Juniper Hotels has secured a £34m loan from Leumi UK to finance its acquisition of the leasehold interest and refurbishment of the Holiday Inn London – Oxford Circus.
Juniper said it plans to add 171 bedrooms to the Edwardian era hotel on Welbeck Street, W1, and reposition it as an upscale boutique offering.
The deal closes as hotel bookings rebound to near pre-Covid levels across Europe. Overnight hotel bookings in the EU are predicted to reach 95% of the numbers seen in 2019 by the end of the year.
The loan is the latest in a series of deals completed between Leumi UK and Westmont Hospitality – a part-owner of Juniper that owns and operates 56,000 hotel bedrooms across three continents.
David Yeadon, executive director of real estate debt advisory at SPF Private Clients, said: “Prime central London hotel assets have rebounded spectacularly, and in the safe hands of Westmont Hospitality the purchase and repositioning of this hotel is bound to be a resounding success.”
Soraya Shamji, hotel consultant at Leumi UK, said: “The outlook for well-specced assets in central locations is positive as consumer demand and investor interest in hotels rebounds from the pandemic. Our strategy of supporting hotel operators during Covid-19 has proven effective and has allowed us to forge relationships with leading operators, and we are proud that it is now leading to those same partners creating opportunities like this one.”
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