revelry.”
The resort will feature a total of 344 guestrooms, 22 suites, and 16 luxurious residences will also be housed on site along with 29,000 square feet of flexible meeting space.
“The Hythe is now among the most luxurious resorts in Vail and is positioned to continue delivering robust returns on our investment,” said Mark W. Brugger, president and chief executive officer of DiamondRock Hospitality Company.
DiamondRock was the first lodging REIT to invest in Colorado’s Vail Valley when it acquired the Vail Mountain Resort in 2005 for $65 million ($189,000/key) and it has been an outstanding investment for the company. The resort generated approximately $11 million of EBITDA in 2019 and comparable luxury ski resorts have recently sold for values of $1 million to $2 million per key. We project our $8.4 million incremental capital investment to reposition the property into a luxury resort will generate over an 80% return for our shareholders, and our year-end underappreciated investment basis of $305,000 per key is a fraction of market value and replacement cost. The resort as a Luxury Collection hotel is expected to generate stabilized EBITDA of over $17 million which represents a low 6.1x EBITDA multiple on our year-end underappreciated investment. Importantly, the repositioning also represents another milestone in DiamondRock’s strategy to curate a collection of exceptional urban lifestyle and experiential resort hotels.”
