Another Monty Bennett Portfolio Is in Distress

Dallas investor Monty Bennett’s Ashford Hospitality Trust said it pursued a loan extension and is waiting for interest rates to drop after its special servicer said it failed to refinance a distressed portfolio of hotels.

The Ashford Highland assets went to special servicing in June after Ashford defaulted on its balloon payment, according to Morningstar Credit. The real estate investment trust didn’t secure refinancing before a two-month forbearance period was set to expire. The forbearance was extended through July, the firm said.

Ashford requested additional time to prepare an exit strategy, according to special servicer Trimont Real Estate Advisors.

Ashford said last month that its lender gave it an extension on the loan until Jan. 9 and that portfolio recently appraised at $1.1 billion. Its previous maturity date was in April.

“We are hopeful that this extension will provide us with an opportunity to benefit from anticipated interest rate cuts and improved coverage metrics ahead of a longer-term refinancing,” Ashford president and CEO Stephen Zsigray said in a July news release.

The portfolio comprises 18 hotels in 13 states. Ashford said it has paid $10 million toward the loan, dropping the balance to $580 million.

A plurality of the properties are in Texas: the Hilton Garden Inn at 500 N I-35, Austin; the Marriott DFW Airport North at 8440 Freeport Parkway, Irving; the Sugar Land Marriott at 16090 City Walk, Sugar Land; and the Marriott Plaza at 555 South Alamo Street, San Antonio.

Occupancy in the hotels over a twelve-month period was down to 56 percent as of March 31. At the end of 2024, the portfolio’s occupancy rate was 68 percent, following a peak of 70 percent in 2023, according to Morningstar. The portfolio’s most difficult year was 2020, when occupancy reached a low of 33 percent.

Ashford disputed the Morningstar report, arguing that occupancy has actually increased across the portfolio.

“For occupancy to have dropped from 68 percent at the end of 2024 to 56 percent just three months later, the entire portfolio would have had to be virtually unoccupied for the first three months of 2025, which did not happen,” spokesperson Allison Beach said.

That’s when trouble for the loan began. Ashford’s recent performance history is generally current through August 2024, but the loan’s original maturity date was in April 2020, the same month Ashford requested immediate transfer to special servicing for the first time. It was returned to the master servicer — Wells Fargo — in April 2021.

Last February, Ashford extended its maturity date for the fifth time. It’s been on the watchlist since October 2024.

It’s not the first time Bennett’s assets have faced distress. A different loan went to special servicing first in April 2020 and again in 2024. Two of the company’s hotels landed in foreclosure last year. Additionally, Ashford was selling properties to pay debts throughout 2023 and 2024.

Correction: This article has been updated to include comments from Ashford, as well as information about the loan extension, appraisal and balance amount.