Continued and more vigorous COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns in the United Kingdom have played havoc with the country’s hotel performance across December and into the new year, with there being no discernible improvement from previous months, STR director Thomas Emanuel said in a monthly video overview of U.K. hotel performance. STR is CoStar's hospitality analytics firm.

Bringing hope to hoteliers, though, is the U.K.’s excellent start to its vaccine rollout. As of Feb. 7, more than 12 million people have received at least their first inoculation.

Accor’s CEO Sébastien Bazin added a new brand to the firm’s portfolio, Buenos Aires-based Faena Hotels, which has an asset in Miami as well as the Argentine capital. Next up is one in Dubai, he said, adding that the French company’s recent pushes into the lifestyle hotel segment now result in approximately 25% of its revenue streams.

Bazin said he has done much thinking during the pandemic.

“Accor will only survive if the little stores, the small businesses, also will survive — the things that make an area, that create a destination. Yes, scale matters to companies such as ours, but so do the details. To get back to reality, we are fighting as hard as we can to see that they survive, and for Accor to thrive,” he said. “We’ve seen few hotels going bust, very few. Beneficiaries have to see how they will amortize over five years, and after that, then you will see distress.”

Following on its January deals to acquire the 259-room Nobu Barcelona for an undisclosed price from Spain’s Selenta Group and the 18-hotel, Netherlands-based Odyssey Hotels Group, owner ActivumSG Capital Management will expand its strategy of buying hotels across Europe, helped by its latest fundraising round, according to its CEO Saul Goldstein.

He said its discretionary investment funds are agnostic of brand and asset class, flexible and eager to add value in the markets that show the most opportunity for growth.

“We have the general philosophical issue of finding attractive real estate deals, country specific and then asset classes. … During the pandemic, opportunities for hotel investment are accelerating because of distress, with a lot of groups needing liquidity.”

Not surprisingly, Europe’s hotel industry reported all-time lows in occupancy and revenue per available room in 2020, according to year-end data from STR. Year over year, in euro constant currency, full-year occupancy fell 54.2% in 33.1%, average daily rate fell 18.2% to 93.34 euros ($112.45) and RevPAR fell 62.5% to 30.86 euros ($37.18).

One example of the year’s sharp declines in the U.K. is that occupancy declined 47.7% to 40.5%, ADR declined 23.9% to 72.08 British pounds ($86.84) and RevPAR declined 60.2% to 29.17 pounds ($25.14) over the same period. STR analysts said absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were the lowest for any year on record in STR’s U.K. database.

Hope is arriving, if business on the books is any indication, with huge academic, association and sporting events leading the way to see renewed booking patterns, according to Forward STAR, STR’s forward-looking benchmarking solution.

According to Steven Cote, STR's product manager for Forward STAR, one example of good news is Glasgow, Scotland, where “occupancy on the books is pushing 90% for the United Nations Climate Change Conference."

London levels are sitting mostly below 10% for 2021, but June 18 is showing 21% occupancy on the books, which is when the England and Scotland national soccer teams met for the UEFA Champions League group stage, while for Oct. 2, 15% occupancy is on the books due to the London Marathon.

• Reuben Brothers, the ownership firm of David Reuben and Simon Reuben, has bought the Baglioni Hotel Luna, in Venice, Italy, for approximately 100 million euros ($120 million). The hotel dates back to the 12th century.

• Accor signed a deal with Create Developments for the 251-room Ibis Edinburgh Airport, a new-build hotel due to open in 2023.
• Real estate investment firm Pontegadea has bought the 324-room Playaballena Aquapark & Spa Hotels in Rota, Spain, near to the southern city of Cádiz, for approximately 25 million euros ($30.1 million).

• The Soldevila Ferrer family, which also owns the Sant Francesc Hotel Singular in Palma, Mallorca, has announced its second property on the island. The 32-room Can Ferrereta, in Santanyí, is a renovation of a 17th-century building and will open in April.

• Management firm Cycas Hospitality has opened Marriott International’s first dual-branded hotel in the U.K. in the city of Slough, Berkshire. The asset, owned and developed by Slough Borough Council, includes the 152-room Moxy Slough and 92-room Residence Inn by Marriott Slough.
• Starwood Capital has acquired the 288-room Skt. Petri Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Strawberry Forever, part of Petter Stordalen’s Strawberry Group, which also owns Nordic Choice Hotels.

• Deutsche Hospitality formed an agreement with owner STAG Hotels Netherlands B.V. and developer Synchroon B.V. to open in 2023 the 115-room IntercityHotel Leiden, which will be part of the mixed-use Octagon development project.

Compiled by Terence Baker.