Five Hilton hotels and the Lowry up for sale
Earlier this week, five Hilton hotels - including Hilton London Hyde Park - were put on the market by Estate Office Property Consultants.
The portfolio of properties, which have a total of 870 rooms, includes properties in Luton, Manchester Airport, Wokingham and Warwickshire, as well as the London hotel.
They are currently all operated and leased to Hilton with base rent and overage, with the exception of the Luton hotel, which is under a management agreement.
The shortest lease expires in 2021, so the hotels will remain under Hilton control for the foreseeable future and would generate a combined yearly income of £8.6m for the buyer.
Eryn Lackie, marketing & communications manager for Estate Office Property Consultants, told BigHospitality that the properties had already attracted ‘a fair amount of interest’.
“Multi-site portfolios run by the same hotel operator don’t come up that often,” she said.
She added that the vendor would prefer to sell the hotels together, but any offers on individual properties would be considered.
Lowry returns to market
Meanwhile, Rocco Forte Hotels has put the 165-bed Lowry Hotel in Manchester up for sale for a second time, having removed it from the market last July.
Richard Power, communications director at Rocco Forte Hotels, told BigHospitality the group had decided to sell the Lowry because it wants to focus on the international market.
“We are going through a process of refining our brand values and positioning so we can set ourselves apart from what is now a rather crowded luxury hotel market,” he explained.
“As part of that, we want all of the hotels we own to be in key international cities, and to attract international visitors.
"Only 3 per cent of the Lowry's visitors come from outside the UK, so it doesn't fit into that portfolio."
Power said the hotel group was only ‘sounding out the market’ earlier this year to see what offers the Lowry would attract, but was now ready to sell.
He added that Rocco Forte would ideally like to retain management of the hotel, and sell it with a management agreement in place, but would consider all offers on the property.
Hospitality property specialists Christie & Co have been appointed to handle the sale and Power said Rocco Forte was expecting offers upwards of £40m for the Lowry. “So far the signs are quite promising,” he said.
He stressed that the rest of Rocco Forte’s hotels are in key international cities, and were therefore 'not for sale'.
Hotel investments
According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s latest Global Hotel Investor Outlook hotel transactions increased by 17 per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa last year.
The UK is the most liquid market, accounting for 36 per cent of total EMEA investment volumes, worth $4.7b last year.
A separate report from Deloitte also pointed to booming investment in the UK, with hotel sales activity totalling around £0.8bn in the second half of 2013, up 66 per cent on the same period in 2012.
