Blackstone’s return on investment before costs from its Mint Hotel portfolio is set to hit £805m, having agreed to sell the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Westminster, SW1, for £190m – a circa 5% yield.
Westmont Hospitality Group is close to signing a deal to buy the 464-bedroom hotel at 30 John Islip Street.
Lloyds Banking Group sold the nine-asset Mint business to Blackstone in 2011 for £600m and the hotels rebranded as Doubletrees or Hilton Garden Inns. Deals for all the UK and Irish assets have now been agreed through Eastdil Secured, including the DoubleTree by Hilton Tower Hill which the Bhatia family bought for £300m at the end of last year.
There is one remaining asset: the DoubleTree by Hilton in Amsterdam, which is being sold through Eastdil and CBRE for €340m (£289.5m).
Although Blackstone invested heavily in the portfolio through a rebranding and refurbishment process, as well as having to service debt, it will have made significant returns on the portfolio.
Two other DoubleTree by Hilton hotels in London were put up for sale this week.
Westmont is selling the DoubleTree by Hilton in Ealing, W5, for £40m – a 5% yield – through JLL. It originally acquired the asset as a Ramada hotel under a franchise agreement, and refurbished and rebranded the hotel to the Hilton brand in 2013 alongside the DoubleTree by Hilton Hyde Park, which it also owns.
Lone Star’s Amaris Hospitality is also looking to cash in on investor appetite and has instructed CBRE to sell its 172-bedroom DoubleTree by Hilton in Chelsea Harbour, SW6, for £45m – a 5% yield.
The DoubleTree brand
Hilton Hotels Corporation acquired the DoubleTree brand in December 1999 as part of its takeover of Promus Hotel Corporation. Blackstone bought Hilton in 2007 in a £10bn deal and under its ownership in 2011, prior to Hilton’s IPO in 2013, the logo and name was relaunched as DoubleTree by Hilton, positioning the brand among Hilton’s upscale offerings for both business and leisure travellers, and aggressively expanded.
There are now more than 455 DoubleTree by Hilton properties in 38 countries with more than 160 hotels in the pipeline.
Hilton Worldwide’s results for the third quarter of 2016 in the three months ended 30 September showed that revenue per room for the brand across its portfolio increased by 2.3% to $107.9m (£85.5m) with an average occupancy rate of 78.2%.
• To send feedback, e-mail amber.rolt@estatesgazette.com or tweet @amberrolt or @estatesgazette
