Hotel asset management:
from acquisition to exit

What is inside

1. 01

   What a hotel asset manager is responsible for: value over the hold

   The asset manager is responsible for maximising the value of the asset and the investment during the holding period, and for steering the asset in a direction where value can be created at exit; the operator runs the day-to-day operation and the yearly business plan.

   Rastko Djordjevic, JLL

2. 02

   Reposition before you rebrand: segmentation first, product second, brand last

   A six-month downward trend in RGI led the team to deep-dive into benchmark data; the cause was a heavy, low-rated wholesaler segment, which buys inventory in bulk at a high discount and resells it, so the hotel loses control over its inventory.

   Sophie Richard, M&L Group

3. 03

   Fewer keys, more value: buy assets with several levers to pull

   Capital Hospitality Europe prefers hotels with several levers to activate (a different client mix, a capex programme, a better revenue management strategy) over working line by line on operating costs; the aim is to create value, not extract it.

   Maxime des Monstiers, Capital Hospitality Europe

4. 04

   Lease, management agreement or franchise: decide who carries the risk

   In a lease the tenant owns the operating company and employs the staff. Invesco prefers hybrid leases: a minimum guaranteed rent protects the downside and a turnover-based top-up lets the owner share in the hotel's success; a demarcation list in the lease fixes which works the tenant-funded FF&E reserve pays and which the landlord pays.

   Martin Hendricks, Black Label Hotels

5. 05

   Spend capex where it pays: rate ceilings, ageing product and ESG

   Check the rate ceiling before you renovate: two competitors that fully renovated gained only 7 to 9 percent in ADR, not enough to pay back the investment, so the JLL team focused on executive rooms, a larger leisure share and a fitness club instead.

   Adrian Flück, Invesco Real Estate

6. 06

   Read the operation, not just the spreadsheet

   A good asset manager reports performance; a great one converts it into decisions: what do we change, who decides by when, and what happens if we do nothing. The best can speak both the operator's language and the owner's capital language.

   Emmanuel Dissez, Schroders Capital

7. 07

   Prepare the exit: de-risk the asset and leave upside for the next owner

   Keeping the exit in mind from day one kept the Barcelona team fast and focused: bought in late 2021 and on the market in early 2026, the hotel was moved to direct operation instead of a long-term brand or franchise agreement, so a future owner keeps the freedom to choose.

   Théodore Boschmans, Christie & Co

Listen to the cases

• Reposition before rebrand: a Brussels hotel asset case
• Reposition with the exit in mind: a Barcelona case
• Owner, operator, advisor: what a hotel asset manager really does
• Fewer rooms, more value: repositioning La Pérouse in Nice
• How a hybrid lease creates hotel value: the Tivoli Oriente case
• Inside the business of selling hotels
• How Black Label Hotels Scale Profitably
• Hotels need leaders, not more systems
• How Saudi hospitality does it differently
• Transforming hospitality through vision and strategy
• From snackbar to smart hotel chain (Dutch)

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