EasyHotel reveals plans for 200-room property in Barcelona
easyHotel, the owner, developer, operator and franchisor of "super budget" branded hotels, announces that it has agreed the acquisition of land for a new build easyHotel in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, subject to planning permission. The project will be the Group's first owned hotel outside the UK and is in line with the Group's targeted European strategy. The planned 200-room easyHotel is expected to open in 2018.
easyHotel, the owner, developer, operator and franchisor of "super budget" branded hotels, announces that it has agreed the acquisition of land for a new build easyHotel in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, subject to planning permission. The project will be the Group's first owned hotel outside the UK and is in line with the Group's targeted European strategy. The planned 200-room easyHotel is expected to open in 2018. The site is located on Gran Via, the main avenue of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, with easy access to Barcelona City Centre and Barcelona Airport. The site has good transport links, with a train and Metro station adjacent to the proposed hotel, and is within walking distance of the Fira Barcelona Gran Via 240,000m2 convention centre, the Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat City of Justice and the Gran Via shopping centre, which includes 180 shops, 24 cafes/restaurants and a 15-screen cinema. Subject to planning permission, the total anticipated investment on completion will be approximately €15 million. Guy Parsons, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are delighted to be investing in our first owned property in Spain. The Barcelona region is an extremely attractive market for us, with Barcelona being the 12th most visited city in the world* . "The strength of the "easy" brand has already driven significant appetite for our hotels from the Spanish market, with Spanish customers currently accounting for 5% of all easyHotel guests. We are confident that there is considerable opportunity to expand the easyHotel brand through a mix of owned and franchised hotels in Europe and in Spain."
About easyHotel
easyHotel is an affordable, low-carbon chain of value hotels. It was founded in 2004 by Sir Stelios Haji loannou and is now 79.1% owned by ICAMAP Investments S.à r.l and Ivanhoé Cambridge.
ICAMAP Investments S.à r.l. is an investment fund managed by ICAMAP S.à r.l., an asset management company founded by Guillaume Poitrinal, Harm Meijer and Alexandre Aquien.
Ivanhoé Cambridge internationally develops and invests in high-quality real estate properties. It is a subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group.
easyHotel is surging its expansion across Europe in the coming years, leveraging the leading easy brand awareness. The company aims to strengthen its presence in key markets such as France, Spain, Germany and the UK, whilst developing in new markets, including Italy, Greece and Poland.
Operating hotels:
easyHotel has an estate of 49 hotels with c.4,900 rooms, comprising 17 franchised hotels (c.1,200 rooms) and 32 owned and leased hotels (c.3,700 rooms)
Hotels:
United Kingdom: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool, London Croydon, London Paddington, London Shoreditch, London South Kensington, London Victoria, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Oxford, Reading & Sheffield.
France: Marseille, Nice, Paris Charles De Gaulle Villepinte & Paris Nord Aubervilliers.
BENELUX: Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam City Centre, Amsterdam Zaandam, Brussels, Maastricht, Rotterdam, The Hague & The Hague Scheveningen.
Spain: Alicante, Barcelona Fira, Barcelona Meridiana, Madrid Centro Atocha, Madrid San Blas, Malaga & Valencia.
Switzerland: Basel, Zurich City Centre, Zurich Limmatplatz, Zurich Main Station & Zurich West.
Rest of Europe: Berlin, Budapest, Dublin, Lisbon & Sofia.