Tag: hotel management

Alay de Benalmádena Hotel’s Owners to Invest €3 Million in Renovations

9 October 2018

The company that owns the hotel will end its contract with the Catalan group Ibersol, taking direct control of the hotel’s management.

The Alay de Benalmádena hotel will undergo a major investment of approximately three million euros in the coming months by which it plans to improve its facilities, especially its general electrical, water and air conditioning networks. The hotel’s management announced the plan yesterday, stating that the construction that will be executed next year will be “a new phase” in the hotel’s 50 years of operation since it opened its doors in 1964.

According to Juan Ramón Montoya, the architect who will carry out the renovation, the €3-million investment will be very focused on upgrading the hotel’s systems, especially air conditioning. “We want to make the hotel more sustainable, so there will be another series of renovations to our water supply and boilers, as well as our protection against fire,” he explained.

It is not, however, the first renovation to be carried out since the hotel’s inauguration in the 1960s. “There have been other interventions on several occasions, including an important one in 2015, which was more focused on the modernisation of our facilities and room design,” he added. This second phase will upgrade the internal networks and “some rooms, out of 250, that are still pending,” he clarified.

Mr Montoya stated that the construction is expected to start at the beginning of the year and should not last for more than three months. “We expect to have it done by just before the Easter holiday,” he said.

In addition to the renovations above, the statement by the hotel added that the other major change would be that the company that owns the establishment, Hotel Alay SA, will take over the direct management of the establishment. So far, the hotel has been leased for several years to an external operator belonging to the Catalan group Ibersol, according to the press release.

A reorientation

“In 2015, after having recently acquired the hotel, it was submitted for a major renovation focusing on the modernisation of its facilities, adapting them to the demands of an increasingly competitive market, which has maintained the establishment as one of the most important hotels on the Costa del Sol,” the press release read. The Alay’s management stated that the hotel’s “pre-eminent” position had led its owners to decide last year to “reorient” their activity to specialise in hotel management. “With this, [the company] began the preparations that will allow them to take charge of the hotel’s operation without the need for intermediaries after the liquidation of their contractual commitments as of January 1, 2019,” they added.

The document also, following the words of its architect, stated that “the idea of ​the people in charge of the project is to submit the hotel to an intensive reform to completely renovate its facilities and equipment, which will allow it to open its doors at the beginning of the 2019 tourist season.” The hotel’s owners added that they have the “firm intention” of offering its customers a whole new range of services,” by taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the Alay Hotel’s wide and varied facilities and premises.”

Original Story: Diário Sur – Iván Gelibter

Translation: Richard Turner

Meliá to Open 1 New Hotel Every 15 Days During 2018 and 2019

7 June 2018 – Expansión

Meliá is accelerating its growth trajectory and is seeking to continue exporting its brands overseas. The Mallorcan hotel chain is planning to open 50 new hotels around the globe over the next two years. “This means that, on average, and with the exception of force majeure or unexpected events, we will be opening a hotel somewhere in the world almost every two weeks”, said Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Vice President and CEO of the group at the General Shareholders’ Meeting yesterday.

The company ended last year with 375 hotels and 96,239 rooms in 43 countries. Of the total, 68% of the group’s hotels are located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 33% in America and 9% in Asia-Pacific.

In this sense, the President of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá, highlighted that expansion will continue to be a fundamental “motor” for growth. Escarrer Juliá explained that of the new openings planned until 2019, 20% will be located in EMEA countries, another 20% in the Mediterranean, 27% in America and another 33% in Asia-Pacific.

“Our bet for Asia-Pacific is clear if we consider that since 2013, we have more than quadrupled the number of hotels there to 45, including those that are operational and being opened”, he said.

Escarrer highlighted the operating performance of the company, which last year generated a profit, excluding capital gains, of €128.7 million, up by 27.8%, which allowed it to distribute a dividend of €0.1682 per share, in other words, €38.6 million.

Currently, 31% of the group’s EBTIDA, around €90 million, stems from the management of hotels. “This model allows us to generate high returns with minimal capital requirements since we invest in the acquisition of high-value management contracts and not in real estate assets”.

The CEO of Meliá underlined the effort undertaken in terms of digitalisation and quantified the investment in this area at €100 million over the last three years. That has resulted in the greater role of the corporate website in the business. The director explained that revenues proceeding from melia.com amounted to €520 million in 2017, up by 21%.

The director said that the group’s strategy involves continuing to rotate assets and strengthen their alliances with their partners to grow and improve the hotel portfolio. In 2017, Meliá spent €244 million maintaining and renovating its hotel portfolio.

“We have initiated a new valuation of our portfolio of assets, the global results of which we will have during the third quarter. I trust that the outcome of that valuation exercise will be positive.

Escarrer also referred to the challenges facing the company, including the push from new competitors such as Airbnb and the political instability.

Risk factors

“We feel very comfortable and confident of being able to fulfil the objectives of our strategic plan, although we monitor the main risk factors in our industry very closely, such as the evolution of the so-called collaborative economies and of processes that generate uncertainty, such as Brexit and the complex political situations in countries such as Italy and Spain”.

In any case, he reiterated the forecasts for 2018, with an improvement in RevPAR (average revenue per available room) (…) and an increase in margins of between 100 and 150 basis points.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hotel Miguel Ángel’s Socimi Will Debut On The MAB In 2017

5 October 2016 – Expansión

This iconic asset will form part of the Socimi created as a result of the alliance between the hotel group BlueBay and Le Royal Hotels & Resorts, which is due to debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) during the first quarter of 2017.

In addition to Hotel Miguel Ángel, the Socimi will initially comprise other hotels located in Mallorca and a commercial development project on the Costa del Sol. In the absence of the opinion of an independent expert, first estimates indicate that the Socimi will be worth around €500 million.

The company has already engaged Armabex to prepare the informative document for joining the market. That firm will act as the global coordinator, alongside PwC, throughout the process.

The contribution of the hotel, which is owned by the Iraqi born British investor Nadhmi Auchi, who owns Le Royal Hotels & Resorts, has been carried out through a company restructuring process performed, primarily, using local companies and entities in Luxembourg.

New assets

“Although during the first phase, assets such as Hotel Miguel Ángel by BlueBay, some hotels in Mallorca and a commercial development on the Costa del Sol, including a hotel, will be included, the group will subsequently incorporate more properties, as a result of the asset restructuring process in commercial, fiscal and corporate terms, as well as due to the purchase of new assets”, explained the Chairman of BlueBay Hotels, Jamal Satli Iglesias in an interview. “The Socimi will be managed from Dubai, where I live, which will enable us to service different investors from the Middle East and London, for the other international investors”, said the Syrian-born Spanish businessman.

For the executive, the constitution of this Socimi forms part of a corporate strategy through which, in line with the actions of other international hotel chains, he wants to separate out the asset ownership and the operational sides of the business. “With this, we are looking for growth and consolidation”.

Amongst the benefits of this Socimi, Satli Iglesias highlights its significant diversification, both in terms of properties as well as lease contracts, which allows it to expect “very attractive returns, which will continue to increase over the next few years, driven by growth in the real estate sector and by the forecast growth in the tourism sector”.

Satli Iglesias said that this operation seeks to obtain “transparency and returns”. “During this first phase, we are more open to the entry of institutional investors and other hotel chains or hotel property owners who may want to join our project”.

BlueBay – the fifteenth largest hotel company in Spain – currently has 42 hotels in its portfolio, of which it owns 50%. “We are committed to a hotel management regime, backed by property ownership, and our future strategy is to increase the number of hotels that we manage under this structure”, he explained.

“Our strategic plan for 2017-2020, which we have just presented, involves increasing our current hotel supply by almost 50% to exceed 60 hotels by the end of the period. In terms of the number of beds, we expect the figure to double from its current level (23,000 beds) to more than 50,000 beds by 2020”, said the executive.

Satli Iglesias explained that in order to undertake these expansion plans, the group plans to allocate around 80% of the company’s profits to growth.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell To Invest €450M In Its Hotel Arm

4 December 2015 – Expansión

Hotel Investments Partnership (HI Partners), the hotel management and investment arm of Banco Sabadell, is backing itself forward to become one of the main players in the Spanish hotel sector. The firm wants to become one of the largest hotel owners in Spain, involving itself in the management of hotels and improving their income statements. “There is a significant opportunity in the market for the creation of large portfolios of hotel assets”, says Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas (pictured above, centre), CEO of HI Partners.

The company will invest €450 million over the next three years to refurbish and increase the value of its hotels, an amount that will be completely financed by Sabadell during this first phase.

The bank controls 99% of the company’s capital and Hernández-Puértolas and two other partners, Sergio Carrascosa and Santiago Fisas (pictured above, left and right, respectively), own the remaining 1%. Enric Rovira, Deputy CEO of the Sabadell, is the President of HI Partners, which has a dedicated team comprising 22 professionals and is managed independently of the bank.

Creation of two vehicles

Sabadell transferred 22 hotels with 1,600 rooms to HI Partners, after it had accumulated them on its balance sheet during the crisis as the result of foreclosures due to unpaid debts. Moreover, the entity has entrusted the team with the management of a portfolio of hotel debt amounting to €800 million, which as around one hundred assets associated with it. According to Hernández-Puértolas, around thirty of these hotels may be transferred to HI Partners over the next few years, increasing the number of rooms owned by the investment company from 1,600 to 8,000. Meanwhile, HI Partners is also analysing the purchase of assets in the market that are not linked to the bank.

For the management of this real estate portfolio, HI Partners has just constituted two new companies: HI Partners Holdco Value Added and HI Partners Holdco Gestión Activa. The first vehicle will be the focus of most of the company’s efforts and will receive around 90% of the investment. It will take ownership of the best hotels in the portfolio, notably the largest properties, those situated in premium areas and those capable of generating significant yields once they have been refurbished. This company currently owns three assets: the Hotel Prestige Coral Playa, located on the Costa Brava; the Silken Málaga – which HI has just purchased from Urvasco -; and the new hotel that the company is constructing on Calle Atocha in Madrid, which will be managed by the Axel chain.

The thirty-odd hotels to be transferred to HI Partners from Sabadell’s debt portfolio are also expected to be incorporated into the Value Added company. The challenge is for that vehicle to generate an EBITDA of €35 million in 2018 and of €70 million in 2021.

Meanwhile, HI Partners Holdco Gestión Activa now owns 19 hotels, the majority of which are smaller properties, located in secondary areas. The objective is to divest the majority of these establishments, although the firm wants optimise their management first. As such, it expects to sign agreements with several hotel operators to this end.

Original story: Expansión (by Sergi Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gilinski Acquires Hotel Villa Magna For €190M

30 June 2015 – Expansión

The Colombian investor has acquired the exclusive Madrilenian hotel for €190 million and is now negotiating the contract for the management of the property with the international hotel chains Marriott and Starwood.

The Colombian businessman Jaime Gilinski (pictured above) has agreed the acquisition of the Hotel Villa Magna in Madrid for €190 million. The proeprty is currently owned by Sodim, a holding company controlled by the Portuguese Queiroz Pereira family. The deal is expected to be signed within the next few days (…).

The transaction represents the largest hotel purchase in recent times in Madrid. Last month, the Ritz Hotel was sold to the Saudí group Olayan, in a joint venture with the Mandarin Group for €130 million; and in May 2014, Katara Hospitality purchased the Intercontinental Hotel for €70 million. The consideration also comes close to the €200 million paid by Qatari Diar in 2013 for the W Hotel in Barcelona.

The Queiroz Pereira group purchased Hotel Villa Magna in 2001 from the Japanese company Shirayama for €80 million, and spent a further €50 million on the refurbishment of the property.

The deal, coordinated by the real estate consultancy JLL, has been closed in record time since the process for marketing the property officially began less than a month ago and reflects the interest that exists for real estate assets in Spain. Gilinski’s offer exceeds the property’s asking price (€180 million) by €10 million.

Once the deal has been signed, Gilinski will focus on reaching an agreement for the management of the property. After ruling out other options, he is currently negotiating with two candidates, namely, Marriott and Starwood.

The hotel is currently operated by the Queiroz family following the departure of the US hotel chain Hyatt in 2009, which managed the property for almost two decades.

The Hotel Villa Magna has 150 luxury rooms, including suites (measuring between 30m2 to 290m2), following the refurbishment work undertaken by the former owners, between 2007 and 2009.

Commitment to Spain

The new owner of Villa Magna arrived in Spain in 2013 after acquiring 5% of Banco Sabadell. Since then, he has not only increased his stake in the bank to become the largest shareholder in the Spanish entity, he has also evaluated opportunities in other sectors, such as real estate.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Overseas Funds On The Hunt For Holiday Hotels

26 March 2015 – Expansión

Socimis (‘socidedades cotizadas de inversión inmobiliaria’ or listed real estate investment trusts) and the appetite of overseas investment funds are driving the professionalization of the hotel sector in Spain, to separate the ownership of properties from the management of establishments, in line with the Anglo-Saxon model.

That is one of the conclusions to come out of a conference held in Madrid yesterday about the evolution of the hotel sector over the last decade. The conference was organised by Magma Hospitality Consulting and the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), the largest hotel group in the world by size.

Liquidity

“Socimis are an essential tool that Spain has needed for a long time, to provide liquidity to a portfolio of assets, respond to generational renewal and professionalize management”, said Luis Migual Martín, Investment Director at Azora.

This company launched a Socimi (Hispania), which formed an alliance with Barceló at the start of the year to create the first listed investment vehicle specialising in the hotel sector (Bay Hotels), which has assets of more than €420 million.

For his part, Alejandro Hernández Puértolas, CEO at HI Partners, the hotel fund driven by Solvia – Banco Sabadell’s real estate arm – added that “the Socimis could bring together assets in Spain amounting to €8,000 million”. In the USA, the REITS – equivalent to Socimis – that specialise in the hotel sector have (assets under management amounting) to more than €70,000 million.

Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement. For Martín “there needs to be a change to the current legislation to reflect the management model, which now falls outside of (the scope of) the Socimis”. Arturo Díaz, CEO of Business Development at Renta Corporación, added that “other instruments will be created besides the Socimis”.

In the case of international funds, the focus has shifted from the city to the beach. “Institutional investors are starting to get involved into the vacation segment. The main difficulty is obtaining a portfolio of assets, but the appetite is there”, said Díaz, who called for restraint when it comes to changing the use of office buildings and homes into hotels.

Original story: Expansión (by Y. Blanco)

Translation: Carmel Drake