• The Comfort Suites Maingate East, a 198-room hotel near Disney World, recently sold for $22 million.
• The deal may be even more lucrative after Disney CEO Bob Iger’s announcement of $17 billion in new investments in Disney World over the next decade.
• DSH Hotel Advisors arranged the sale on March 30th, 2023, attracting worldwide interest from investors and receiving 16 offers from qualified buyers.

From the outside looking in, $22 million seems like a pretty good bargain for a 198-room brand-name hotel near Disney World. The award-winning Comfort Suites Maingate East, (not to be confused with the Comfort Inn in the same chain nearby), is located just a stone’s throw away from Disney World. But the deal may be even sweeter now that Disney CEO Bob Iger is promising $17 billion in new investments in Disney World over the next decade.

DSH Hotel Advisors, a national hotel brokerage and advisory firm based in Tampa, arranged the sale on March 30th, 2023, just days ahead of Disney’s earnings call when Iger tipped his investment hand.

The sale attracted interest from investors worldwide, and required 175 signed confidentiality agreements. Ultimately, DSH says they fielded 16 offers from qualified buyers.

The property, constructed in 2000, boasts an extensive renovation completed between 2016-2020. DSH also said the hotel has earned several accolades, including TripAdvisors’ 2022 Traveler’s Choice Award, the Gold Award 2022 within the Choice Hotels network, and the prestigious “Walt Disney World Good Neighbor Hotel” designation. But the ultimate selling point is its prime location near Disney World, which, despite recent layoff announcements and an ongoing feud with the state, could expand yet again.

Iger’s announcement of the $17 billion investment in Disney World caused some to speculate that Disney may be planning a fifth theme park to rival Universal’s “Epic Universe,” set to open in 2025.

The eye-popping investment will, according to Iger, create an estimated 13,000 new jobs directly and thousands indirectly, further driving tourism in the area. Iger expressed Disney’s commitment to Florida, stating that the company is “the largest taxpayer in the state” and will welcome “about 50 million visitors” through its gates this year alone.

A release from DSH says the company exclusively represents hotel investors seeking an acquisition or disposition of hotel assets throughout the United States, with a regional focus in the southeast. The says it maintains “deeply rooted relationships with key personnel throughout the hospitality industry, including independent and institutional investors, real estate and franchise attorneys, management companies, franchisors, contractors, and lenders.”

The company also said that at the time they closed the $22 million sale of the Comfort Suites sale in Orlando, they also closed a similar Comfort Suites sale in Georgia. Though the terms of the deal were not disclosed, chances are it didn’t go for quite as much as the property near Disney World.