UK hotel investment hit £3bn during the first half of 2024, up from £990m in the same period a year before, according to Knight Frank.
A series of large portfolio transactions contributed to the trend, with hotel investment over the past six months surpassing the £2bn recorded in the whole of last year.
Transaction activity in H1 2024 was just 10% lower than the pre-pandemic level recorded in H1 2019.
Significant deals in 2024 included Blackstone’s £850m acquisition of a 33-strong regional Village Leisure portfolio and Starwood Capital’s £800m purchase of 10 Radisson Edwardian Hotels in London.
Portfolio transactions accounted for 76% of the total H1 transaction volume, compared to just 53% in H1 2019 when a similar level of portfolio transactions took place.
Henry Jackson, partner and head of hotel agency at Knight Frank, said: “An increase in the quality and the number of hotels seeking to transact is expected, as hotel owners who have extended their investment cycles now seek to realise their exit strategies.
“Where a particular asset meets all the investment criteria, we have seen certain buyers willing to pay full prices for these assets.
“With a strong pipeline of hotels currently in legals, the Knight Frank Hotels teams expects this momentum to continue, and an interest rate cut will serve to further enhance the current optimism for investment in the UK hotel market.”