Ventana Big Sur resort changes hands, breaks per-key record for resort sales again

Host Hotels & Resorts announced the $150M purchase during its third-quarter earnings call

Alila Ventana Big Sur with Host Hotels & Resorts CEO James Risoleo (Hyatt, Host Hotels)
Alila Ventana Big Sur with Host Hotels & Resorts CEO James Risoleo (Hyatt, Host Hotels)

The 59-room Alila Ventana Big Sur resort has changed hands in a record-breaking deal only three months after Hyatt Hotels purchased the property.

Host Hotels & Resorts announced the $150 million purchase of the resort during its third-quarter earnings call on Nov. 4. The deal breaks the per-key record for resort sales at $2.45 million, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The purchase is part of a larger $415 million investment in which Host Hotels also acquired the 200-key Baker’s Cay Resort Key Largo and the boarded-up 223-key luxury Hotel Alessandra in downtown Houston.

Host Hotels has entered a long-term management agreement with Alila Hotels & Resorts, which is owned by Hyatt. Hospitality experts speculate that was a requirement of the deal.

Massive luxury hotel properties seem to be gaining popularity as the Big Sur purchase comes right on the heels of another similar deal in Wine Country. Sunstone Hotel Investors agreed to pay $175 million, or about $2.1 million per room, to buy the 85-room Four Seasons Napa Valley from Alcion Ventures. It was Sunstone’s second California resort purchase this year after paying $265 million for the Montage Healdsburg in Sonoma, which worked out to just above $2 million a room.

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The Big Sur property is outfitted with 59 rooms, 63 camping areas and 15 tent cabins. A stay at the resort, which also features all-inclusive dining, could cost upwards of $2,000 per night.

According to data from Real Capital Analytics, Hyatt’s purchase of the property in June and the latest purchase both set per-key records for resorts without casinos. The only higher per-key price deal was the 2018 sale of the Plaza Hotel in New York. The property sold for about $600 million, or $2.6 million per room, to Qatar-based Katara Hospitality.

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[SFBT] — Victoria Pruitt