Pictured: Vienna House by Wyndham Andel’s Berlin, Germany.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has acquired Austrian hotel brand Vienna House for €44 million.

The deal adds an upscale and midscale portfolio of approximately 40 hotels and more than 6,000 rooms to the US-headquartered group.

Franchise operation

Wyndham bought the brand from Berlin-based HR Group, a European hotel operator and long-standing franchised partner of Wyndham, which will continue to own or lease and operate existing Vienna House hotels under long-term franchise agreements with Wyndham.

The move is aimed at enabling Wyndham to grow the Vienna House brand by leveraging the US company’s marketing scale and franchise expertise, while allowing HR Group to focus on its core competencies as an owner and operator of strategic real estate across Europe. Upon closing, the Vienna House brand will become part of Wyndham’s brand portfolio and will be known as Vienna House by Wyndham.

European foothold

The acquisition adds 28 hotels in Germany alone, further progressing Wyndham’s foothold in one of its largest European markets with 120 franchised hotels and more than 19,000 rooms, while also expanding across surrounding countries. Together with Wyndham’s current presence in Europe, the combined portfolio exceeds 400 hotels in more than 30 countries.

Vienna House sites cater to a wide demographic of business and leisure travellers, with a portfolio of high end hotels, including both the Vienna House and Vienna House Easy brands, located in many destinations across Europe, including Berlin, Munich, Prague, Krakow and Bucharest. The brand is also stretching its legs globally with the upcoming Vienna House Vung Tau in Long Hải, Vietnam.

Recognised name

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts president for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA), Dimitris Manikis, commented: “Over the past 30 years, the Vienna House brand has built a highly-recognised name for travellers in many European countries. The acquisition of the Vienna House brand and our expanded collaboration with our trusted partner, HR Group, mark a key step in expanding our market presence even further, adding immediate scale and capability and supporting our ambitions for growth in important destinations across EMEA.”

While the US company’s president and CEO Geoff Ballotti added: “Europe continues to present accelerating growth for the travel sector with strong demand steadily bouncing back across leisure and business. Vienna House’s guest-centric culture, strong brand recognition and ambitious brand development plans align with our distribution goals, making it a perfect match to continue our international growth and reinforces our position and commitment to the region.”

Like-minded partner

Ruslan Husry, sole shareholder and CEO of HR Group, said: “We found an excellent like-minded partner in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, sharing the same passion to bring high-quality accommodations where travellers want to be. The Vienna House brand has built a fantastic reputation in many European destinations, and our expanded and close-knit collaboration with Wyndham will provide the strength, scale and expertise needed to grow the brand faster and ensure more guests experience what Vienna House has to offer, while also tapping into the renowned benefits of Wyndham Rewards.”

This isn’t Wyndham’s first European purchase, as back In 2010, the firm acquired the Tryp brand from Spanish group Meliá Hotels International.

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