Remington Names Gibbs CTO; Hersha Sells 130-Key Boston Home2 Suites

Remington Hospitality promoted Ayotunde Gibbs to chief technology officer on Thursday, tasking a 20-year technology veteran with applying artificial intelligence and integrated data across every enterprise system the management company runs.

The appointment anchors a week in which Marriott International and Choice Hotels International both posted year-over-year U.S. RevPAR gains in third-quarter earnings, and Miami-based investment firm Gencom acquired the InterContinental Miami plus Rosewood London — the firm's first luxury hotel purchase in Europe. Fairmont New Orleans also opened, and Sonesta signed an exclusive strategic affiliation with Boyd Gaming that will add a collection of casino resorts to Sonesta's distribution platform.

What does the CTO change at Remington?

Gibbs joined Remington in January as executive vice president of technology. Her expanded remit now covers all enterprise technology across the organization, according to a Thursday release.

Her mandate is explicitly financial. She will apply AI and integrated data "to drive efficiency, improve decision-making, support scalable growth, and deliver sharper insight and long-term value to ownership groups," per the release. That framing matters for a third-party manager: Remington's clients are ownership groups measuring returns on technology spend, not guests.

Gibbs previously held technology leadership roles at Dave & Buster's and GameStop. Hilton and Choice Hotels have also named new CTOs recently, signaling an industry-wide push to consolidate data and automation under a single senior technology executive.

Hersha exits a 2020-vintage extended stay asset

Hersha Hotels & Resorts sold the 130-key Home2 Suites Boston South Bay to an undisclosed buyer, according to a JLL release obtained by Hotel Dive. The price was not disclosed.

The Hilton-branded extended stay hotel opened in 2020. Its units pair designated living and sleeping areas with fully equipped kitchens — full-size refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers. Amenities include a fitness center, business center, guest laundry, complimentary breakfast and self-parking for 55 vehicles.

Location drove the deal logic. The property sits near Boston Medical Center, Harvard University and MIT, and is positioned "perfectly to capture expanding demand from the surrounding submarket developments," said Alan Suzuki, senior managing director on the JLL Hotels & Hospitality team that brokered the transaction.

The sale lands as extended stay remains a compelling opportunity for hotel owners, executives said at The Lodging Conference last month. What does that change for owners? It keeps pricing power on the sell side for well-located, newer-build extended stay assets even in an opaque transaction market.

Peachtree opens dual-branded Marriott in Dallas

Peachtree Group opened the 264-key AC Hotel Dallas Uptown and Moxy Dallas Uptown on Thursday, pairing two Marriott brands — a 110-room AC Hotel and a 154-room Moxy — under one roof in Texas.

The dual-brand structure combines AC's "European-inspired design" with Moxy's "energetic, lifestyle-focused experience," per the release. Shared amenities spread across both brands include a 1,000-square-foot fitness center, flexible meetings and events space and an indoor-outdoor rooftop bar with Dallas skyline views.

Phoenix Development Partners developed the project with Peachtree, and Peachtree's hospitality management division operates it. The financing-and-management firm has concentrated on Texas in recent years, having previously developed a dual-branded Embassy Suites and Tempo by Hilton in Austin.

The market thesis is corporate demand. The hotel opens as "Dallas continues to attract significant corporate investment, particularly in financial services, reinforcing its position as one of the country's leading business destinations," Peachtree CEO Greg Friedman said in a statement.

The week's throughline

Three moves, one direction: management companies are consolidating technology leadership, owners are monetizing extended stay assets near institutional demand drivers, and developers are stacking brands to spread construction costs across two customer bases. With Marriott and Choice both posting U.S. RevPAR gains and Gencom buying luxury trophy assets on both sides of the Atlantic, expect more CTO appointments and dual-branded openings to follow into the fourth quarter.