The new data from Deloitte throws light upon some very interesting fact – hotel transaction activity in the UK is blooming. During the first half of 2012 the total sum of hotel transactions in the UK reached approximately US$1.5 billion. That is almost two times more comparing to the same period of 2011.
The trend started in 2011 and continued throughout the first half of 2012. If in 2011 investors were interested in purchasing portfolios of hotels in the UK (approximately 70% of deals), in the first half of 2012 the total activity of portfolio transactions was just 30%.
Hotels in London are still the most desirable form of investment. Among the most notable deals are the sales of InterContinental hotel in Westminster, Crowne Plaza hotel in Shoreditch, and the Hilton Southbank site. Outside the capital many hotel deals were connected with the sale of the former von Essen hotels (for example, Royal Crescent and Cliveden hotels in Bath). Flat RevPAR and uncertainty of the economic position of the UK province makes it not very popular among investors.
According to experts, the hotel sector of the UK showed signs of recovery in 2011 and the trend has persisted in 2012, so more investments and large deals are to come.