UK: Real estate investors Henderson Park and Hines have announced the acquisition of a portfolio of five hotels on the Greek island of Crete.
This is the second foray into the Greek market by the joint venture, following their acquisition of the Ledra hotel in 2017, which was transformed into the Grand Hyatt.
The five hotels are as follows:
- Hermes and Coral, two adjacent hotels with 218 and 170 rooms respectively, centrally located in the coastal city of Agios Nikolaos;
- Santa Marina and Apollonia, with 208 and 336 rooms respectively, benefitting from prime seafront locations in Crete’s capital city, Heraklion, which is just 5km from the island’s main international airport and close to world famous archaeological site Knossos;
- a 162-room resort and spa hotel located in Sitia, a coastal town on the west of the island.
This brings the portfolio’s room total over 1,000.
Crete is the largest island and establish resort destination in Greece, notable for its longer than average holiday season. The island is now more accessible than ever due to the creation of a new international airport at Kastelli.
The brands hope to use their international asset management experience with these acquisitions, introducing specialist luxury managers Y&T Daskalantonakis Knossian Group as the local operating partner. With strong records of occupancy and uplift through restructuring, the Hines and Henderson Park hope to revitalise the value of these properties.
Mediterranean hospitality has been seeing major unique investment. Mykonos announced the opening of Greece’s first vegan hotel, while the team behind El Celler de Can Roca launched a chocolate themed hotel as well.
