Host Hotels & Resorts announced the sale this week of the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort and the 125-room Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole in Teton Village, Wyoming, to an undisclosed buyer for $1.1 billion.
The Four Seasons, which opened in 2014, is one of only three hotels in the Orlando market to earn the coveted 5-Diamond status. The luxury resort sits on 289 acres at and around 10100 Dream Tree Blvd. and provides complimentary transport to four Disney theme parks and Disney Springs. In addition to its 18-hole golf course and golf club, the resort features five pools, three tennis courts, a 13,000-square-foot spa, and a 5-acre water park and entertainment area called Explorer Island.
Host Hotels & Resorts one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels in the U.S. The Bethesda-based REIT purchased the Orlando resort hotel in 2021 for $610 million cash, which at the time set a per-room record for Orlando-area hotel sales at about $1.37 million per key. The Wyoming Four Seasons was acquired in 2022 for $315 million, or more than $2 million per key. The sale of the two properties will bring HHR an estimated 11% rate of return, according to the announcement.
The Four Seasons Resort at Walt Disney World is one of three Orlando hotels to achieve AAA’s coveted 5-Diamond status. (Rich Pope, Orlando Sentinel)
“The sale of these two iconic properties represents another important step in advancing our capital allocation strategy,” CEO James F. Risoleo said. “We are pleased with our ability to monetize two recently acquired hotels at an attractive profit and an accretive multiple, and we will continue to use our competitive advantages to create value for our shareholders.”
The details of the transaction, including the name of the buyer and potential lenders, were not available in public records as of Friday afternoon.
Paul Sexton, vice president of HREC Advisory, who was not involved in the deal, said the Four Seasons deal is a bit of an outlier and not reflective of the Orlando market as a whole.
“It’s pretty interesting that they got that kind of return, given that most of the hotels in Orlando, other than luxury hotels, have only been maintaining their value,” Sexton said.
The sale excludes the ongoing condo development within the Four Seasons Private Residences in Disney’s Golden Oak community. Host Hotels and Resorts paid $30 million for the land adjacent to the hotel in 2021 and partnered with Disney to expand the luxury condo community, which has already closed over $166 million in sales across 20 units since the completion of the condo tower last November.
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