In Paris, an iconic Art Deco hotel reopens.
The art deco Prince De Galles in Paris will reopen as part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s strategy to invest more than $200 million in its luxury collection hotels. adhunt
The Prince De Galles has reopened after a two-year restoration, and it now reflects the art deco style it featured when it initially opened in 1928, with original designs by architect André Arfvidson. ERTIM Architectes SA collaborated on the renovation alongside French designers Pierre-Yves Rochon and Bruno Borrione, according to the business.
According to the announcement, the hotel has 115 rooms, 44 suites, two royal suites, and public spaces that resemble an intimate salon with black marble, Macassar ebony, and textiles inspired by the 1920s.
A 2,600-square-foot two-story suite with an almost 1,000-square-foot patio with breathtaking views of the city is also available.
In the announcement, Starwood MENA president Michael Wale remarked, “As Starwood continues to develop the Luxury Collection brand portfolio, we have made huge investments with our partners to restore some of our most iconic European hotels.”
The Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville, the Hotel Maria Cristina in San Sebastian, which reopened in 2012, and the Gritti Palace in Venice, which opened in February 2013, are among the European hotels in Starwood’s restoration plan.
EMEA hotel investment is driven by Middle Eastern capital.
The first half of 2013 saw a 38 percent increase in hotel investment volumes throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa compared to the same period previous year, owing mostly to a significant increase in Middle Eastern money.
According to the most recent data from Jones Lang LaSalle, total hotel investment volume in EMEA was €5.5 billion in the first half of the year, with the majority of it occurring in the first quarter.
The amount of money invested in the region by Middle Eastern investors nearly tripled from €745 million in the first half of 2012 to €2.1 billion in the first half of 2013. According to JLL, investment volumes continued to be dominated by wealth funds from Qatar and Abu Dhabi, with a concentration on key European markets.
The most active market was the United Kingdom, which reported €2.3 billion in transaction volumes, accounting for 41% of total EMEA volumes. France came in second with €1.3 billion, accounting for 23% of the total, and Germany came in third with €642 million, accounting for 12% of the total.
“This is being fueled by a strong pipeline of opportunities coming to market and a closing of the spread between buyer and seller pricing expectations, not least driven by more readily available debt financing, both from traditional and new sources of debt,” Christoph Härle, chief executive, continental Europe, for JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group, said in a statement.
The sale of the 447-room InterContinental London Park Lane, which was acquired for €359 million by an affiliate of Constellation Hotels Holding Limited, a Middle Eastern private investment group; and the sale of the 138-room Mandarin Oriental Paris, which sold for €290 million to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, including two retail units, were among the “trophy deals” completed in the first half of the year.
A total of €1.8 billion was spent on portfolio deals involving 42 UK Marriott hotels, four Groupe du Louvre hotels in France, and the Principal Hayley portfolio of 27 UK hotels, accounting for 33% of the overall transaction volume in EMEA.
Westmont, Starwood Cash, and Morgan Stanley were among the global investors who contributed 20% of the invested capital.
The firm’s initial prediction of €8.5 billion for investment volumes for 2013 is projected to be exceeded.