Ennismore and ActivumSG Capital Management have signed a long-term management agreement to bring Ennismore's lifestyle brand SLS to Europe for the first time, opening a 490-room hotel on the seafront of Barcelona in the second half of 2024.
The 31,326 sqm development is next to the beach and fronts the marina on the northeast side of Barcelona's 22@ district - the former industrial area revitalized under a major regeneration program.
It is the last seafront plot in metropolitan Barcelona available for hotel development, with the main structural work scheduled to be completed in the coming months.
SLS Barcelona will provide roof-top dining and bars, three swimming pools, a 772 square-meter ballroom, a spa and beauty salon, and a well-being and fitness center. Each guest room will have a balcony.
Ennismore and its collective of 14 brands represents 92 operating properties across 26 countries, with over 150 in the pipeline and over 150 restaurants and bars.
The project is an investment by Jersey-based ActivumSG's fifth real estate fund as part of a pan-European hotel strategy that ActivumSG began in Spain in 2015, initially targeting under-supplied segments of the market in major travel destinations.
According to the RealfinX platform, ActivumSG’s Fund V closed in January 2018 at a final size of $580.66 million, surpassing its target of $500 million.
The “new” Ennismore was created in 2021 when Ennismore and Accor entered a joint venture to create a new autonomous entity, with Accor holding a majority shareholding.
What They Said
Chadi Farhat, SLS brand chief operating officer, Ennismore, said: “Opening in Barcelona is a massive statement of our ambitions to grow the SLS brand in Europe. SLS Barcelona is in a great location that offers so much to guests. We’re excited at creating the ultimate luxury destination that guests will be torn to leave if they choose to explore the other delights of this great city.”
Saul Goldstein, founder and CEO of ActivumSG, said: “SLS Barcelona will be a distinctive glamorous lifestyle destination, supported by the powerful reach of the Ennismore and Accor’s distribution network. We couldn’t be happier to have SLS as our operating partner since it’s completely aligned with our vision to fill the gap in the lifestyle hotel market in this major European travel destination. It’s a fantastic result for our hotel strategy of creating great hotels in the best locations as the industry recovers from the pandemic.”