A trio of investors has acquired the Hoxton hotel in Barcelona, convinced of the long term value in the city’s accommodation space.
The investment has involved Partners Group, a major investment firm, who made the acquisition on behalf of clients. Also making the commitment is Trinity Group, alongside a third private investor. The three are convinced of “several thematic tailwinds” that will benefit the asset over the coming years.
Barcelona’s Positive Market Outlook
Key among those tailwinds is a restriction on further hotel development in Barcelona. The city’s authorities have paid attention to complaints from local residents that their city was seeing a negative impact from too many tourist visitors. As a result, new hotels cannot be developed, while there has also been a clamp down on short term rentals such as those listed by Airbnb. These have been blamed for creating a shortage of affordable long term rental homes in the city.
According to research by Partners, this has resulted in a compound annual growth rate in Barcelona hotel rooms, of just 1% per year, over the last decade. Set this against demand growth of 3%, and it appears that hotel operators in the city have leverage to increase rates in real terms, over the medium term.
The hotel, officially Hoxton Poblenou, opened in April 2022, after being created by the imaginative conversion of existing properties in the city district. It is within walking distance of the beach and other city landmarks such as the Sagrada Familia.
The property features 240 rooms across five different categories, including some suited to families and others designed for long stay guests. There is a rooftop bar and cafe, alongside an open air pool, all providing guests with a great place to view the city of Barcelona across its rooftops.
“The Hoxton Poblenou is perfectly positioned to capitalize on Barcelona’s unique appeal to both business and leisure visitors,” said Stephen McCall, real estate managing director at Partners Group. “Executing a value creation plan in the hotel sector is specialised and operationally intense, which is why we have built vertical depth into our hospitality strategy by partnering with Trinity on this transaction.”
Specifically at the Hoxton, the buyers reckon that the hotel will soon start to see the benefits from being part of the Accor distribution system and loyalty programme, named ALL Accor. They also see the opportunity to increase the property’s group bookings and meetings and events business, pulling in more companies to arrange conferences and staff gatherings at the venue.
Making a Play for Hotel Investments
Partners and Trinity are closely linked, with Partners having acquired a minor stake in operator Trinity in 2023. Since then, the pair have focused on hotel sector opportunities across Europe, and in 2024 acquired the 266 room Standard hotel in London, now a part of the Hyatt global brand portfolio.
Also in 2024, Trinity partnered with Oaktree Capital Management, and funds managed by UBS Asset Management, to acquire the Park Hyatt Zurich, buying the 138 room hotel from Hyatt itself as the international hotel group progressed its disposition programme.
