Hotel News Now each week features a news roundup from a different region of the world. This week’s compilation covers Europe.
Vienna House buys 17 assets from Arcona
Austrian hotel group Vienna House has for an undisclosed price purchased 17 urban assets from German hotel firm Arcona Group, according to a news release.
The deal includes five Steigenberger hotels from franchisor Deutsche Hospitality, eight assets under the brand Arcona Living and four more flagged simply as Arcona. Arcona now is to focus on skiing and beach vacation resorts.
STR: Europe hotel construction up 48.6% in April
Pipeline data for Europe from STR, parent company of Hotel News Now, showed 1,454 hotel projects accounting for 187,198 rooms in construction as of April 2019. This represented a 48.6% year-over-year increase in the number of rooms in the final phase of the development pipeline. Unaffiliated projects (57,274 rooms) represented the largest percentage increase (119.9%) in activity year over year, while upscale projects (40,477 rooms) represented the next highest year-on-year increase, 34%.
Five countries reported more than 7,000 rooms under construction. Germany led with 49,901 rooms, which represented 7.6% of the country’s existing supply, followed by the United Kingdom (42,278 rooms, 6.3% of existing supply). Spain, France and Turkey rounded off the top five.
IHG touts network growth in muted Q1 numbers
InterContinental Hotels Group’s first-quarter performance largely reflects that of its competitors, with revenue per available room struggling amid economic and political uncertainty and Easter not helping Q1 numbers due to it being just about as late as it can be scheduled.
IHG signed approximately 24,000 rooms during the period for an overall pipeline of approximately 279,000 rooms. Group revenue per available room in year-over-year terms grew 0.3%, down 3.5% in the same period in 2018.
Hard Rock to debut in Barcelona in €200m deal
Hard Rock International has signed a long-term deal with German developer ActivumSG for a new-build, €200-million ($223 million) property, according to a news release, which is the last available seafront plot in the Spanish city.
The deal for the 504-room hotel includes the real estate of the site that is adjacent to the Sant Adrià de Besòs marina on the city’s Fòrum Beach. Construction will begin by the end of 2019, with the opening due in early 2022.
BVK makes first deal from €500m DACH fund
Germany pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer, usually referred to as BVK, via a fund launched by Universal-Investment, has invested the first capital of a €500-million ($558-million) hotel-industry real estate fund. According to developer GBI AG, the first purchase is the 259-room Lindner Hotel am Michel in Hamburg, which was owned by Lloyd Fonds AG.
All the capital will be used to acquire hotels in the DACH region, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. BVK already has a portfolio of approximately €77 billion ($86 billion) across all real state classes.
Premier Inn sees profits drop amid Brexit concerns
Whitbread PLC, the parent firm of Premier Inn, said a full-year 2018 profit drop of 38.7% can be blamed on concerns over Brexit and a lack of confidence in the United Kingdom economy, but sees its strategy of maintaining occupancy as ultimately beneficial to long-term performance.
Premier Inn continues its push into Germany, with CEO Alison Brittain stating its two opened German assets already have seen days of 100% occupancy via direct bookings. The firm has a German pipeline of another 17 hotels.
Deals and developments
- Vibrana Holdings, which is 90% held by NBG Pangaea, has bought 98% of the Cyprus Tourism Development Public Company Limited for €55.5 million ($62 million), which owns the 294-room Hilton Cyprus in the island’s capital Nicosia. The buyer has the option to buy the remaining stock.
- Following a €6-million ($6.7-million) renovation, Rocco Forte Hotels has opened the 40-room Masseria Torre Maizza in Savelletri di Fasano, Puglia, in southern Italy, which occupies a 16th Century walled country house with tower.
- The Hut Group has acquired the Eclectic Hotel Group, which owns two hotels in Manchester, the King Street Townhouse and Great John Street Hotel, which combined have 70 rooms in total and will now undergo a £10-million ($12.7-million) renovation. Hut already owns the Hale Country Club & Spa.
- Hyatt Hotels Corporation has debuted its Hyatt Centric brand in Italy with two assets, the 119-room Hyatt Centric Murano Venice and 141-room Hyatt Centric Milan Centrale, and its Andaz brand’s debut in Austria with the 303-room Andaz Vienna am Belvedere in the country’s capital. It also signed its very first hotel in Portugal with the 200-room Hyatt Regency Lisbon, which is due to open in late 2020 in a franchise deal with Realtejo – Hotelaria e Turismo S.A..
- Capital France Hotel, a fund managed by Schroder Real Estate Hotels, has acquired two hotels in Antwerp, Belgium, the Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel and the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, for an undisclosed price from fund KKR;
- Kempinski has signed a management agreement with M2 at Mtatsminda LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of JSC M2 Real Estate, to develop a hotel in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, which will have approximately 100 rooms and open in the third quarter of 2020.
- Another opening in Georgia is the 158-room Wyndham Grand Tbilisi, which occupies a site on the city’s Freedom Square and is a franchise agreement with owner City M Company.
Compiled by Terence Baker.