An Aberdeen hotel was included in a £130million portfolio of 10 UK hospitality properties that was put up for sale yesterday.
But potential suitors could be put off at a time when room revenues in the north-east market are plummeting.
The Hotel Collection, a group of properties owned by Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star, has instructed Savills and Rothschild to find buyers for the portfolio, which notched revenues of £48million last year.
The collection has a combined total of more than 1,400 bedrooms and 111 meetings rooms, as well as restaurants, gyms and spas.
The Aberdeen Altens Hotel, which has 216 bedrooms and 11 conference rooms, and The Stirling Highland Hotel are the two Scottish properties on the list.
There is one in Wales – The Angel Hotel in Cardiff – and the rest are in England.
Martin Rogers, head of UK hotel transactions at Savills, said: “We are pleased to be bringing this significant collection of hotels to market. The distinctive heritage and character of each property has been maintained while generating a robust collective income. The portfolio also offers numerous value-add and asset management opportunities to further enhance the long term revenue.”
It is thought bids for individual hotels or “mini-clusters” would be welcomed, as finding a single buyer for all 10 may prove to be overly ambitious.
Savills declined to put a valuation on the Aberdeen Altens Hotel.
The announcement came on the same day a new study showed Granite City hotels are continuing to struggle amid the oil industry downturn.
Low crude prices are taking their toll on a market which has traditionally relied on custom from people employed in the energy sector, while the opening of new hotels has also contributed to an overall drop in income.
Room revenues for Aberdeen hotels in January were 43.4% lower than a year earlier, while occupancy was down 16.2%, according to accountancy network BDO’s latest survey of three and four star establishments.
Alastair Rae, head of BDO’s audit practice in Scotland, said: “Aberdeen continues to suffer and, although there are signs of the oil price stabilising, it is apparent that the hospitality sector remains under strain due to the dramatic reduction in business travel.
“I don’t believe this will pick up in the immediate future but, perhaps in a year or so, there may be something of a return to fortune for the market in Aberdeen.”
In contrast to Aberdeen, the Highland capital, Inverness, had a positive January, with occupancy up 10.4% and revenues 13.3% higher.
Mr Rae said Inverness hotels are reaping the rewards of the city’s burgeoning tourism market.
For Scotland as a whole there were low single digital percentage increases in revenues and occupancy.
Recommended for you
