A smattering of big London hotel deals has helped swell transaction volumes in the UK as the market looks to maintain momentum after a strong end to last year.
However, it’s worth mentioning that the market recovery remains narrow with limited depth beyond a number of key prime assets that have traded.
Volumes are up but not evenly
If you look at the above rolling quarter on quarter chart you can see that there has been a material improvement over the past couple of quarters with a nice rebound on 2025.
- Q1 2026: ~$1.6 billion
- Q2 pipeline building (~$0.7 billion pending)
However the market is still a way off what it saw in 2024, reflecting a much more uncertain macro environment in the wake of US escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
Single asset deals do the heavy lifting
A couple of years ago it was the meaty portfolio deals doing all the work, now investors are focusing on single asset deals, working on a case-by-case basis rather than investing at scale in any market or segment.
Some notable big deals done this year illustrate the point:
The Westminster London (Curio Collection)
Buyer: RIU Hotels & Resorts (Spain)
Seller: Consortium incl. Westmont Hospitality, BHP, PPF Real Estate
Price: £290m
Why it matters: One of the largest (if not the) largest Uk single-asset deal in recent memory. Plants a flag in the ground for pricing.
W London
Buyer: Punta Na is the family office and investment vehicle of the Andic family, owners of fashion brand Mango
Seller: SAl Rayyan Tourism Investment Company
Price: £260 million (reported)
Why it matters: Illustrates ricing resilience of assets at luxury lifestyle end of the market
St Giles Hotel:
Buyer: Criterion Capital (Asif Aziz)
Seller: IGB Corporation Berhad-led consortium
Price: £220 million
Why it matters: Huge real estate-led play from an established owner in the London area
All of these hotels are large, urban stand alone assets
London is the winner
As with so much of UK life, London takes a disproportionate share of UK deals. The relationship between capital and the capital city is perhaps the most skewed in the world.
Unsurprisingly London has hoovered up the vast majority of deal flow in 2026 with regional markets much thinner.
The city is benefiting from a flight to quality from global and domestic investors spooked by geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Around 80% of total UK deals have been in full service hotels. These are larger assets with more operational levers to pull and upside to uncover. There’s also the repositioning or reflagging angle which is always a possibility as well.
Fewer but bigger
Compared to the previous few years so far this year we’ve seen a lower deal count than usual but with a higher per unit price. There’s confidence in the right assets in the right location at the right price but a lack of trading elsewhere. It’s hard to see any of that changing until either the global situation improves and or the UK is able to extricate itself from its current malaise.
It’s clear that more assets will need to come to market with a narrowing of the bid-ask spread that has stymied dealmaking ever since the pandemic.