Wall Street Journal: $900 million deal sends resorts, including Grove Park Inn, to Omni Hotels

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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KSL Capital Partners is selling five of its upscale resorts, including the Grove Park Inn, which it just bought last year, to Omni Hotels & Resorts, the Wall Street Journal reports:

A hotel company owned by Texas billionaire Robert Rowling is making a big bet on the continued recovery of the vacation and corporate-meetings business by buying five high-profile resorts in California, Texas and Virginia.

Omni Hotels & Resorts is set to announce Wednesday that it is buying the properties, including the Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va., which opened in 1766, and Rancho Las Palmas Resort in California, which has a two-acre water park. The price wasn’t disclosed, but a person familiar with the deal said it was roughly $900 million.

The resort business has been seeing the benefit of the improving U.S. economy. With employment gaining and home values rising, more corporations are sending employees on retreats and Americans are becoming more willing to splurge on vacations with swimming, tennis, golf and fancy dinners. …

Omni is buying the resorts from KSL Capital Partners LLC, a Denver based real-estate investment firm that is profiting from its decision to go after distressed property during the economic downturn. One of the resorts in the deal is the 611-room La Costa Resort, which KSL acquired in 2010 by purchasing its $380 million delinquent mortgage for $120 million and then foreclosing on the property. A KSL representative didn’t return calls for comment.