Hotel News Now each week features a news roundup from a different region of the world. This week’s compilation covers Europe.

American private-equity firm Starwood Capital Group has acquired 10 London hotels from Edwardian Hotels, and while an official price was not disclosed, Bloomberg News reported it was worth £800 million ($1.02 billion).

The deal is for 10 Radisson Blu Edwardian hotels, all in London. Edwardian retains its three jewels — the 350-room The Londoner, on Leicester Square, which opened in 2021; the 404-room The May Fair, tucked behind Piccadilly, which opened in 1927; and the 263-room Edwardian Manchester, which opened in 1853.

Guest spending at hotel restaurants is up, even if the number of guests is declining.

Guests are still requiring something special from their dining excursions, said Graeme Smith, a London-based partner and managing director at business advisory AlixPartners. That notion is being coined “premierization,” meaning that if guests wish to optimize spending, they require “extraordinary events that simply cannot be replicated at home,” he said.

Food and beverage continues to be a headache for most hoteliers, but one trend simplifying operations is to have smaller menus, thus cutting down on supply-chain hurdles.

Andrew Stembridge, executive director at Iconic Luxury Hotels, part of London & Regional Hotels, said if increased food costs are to be passed on to customers, the menu, service and experience need to be exemplary. “Yes, you can charge £25 ($32) for a burger, and we do, but make sure it is a bloody good burger,” he said.

Founded in 1863 and the owner-operator of some of Monte Carlo’s most-famed hotels, the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer has decided to stretch its wings internationally, even if that means just across the border into France. It has bought the 78-room Le Palace des Neiges in Courchevel 1850, a luxury ski village in the French Alps in eastern France.

Owned by Paris-based lifestyle firm LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which also owns global hotel firm Belmond, SBM executives said it has a history in operating lifestyle hotels, so the move should not come as a surprise.

Pascal Camia, its chief international development officer of casinos, hotels and restaurants, said “it is a move made at the perfect time. … Courchevel’s destination positioning, clientele and reputation perfectly matching with that of SBM. This is a complementary destination, which will allow us to offer more opportunities for our customers and collaborators.”

Executives at the U.K.’s largest hotel brand by hotel count, Premier Inn, said that its business on the books has been notably boosted by American musician Taylor Swift’s upcoming U.K. concert tour, which will include 17 shows in June and August.

“We all love Taylor Swift, don’t we? There are a high number of concerts in the U.K., and when they were announced, our hotels sold out very quickly, in minutes, not hours. … We have a number of hotels relatively close to where the concerts are being held,” said Dominic Paul, CEO of parent company Whitbread PLC. In the firm’s latest earnings report on Jan. 11, he reported revenue per available room as having increased 9% year over year and 39% compared to full-year 2020.

Italian hotel owner Gruppo Statuto has acquired the 135-room Mandarin Oriental, Paris, for €205 million ($225 million), or more than €1.5 million ($1.64 million) per key.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is to retain operations of the hotel with a 50-year agreement in place, and the owner and operator now plan a €50-million overhaul.

• Avani Hotels & Resorts, part of Minor International, has made its German debut with the opening of the 256-room Avani Frankfurt City.
• Scandic Hotels has signed a long-term agreement with owner Exilion to rebrand the Holiday Inn City Center, Helsinki, and extend its management of the 174-room hotel. A name change will start in 2025.
• Owners Pictet Group and Hesperia Group are to open the 370-room Novotel Valencia in the second half of 2024. In Valencia, Spain’s Turia Garden area, the hotel will be a renovation and rebranding of the existing Expo Hotel.
• Family office Van der Valk has acquired the 120-room Radisson Blu Palace Hotel & Spa in Spa, the Belgian town that has given us the word for thermal baths and wellness offerings. Spa also is the home of the Belgium edition of Formula1.
• Stockholm-based family investment fund Gelba Fastigheter AB acquired 51% of Host Property AB from Host AB and its parent firm Flying Elephant AS. Host AB has retained the minority share in the portfolio, which has eight hotels and 997 rooms in the First Hotels brand. No price was disclosed, but sources stated the portfolio had been valued at 688 million Swedish krona ($66 million). Gelba Fastigheter now has a portfolio of 12 hotels, all in Sweden.
• IHG will manage the 77-room Six Senses Kitzbühel Alps, Austria, but no opening date has been announced.
• Spanish firm Barceló Hotel Group has opened the 183-room Barceló Fortina Malta in the coastal Maltese town of Sliema.
• Ruby Hotels has debuted in Stuttgart with the 148-room Ruby Hamma Hotel & Bar. It is the firm’s 18th hotel, all in Europe, with another eight in the pipeline.
• Romanian owner Rock Holding will invest €70 million into the refurbishment of the Kempinski Poiana Brasov, a ski and mountain resort that will be Kempinski Hotels’ first offering in the country. The Transylvania hotel will have 120 rooms, but no completion date has been given.
• Manchester fund manager Arrow Global has invested €400 million in acquisition and development costs in Lagos, Portugal, resort Palmares Ocean Living & Golf, which features 27 holes of golf and a 20-room boutique hotel. The sellers are King Street Capital Management and Kronos Homes.
• Family-office firm Andronis Hotels, which has several resorts on the Greek island of Santorini, expands on another Greek island, Paros, with the acquisition of a 44-suite hotel that is to reopen in May as the Andronis Minois following a refurbishment completed in 2023.
• Hilton has signed numerous agreements in Turkey to open a spate of hotels covering five of its brands, including the 30th DoubleTree hotel in the country. The 240-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Suites Istanbul Altunizade, is set to open in 2024 and is owned by CCN Holding. The 491-room Hilton Istanbul Airport with owner TAYA Gayrimenkul Yatırım İşletmeleri Anonim Şirketi, is due to open in summer 2025. The 93-room Les Temps Istanbul Karakoy, Curio Collection by Hilton, is also set for 2025 with owner Kocak Gold Kuyumculuk Dis Ticaret A.S. The 51-room Ritus Hotel Istanbul Sultanahmet, Tapestry Collection by Hilton will be a 2025 brand debut in the country. The agreements also cover five Hampton by Hilton hotels in the cities of Ankara, Antayla, Adana, Istanbul and Şişli for a country total of 22 hotels.
• PPHE Hotel Group has received planning permission from Westminster City Council to develop a 179-room hotel within its existing Park Plaza Victoria London hotel. The mostly subterranean addition will operate as a standalone hotel from its 299-room sibling.

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