Significant investment deals have recently been completed in the European hotel industry, with investor interest in new acquisitions remaining undiminished even in the summer, as evidenced by recent HVS data that have been made public.
According to the HVS Hotel Transactions in Europe Newsletter, a number of deals were completed in the week ending 14 June 2024, with the majority taking place in the Spanish hotel market.
Spanish fund manager Bet Capital Group, led by Alfonso Bayon, has acquired Spanish hotel chain Izan Hoteles, which has five hotels with a total capacity of 663 rooms spread across Spain.
Three of the five hotels are managed by Izan, while two are managed by third parties. The three managed by Izan are the four-star, 400-room Hotel Izan Cavanna, in Murcia, the four-star, 77-room Hotel Izan Trujillo, in Caseres, and the four-star, 50-room Hotel Izan Puerta de Gredos, in Avila.
The two other hotels are the four-star, 86-room Hotel NH Collection Cáceres Palacio de Oquendo, in Cáceres, and the three-star, 50-room Hotel Prado Real, near Madrid.
The group expects to continue its acquisitions of hotels and land for hotel development in the southern coastal regions of Spain, with an emphasis on acquiring existing hotels without management operators or tenants.
Remaining in the hotel market in Spain, the Spanish company Ona Hotels & Apartments acquired the four-star, 100-room capacity Hotel Princesa Playa, in Marbella, and the three-star, 159-room capacity Hotel Las Rampas, in Fuengirola, located between Marbella and Malaga. Both hotels are to be renamed under the Ona brand and will operate as Ona Princesa Playa Aparthotel and Ona Las Rampas Hotel.
Ona Princesa Playa is expected to undergo a €5 million renovation programme (€50,000 per room).
The Spanish group aims to own 50 hotels by the end of 2024, with its portfolio currently comprising 43 hotels across Spain and one in Andorra.
Another investment move in the Spanish hotel industry involves the acquisition by Spanish investment firm Grupo Fagra of the five-star, 144-room Occidental Castellana Norte hotel in Madrid from French-listed Covivio.
The hotel is located in the north of the city, about a ten-minute drive west of Madrid International Airport. It opened in 2008 and has since been managed by the domestic Barcelo Group through a lease agreement.
Prior to this acquisition, Grupo Fagra’s hotel portfolio included five hotels across Spain and this deal marks its entry into Madrid.
Also remaining in the Spanish market, French private equity investor Extendam sold the 146-room easyHotel Malaga City Centre in Andalusia, Spain.
The land was acquired by Extendam in 2017 for the development of a budget hotel, which opened its doors in the second half of 2020.
The hotel was developed in partnership with the current operator, Continuum Hotel Services, and bears the easyHotel stamp through a franchise agreement.
In addition to its ‘fleet’ of rooms, it also features 300 sqm of leasable retail space on the ground floor and 30 parking spaces.
EasyHotels has nearly 50 hotels in 11 countries, of which 32 are owned and leased and 17 are franchised. The company typically targets hotels with more than 80 rooms and an average room size of 19 sqm.
A latest investment deal in Spain’s hotel industry involves the acquisition by French asset manager Advenis Real Estate Investment Management, through its real estate fund SCPI Elialys, of the 122-room, four-star Granada Hotel in Granada, Spain, for €12.6 million (€103,000 per room).
The hotel, which opened its doors on 5 June 2024, is located in the city centre and has been leased to French tourism group Pierre & Vacances on a 12-year deal.
It includes a rooftop pool, solarium, bar and meeting rooms. Tenant Pierre & Vacances’ Spanish portfolio includes 30 apartment complexes, 14 hotels and three resorts.
The Elialys fund was launched in 2018 and invests mainly in tertiary sector real estate in major cities in Southern Europe and has a market capitalisation of approximately EUR 83 million.
In the UK hotel market, London-based hotel management and development company Capital Hotels Group, in partnership with Singapore-based private equity firm Prima Asset Management, acquired a vacant, Grade II listed hotel building in Paddington, London, UK.
The building is located north of Hyde Park in Westbourne Terrace and is to be fully redeveloped into an 80-room, upscale boutique hotel.
UK lender OakNorth Bank and property lender ASK Partners provided a £19.5 million (£244,000 per room) loan to finance the acquisition and redevelopment of the property.
Capilon Hotels focuses on hotels in central London and its portfolio includes 11 assets, such as the four-star, 44-room Blandford Hotel in Marylebone and the three-star, 56-room The Judd Hotel in Bloomsbury.
In France, domestic, family-owned, hotel group HIS Group Hotels acquired the four-star, 90-room Mercure Toulouse Sud hotel in Toulouse, in southwest France.
The hotel is located approximately five kilometres south of the city centre and was built in 2015.
Both the hotel, and the city of Toulouse more broadly, are set to benefit from the ‘arrival’ of the Bordeaux-Toulouse high-speed rail line, an €8 billion project due for completion in 2032.
The group’s portfolio comprises 21 hotels (from economy to four stars) with a total capacity of 1,350 rooms in 11 destinations in southwest France, most of which operate under franchise agreements with Accor, with a focus on the Ibis Hotels brand, and achieved total turnover of €42 million during 2023.
This acquisition is the group’s fourth in Toulouse.
Another deal in the French hotel market involves the acquisition by French Euronext Access Paris-listed real estate investment company Courbet SA of the four-star, 180-room Christ-roi family hotel in Lourdes, France.
The hotel is a five-minute walk from the famous Notre-Dame de Lourdes, which welcomed more than three million visitors in 2023. It includes a restaurant, bar, parking for cars and coaches and covers an area of approximately 10,000 sqm.
The new owners are expected to renovate and modernise the hotel and outsource the management to a third party.
Courbet was founded by Jean-Francois Ott, the entrepreneur behind Orco Property Group, a Prague-based property development and asset management company, whose majority stake was acquired by CPI Property Group in 2016.
Courbet has developed and managed around 20 hotels and also created the Mamaison Hotels & Residences chain, focusing on Central and Eastern Europe.
