The Netherlands: Dutch hotel group Eden Hotels, owned by KSL Capital Partners and the Dijkstra family, have appointed Billy Skelli-Cohen as CEO.
Skelli-Cohen, former CEO at Lore Group, has experience in investment, development at operations. At Lore, he led the acquisitions, repositioning and operations of its hotels such as Pulitzer Amsterdam, Sea Containers London and Riggs Washington DC.
Most recently, Skelli-Cohen co-founded a soon-to-launch hospitality brand, Àterre. To hear more about this venture, listen to the BoHoNews podcast episode here.
Speaking about his appointment, Skelli-Cohen said: “It’s a real privilege and an honour to be joining a long-standing family business that has built a compelling collection of city centre hotels over two generations and is now part of KSL’s impressive portfolio. I am excited to join forces with the existing team to propel the development and growth, and enable Eden hotels to write the next chapter in its history.”
Eden Hotels currently owns and operates 14 hotels with almost 2,000 rooms predominantly in Amsterdam and other major Dutch cities.
KSL bought a majority stake in Eden Hotels in December 2021. The investment from KSL will allow the group to expand into Europe, acquiring other city centre hotels.
Leon Dijkstra, shareholder and board member, said: “Our partnership with KSL in December marked the start of our growth plans, having Billy onboard will help us realise this. Collectively with KSL’s backing, our core DNA, and Billy’s experience we are excited to take Eden to the next level and kick start our European growth.”
