Starwood Capital Group has announced some changes in its portfolio the company has just completed the sale of four hotels in France. The new owner of the properties is Constellation Hotels Holdings Ltd. It is also reported that the hotels will be managed by another internationally famous hotel company - Hyatt Hotels Group.
All the hotels will be rebranded already this April. The new properties will add more than 1,700 guestrooms to the French hotel portfolio of Hyatt. Prior to rebranding, each of the hotels will undergo a renovation. The hotels will also change their names. The new names are the following:
- Hotel Martinez will change its name and operate as Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez;
- Palais de la Mediterranee Hotel and Casino will be changed as Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Mediterranee;
- Hotel du Louvre will keep its current name, but once the renovation is finished, the hotel will add a name of the brand, Andaz, to its title;
- Finally, after renovation Concorde Lafayette will start operating as Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile.
As Hyatt’s senior vice president Peter Norman says, the company is very delighted with the deal. Europe is one of strategic markets for Hyatt, but this is a market with high entry barriers, so the company is very pleased with the purchase of four hotels in one transaction.
Starwood Capital got the properties in 2005, when the company purchased a part of the Societe Du Louvre portfolio. The sale of the hotels is a part of the current strategy by Starwood that includes the monetization of the Groupe Du Louvre portfolio. The company has already sold assets worth more than US$3 billion, and now they plan to maximize the value of the remaining assets.