News & Stories

Doha/New York. The latest rumor from the international hotel real estate market concerns the Qatar Investment Authority, which is presumably about to acquire the iconic St. Regis New York and St. Regis San Francisco from Starwood. Starwood is going to sell even more properties – on time before the official take-over by Marriott? An ironic situation as Starwood has failed to sell assets for the past 3 years.

Dubai. The hotel construction boom in Dubai is slowly waning, though for the time being, the push is still on for the next mega event: After the mega towers Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa, now the focus will be on the EXPO 2020 reminding the world exactly where the powerhouse of the Middle East is located. The desert still offers a lot of space for new mega parks - and new ones have once again been announced. The city's core is becoming tighter though, squeezing in ever more properties between Dubai International Airport, the Business Bay district and the beach event district Jumeirah. Of the new hotel openings in recent months, hospitalityInside.com has visited the new Four Seasons in the Financial Center, the new Steigenberger Hotel in Business Bay and the Rove, the first 3-star brand owned by the Arabian mega-developer Emaar. We've also been thinking about the new wave of entertainment parks.

Milan. The Italian hospitality real estate market is back on track, even if the pre-crisis peak is still far away. The market now sees the highest investment volume registered since 2008. Despite the dearth of investment grade assets, last year's transaction volume in the Italian real estate hospitality segment exceeded 800 million euros, including portfolio investments. Banks have started to clean their books and a new fund has been launched to explicitly attract more international investors. JLL Hotels & Hospitality's traditional yearly analysis on the country market draws a positive picture, substantially in line with the figures registered by the national tourism sector.

Amsterdam. The current M&As will generate a butterfly effect on businesses in the Netherlands and mostly in Amsterdam. An investment seminar in Amsterdam brought together 120 industry experts to talk about the European hotel market development and the impact of capital, transactions, mergers and the uncertainty of brands. In addition, about the latest ban on hotel development in Amsterdam imposed by the municipality. The Netherland's biggest disadvantage: The country is too small to attract big deals.

Berlin. In Germany, more than 14.5 million overnight stays in private accommodations are provided yearly via online platforms such as Airbnb, Wimdu or 9flats - and are not covered by statistics. That was identified by the real estate developer GBI in Berlin. The grey market is growing.

Augsburg. Quietly, the Augsburger Patrizia AG has developed into one of the leading real estate enterprises in Europe. The investor and service provider maintains, buys and sells existing properties and by now also establishes new funds for private investors via Patrizia Grundinvest. The hotel segment is also experiencing an upswing.

McLean. Hilton will split the company into three distinctive entities, CEO Christopher Nassetta announced last week. Among others, he talks about a REIT - to save taxes.

New York. According to recent information, Brookfield Property Partners and Starwood Capital aim to make money on the German market and sell on the recently acquired 11 Interhotels. Among the hotels are jewels such as The Westin in Leipzig and the Park Inn Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Salzburg. In Austria's leading tourism centres, few guest beds continue to be added in the form of the classic hotel, but rather as flexible units: as chalets, suites and apartments. Increasingly often, they're packaged as investment opportunities for private individuals. Banks like these new forms of real estate, and so do the guests: With interest rates currently so low, they're often immediately snapped up by buyers. And construction companies are slowly becoming hosts.

Hamburg. Looking back to 2015, Union Investment Real Estate GmbH enjoyed a record year – and made their debut in the US market. With this, the asset class Hotel follows the general investment movements of the company.