Europe hotel momentum: China recovers, advances IHG's third quarter

The chief executive of Whitbread predicts 70% of UK independent hotels will not reopen; More hotels opening in Spain; and more

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has opened its seventh hotel in Europe, the 132-room Rosewood Munich. (Rosewood Hotels & Resorts)

Each week Hotel News Now publishes a roundup of news from around the world. This week's roundup features news from Europe.

China's recovery supports IHG's improved third quarter performance

Elie Maloof, chief executive of IHG Hotels & Resorts, said the recovery in hotel performance in China underscores the continued improvement across the company's global business in the third quarter. Maloof,''which launched July 1, said at its first quarterly presentation that a year ago, the pandemic was still affecting business in China. "This is another strong result, a fifth quarter of sequential improvement, with an excellent recovery in China, which has also completed its recovery from the pandemic," he said.

The chief executive of Premier Inn says 70% of the UK's closed independent hotels will not return

The top executives at Whitbread PLC, owner of Premier Inn, are encouraged by strong year-on-year profit growth and growth opportunities, largely due to a decline in the number of independent hotels in its key market, the UK. "The decline in the independent sector and the challenging financial environment is limiting''supply. We previously said supply would not return to pre [COVID 19] levels until 2026, but now, following updated internal analysis, we say it will take at least five years," said CEO Dominic Paul.

C1 and Frogmore get permission to more than double the Hilton hotel in London

Asset and wealth management firms Frogmore and C1 Capital are planning to more than double the number of rooms at the existing 404-room Hilton London Olympia hotel. The plans will create a facility worth almost half a billion pounds. Having owned the land on which the hotel sits since April 2022, the joint venture has proposed a new project with a total of 905 rooms, according to a press release from C1. The company added that "this project will become a''the largest hotel built in London in the last ten years'.

Spain is seeing more brands and investors looking beyond Madrid and Barcelona

Over the past 10 years, Spain has become an example of hotel development and brand-building opportunities due to high demand from travelers seeking sun, resorts, beaches and culture. Hotel markets outside of Madrid, Barcelona and the Costa del Sol are performing much better. Ana Ivanovic, executive vice president and head of hospitality transactions in Spain at business consultancy JLL, pointed to secondary markets such as Valencia, Seville, Cadiz and the island of Menorca. "International operators are showing interest''to these markets if these investors see a growth story and infrastructure,' she said.

The risk-balanced rental model is becoming increasingly popular in Western Europe

The rental model is becoming increasingly popular in Western Europe's hotel industry and is undergoing several structural changes. The rise in popularity of the rental model in Europe comes despite the fact that in hotel segments in other parts of the world, renting is considered unprofitable. David Kellett, managing director and head of alternative investments in Europe at Invesco Real Estate, said his company is leaning towards a hybrid rental model, which he added is a rarity among branded hotel firms. "The pandemic has certainly changed the rental structure, and''Hybrid leases are appropriate for the type of capital we have,' he said. "The model depends on the capital's appetite for risk and the investment opportunity.

Deals and Development

Spanish hotel group Barceló Hotel Group and Maltese owner Fortina Investments have opened the 183-room Barceló Fortina Malta hotel in Sliema, Malta.

Management company Cycas Hospitality has signed two deals to manage three hotels in Northern Europe. The first deal with owner Vertiq Capital involves taking over operations of the 237-room 25Hours Hotel Terminal Nord in''Paris, owned by Accor, while a second deal with owners Annexum and Orange Investment Managers involves taking over operations of a jointly owned hotel in Rotterdam that will open in 2024. The hotel will feature the 215-room Mainport Hotel Rotterdam, Curio Collection by Hilton and the 265-room Doubletree by Hilton Rotterdam Center.

Travelodge has signed a 20-year lease for the 78-room Madrid Coslada Aeropuerto Travelodge, which also invested 1 million euros ($1.06 million) to renovate and rename it from its previous status as the NH Villa De Coslada. The hotel is located near Madrid's main international airport and is the sixth Travelodge hotel in Spain.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement for its seventh hotel in Georgia. The 300-room Wyndham Grand Batumi Gonio hotel will open in 2026 and will include 775''apartments, suites and townhouses under the Wyndham brand.

The Pestana Group has bought a hotel it already operates, the 189-room Pestana Vila Sol Vilamoura in Portugal's Algarve region, for 43 million euros. The seller was property management company Santander AM.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has opened the 132-room Rosewood Munich hotel in two stately buildings, the former State Bank of Bavaria and Palais Neuhaus-Preising. This is the hotel company's seventh project in Europe.

Scandic Hotels has opened the first hotel of its new Scandic Go brand in Stockholm - Scandic Go, Upplandsgatan 4, which has 124 rooms. The brand's second hotel will also open in the Swedish capital, but in 2024.

Asset management company Lamington Group has opened the 175-room Room2 Belfast in''the capital of Northern Ireland. This is the brand's fourth hotel.

The Locke aparthotel brand has entered the Berlin market with the Locke Hotel on the East Side Gallery, which has 176 rooms. The company already has two other hotels in Munich.

Hotel company Harry'\''s Home has entered into a long-term agreement with owner Fanny-v-Lehnert Grundstücksgesellschaft to manage the 119-room Wolfgang'\''s Hotel in Salzburg, Austria. Harry's already manages hotels in four other major Austrian cities - Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Vienna.

Whitbread PLC has opened its first all-electric hotel, the 195-room Premier Inn Swindon Town Center in Swindon, England. It is the prototype for all of the company's new builds from 2026 and will be powered by renewable energy.

Barceló Hotel Group''has made its debut in Slovenia with the Occidental Ljubljana hotel in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. It is the Spanish company's seventh hotel in Eastern Europe, joining hotels opening in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

S Hotels & Resorts has spent £7.5 million on the vacant assets of the 91-room Mercure Glasgow City Hotel from real estate investment trust Alternative Income.

Hotel News Now provides a newsletter for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which is published every other Thursday. To keep up to date with EMEA events, please subscribe here.

Read more news on Hotel News Now.