Genting sells the COMO Metropolitan Hotel, London to DTZ Investors
Main Photo: The bedroom at the COMO Metropolitan Hotel, London
Date: December 2019
Location: Park Lane, London, England, UK
Name: COMO Metropolitan Hotel, London
No. of Keys: 144
Seller: Genting, the Malaysian casino owner…besides 42 UK casinos, including the world-famous Crockfords in London, they do have the 180-room Genting Resorts World Hotel in Birmingham.
The first bricks-and-mortar venture by Genting Hong Kong, Resorts World Manila opened its doors back in 2009, and is now one of the premier leisure brands in the Genting Group. A flagship integrated leisure and entertainment complex, Resorts World Manila offers guests 3 hotels (including the 6-star, all-suite Maxims Hotel), a must-visit shopping mall, 4 exclusive cinemas and a multi-purpose performing arts theatre. Elsewhere in Asia, Genting Highlands is regarding as one of the most prestigious destinations in the world, and the Sentosa Resort in Singapore sees more than 20 million visitors each and every year.
And if that’s not enough, Genting owns Star Cruises, the third largest cruise operator in the world, with a combined fleet of 18 ships that offer over 35,000 berths and visits more than 200 destinations around the world throughout Southeast Asia and all around the globe.
Buyer: London-based institutional investor DTZ Investors has acquired the freehold interest in the 144-room COMO Metropolitan Hotel from Malaysian casino owner Genting for over £70 million. The Park Lane property, which is leased to Singaporean operator COMO Hotels and Resorts, opened in 1997 as one of London’s first boutique hotels and also includes the first Nobu restaurant outside of the United States. Besides the hotel and the Nobu restaurant, the current transaction also includes the Colony Club Casino as well as nine residential apartments.
Global real estate advisor, CBRE, has advised casino giant Genting on the sale of their freehold interest in the COMO Metropolitan hotel.
This rare freehold investment opportunity comprises the majority of the 5-star COMO Metropolitan Hotel, together with nine luxury apartments operated by the hotel, the majority of the renowned Colony Club Casino & part of Nobu Restaurant.
The hotel has 144 bedrooms, a gym, spa and events spaces, and is situated amongst a successive row of the most famous and finest hotels in London.
Tony Brothwell, Fund Manager at DTZ Investors said “We have been looking to purchase a secure, prime Central London hotel investment for some time and this is just about as good as it gets. The asset will be a core holding for Strathclyde Pension Fund bringing the portfolio size to over £2bn.”
Marc Nelson, Director, Hotel Investment Properties, CBRE, said “Having the chance to own prime Mayfair real estate on one of the most well-known and prestigious hotel locations in the world is extremely rare and always presents as an exceptional opportunity. We received significant interest from both domestic and international capital sources, demonstrating that the prime London market and the hotel sector remains buoyant.”
Price: £70m
Price per Key: £486,111
THPT Comment: Genting also has been trying to sell the Park Lane Mews hotel, just behind the COMO for some three years now…the price is deemed to be rather high, as the only sensible thing is to demolish the hotel and rebuild…also rather small, currently standing at 70 or so rooms. Not a bad price for the COMO…the hotel opened to a fanfare of being the trendy spot, with a bar that one can only enter as a club member or hotel resident and the eponymous Nobu restaurant….didn’t quite live up to the hype.
First Seen: CBRE website
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