A major German hotel group deal has created a new powerhouse in the market, with HR Group acquiring H-Hotels.
The acquisition means adding over 60 hotels to HR Group’s roster, taking it to a scale of more than 200 hotels across eastern and central Europe, with a powerful presence in the German market.
Building a major European hotel business
HR Group has, to date, been growing to become the leading third party operator of franchised hotels in Germany. The company currently manages more than 160 hotels, the majority of them in Germany but with a smaller presence in Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy and Romania.
In 2024, HR Group took over hotels previously operated by Centro. More recently, it has migrated those properties to two of Wyndham’s brands, Vienna House and the Trademark Collection. The result means an increase of 25 properties for Wyndham in Europe.
The company operates a good number of hotels for international brand groups, including Accor, Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Radisson, and Wyndham; at the same time, it has strong relationships with major hotel property owners such as Pandox, DEKA and Union Investment. HR also operates its own brands, and a number of individually owned and branded properties.
H-Hotels operates more than 60 hotels across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Hungary. Its operation does not use any global brand names, instead running hotels under its own brand names, such as Hyperion, H4 Hotels, H2 Hotels, H+ Hotels, H.ostels and H.omes.
“We are convinced that H-Hotels, with its strong brands, high-quality properties and outstanding corporate culture, is a perfect fit for our portfolio,” said Ruslan Husry, chairman and CEO of HR Group. “We look forward to working together with our new colleagues to further develop H-Hotels and to combine the strengths of both companies.”
The current plans are for the hotels in the H-Hotels business to remain trading under their existing brands. However, integration will be made in the operations and distribution elements of the two businesses.
Working with H World
Concurrently, HR Group also strengthened its ties with Chinese hospitality group H World. A combined deal will see HR Group acquire seven IntercityHotel and three Steigenberger properties in Germany, which it will operate under the same brands into the future on a franchise basis. Also, two hotels already under HR’s management, Steigenberger Parkhotel Braunschweig and IntercityHotel Schwerin have had their franchise agreements extended.
China based H World has a substantial and fast growing hotel business in China, and is listed on the stock market in the USA. It acquired the former Deutsche Hospitality business in 2019, has been working on a strategy to streamline the European business since then. It has also taken some of the European brands, such as IntercityHotel, into the Chinese market, where its existing business is predominantly in the economy segments.
