Arnold & Porter’s Real Estate group is one of the firm’s premier offerings and is recognized as one of the most distinguished in the United States. We are a fully national practice with 65 lawyers based in New York, Washington, D.C., Illinois, California, and Washington. Our hospitality team has been involved in the lodging industry for over 35 years and has a deep understanding of its unique challenges and opportunities. Clients rely on our combination of industry knowledge, business acumen, and sophisticated understanding of complex financing structures to help them achieve their objectives.
We cover all aspects of the capital stack and provide our clients with valuable, experience-based insights grounded in our comprehensive approach to every matter, carefully tailored to the unique considerations of the hospitality sector. We work closely with our clients to help maximize their investments while strategically minimizing risk.
We take pride in building and maintaining long-term relationships with our clients by understanding their needs and offering strategic advice that supports their success in the competitive hospitality market.
Our Clients
- Institutional developers and owners of lodging properties worldwide. We serve as trusted advisors to large private equity funds, hotel real estate investment companies, hotel companies, sponsors, developers, and hotel managers that are buying and selling hotel properties all over the U.S.
- Institutional lenders and investors in hospitality projects. We advise some of the industry’s most active lenders and investors on billions of dollars’ worth of hotel resort transactions. Senior lenders, mezzanine lenders, and opportunity funds in joint ventures with operating partners also turn to us for support in negotiating financing arrangements for hospitality projects.
Equity Deals and Transactions: Our team represents developers, operators, and investors in significant acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, partnerships, and fund formation. To ensure that each deal aligns with our clients’ strategic objectives, we provide guidance at every step of the transaction, including negotiating terms, conducting due diligence, and facilitating all closing and post-closing activities.
Lending and Finance: We assist hospitality clients on a full range of capital raising strategies, including development and construction financing, refinancings, equity raises, and recapitalizations. We structure and negotiate sophisticated lending arrangements, partnering with financial institutions to deliver favorable loan terms and address regulatory compliance. We also represent institutional lenders in the origination and securitization of first mortgage debt and mezzanine loans.
Franchise and Hotel Management Agreements: We represent owners, operators, and hotel managers in negotiating franchise agreements and hotel management agreements. Our team works to secure favorable economic terms, protect our clients’ operational flexibility, and address key issues, including performance standards, termination rights, fee structures, and brand compliance requirements.
Experience Highlights
-
Hotel private equity fund in the recapitalization of four Manhattan hotels to a group of institutional investors for approximately $500 million, one of the larger deals for the sector in recent memory and a sign of health for an industry still trying to fully recover from the pandemic.
-
Leading hospitality-focused investor based in New York in the acquisition of a premier waterfront Florida condominium hotel property.
-
Public hotel REIT in acquisitions of major hotel properties, including recent transactions in the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Tennessee, California, Florida, Texas, Wyoming, and Georgia, and financings and dispositions of numerous U.S. hotel properties.
-
Real estate investment and operating firm in the negotiation of hotel management contracts for various boutique hotels
-
Private owner of a luxury resort and golf club located in Silicon Valley in various matters, including property tax appeals, open space easements, winery leases and professional golf tournaments, and its acquisition of the Clos LaChance Winery
-
Lender in a $719.5 million mortgage loan to affiliates of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, secured by a hospitality portfolio.
-
Hotel private equity fund and joint venture partner in the acquisition, development, and construction financing of a billion dollar hotel portfolio located throughout New York City and Brooklyn, New York, and the ground leasing of various select full-service hotels located throughout New York City.
-
Leading global banking institution as lender in complex financing and refinancing transactions involving luxury hotel properties throughout the United States, spanning major metropolitan and regional markets.
-
Institutional real estate investment manager in connection with mortgage and mezzanine financing transactions involving a large, geographically diverse U.S. hotel portfolio.
-
Real estate finance company, as lender, in the disposition of over 2,000 acres of vineyard land located in Napa County, California.
Key Contacts
Related Services
Recognition
-
Chambers USALeisure & Hospitality (Nationwide) (2016-2025)
-
Best Law Firms Ranked by Best LawyersLeisure & Hospitality (Washington, D.C.) (2017-2026)
Real Estate (National) (2011-2026)
Real Estate (Chicago) (2025-2026)
Real Estate (New York) (2018-2026)
Real Estate (Washington, D.C.) (2010-2026)
