Condo-hotels were all the rage in the mid-2000s, offering developers a
path to steady revenue and permanent profit, or so it seemed at the
height of the boom. The scramble to build these hybrid properties with
the best of both worlds — stable unit ownership to help cover
maintenance costs and steady tourism traffic to maximize revenue
potential — now lingers as evidence of the region’s overheating. The trend was short-lived, but a down market may resurrect it in
modified form. Jean Francois Mourier, CEO and founder of revPar Guru, a
hotel software company in Miami Beach, sees an inversion afoot: Developers are exploring the possibilities of transforming condo
properties in a market where there are fewer buyers than travelers
looking for a spacious hotel room complete with separate bedrooms,
bathrooms and kitchens. His company takes its name from the industry
abbreviation of revenue per available room, a critical measurement of
hotel performance. [more]