The hotel investment market in Italy is in a state of flux since the abrupt slowdown in the last quarter of 2022 that closed below the previous year's level (€1.4 billion according to the Pambianco Observatory. Ed.). High inflation rates and financing costs seem to be stalling capital which is waiting for better times despite the boom in tourism arrivals. Soaring occupancy and average room rates are failing to completely win the hearts of investors who, with their long-term logic, are baulking at the high prices and even more at the excessively high interest rates.
A recent analysis by Thrends' hoteltransactions.it platform showed that in the first quarter of 2023 there were only eleven traceable hotel transactions in Italy for €116.1 million, compared to 31 transactions for €288.2 million in the same quarter last year. The average room remained stable, rising from €155,000 to €157,000. Yet auctions hit record numbers, doubling between January and March 2023 over the same quarter in 2022: 18 auctions for €50.1 million, compared to nine for €20 million in 2022.
One of the most important transactions in the first quarter of this year was the sale of the Wyndham Rome Midas, a 4-star hotel with 349 rooms, to real estate developer and asset manager Zeitgeist Asset Management. Followed by the 127-room 4-star Principe di Lazise Hotel & Spa on Lake Garda which was sold by Bain Capital to the Fattal Hotel Group for €25 million.
Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist
