AMResorts, part of Apple Leisure, has expanded into Greece through a partnership with Hotel Investment Partners.
The agreement built on the pair’s existing relationship, with AMResorts managing 10 properties owned by HIP in the Spanish islands of Mallorca, Ibiza and Fuerteventura.
Since entering Europe in 2019, AMResorts has taken its portfolio to 19 resorts.
Located in the Greek islands of Crete, Corfu and Zante, the three new properties will be operated and managed by AMResorts, with a total 845 rooms. The Corfu and Crete sites will be under the Dreams brands while the Zante property will be under the Alua flag.
The hotels were part of a group of five Greek hotels, bought by Blackstone’s HIP from the Louis Group for €178.6m in September last year. James Seppala, head of European Real Estate, Blackstone, said: “Greece is a fantastic destination with an incredible history, wonderful weather, and meaningfully improving connectivity with the rest of the world. We are excited to invest here, to help Greece maintain its rightful place as a premier global tourist destination and spur local economic growth. This transaction reflects our confidence in the Greek investment environment and we hope to invest further.”
Management under the AMResorts brands will begin in the summer of 2022, following a renovation by HIP.
Javier Águila, president, ALG’s European Division, said: "Our arrival to Greece, one of Europe’s main tourist destinations, launches our expansion beyond Spain. It proves the interest of institutional investors in the AMResorts portfolio of brands and our experience with this type of investment – positioned to play a key role in the dynamisation of the hotel industry in the coming year. This milestone also confirms the robustness of our company amidst the complex context of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Javier Coll, EVP & chief strategy officer, ALG, added: “Despite the challenges that our industry has encountered this year, the flexibility of our business model paired with the strength of our brands form the backbone of our ongoing expansion in the EMEA territory and the foundation of our overall success.”
Apple Leisure Group’s initial move in Europe came through a strategic alliance with NH Hotel Group to bring its AMResorts’ brands to Europe, including the all-inclusive Amigo flag. The agreement marked the next phase of a long-standing partnership between AMResorts’ and NH that began in 2011, when the companies established a similar model to open three resorts in the Dominican Republic.
“Spain has an abundance of beach and leisure destinations as well as one of the strongest all-inclusive resort markets outside of the Caribbean,” said Alex Zozaya, CEO, Apple Leisure Group. “NH Hotel Group’s expertise in Europe made them the right partner to introduce AMResorts’ brands into the continent’s Mediterranean countries, with Spain as starting point of this strategic project.
The takeover of NH Hotels Group by Minor International in 2018 put the deal in question and it was then terminated. At the same time, Grupo Inversor Hesperia moved four of its properties from NH Hotel Group, announcing a strategic alliance with Apple Leisure Group to operate its four resorts in Spain with the AMResorts brands, giving the flags, including Amigo, their launch in the Mediterranean.
HIP was founded in 2015 by Alejandro Hernandez-Puértolas and Banco Sabadell and was acquired by Blackstone real estate funds in 2017. Through follow-on acquisitions, the portfolio has grown to 64 hotels comprising 19,248 keys with footprint in Spain, Greece and Portugal and and is now the third-largest investor in European hotels, after Pandox and Covivio.
Insight: At the time of NH’s deal with Apple, there was intrigue as to what such a dominant player in the Mediterranean could need with another resort operator and the answer was all inclusive. No-one does it quite like the Americans and NH appeared eager to learn.
That, of course, was all bought to a sticky end with the ructions as Minor took over - although Hesperia and NH weren’t exactly chums at the time of the deal, as those who enjoy public letter-writing wars will attest.
But now, as Blackstone has noted, is the time to build on one’s resort holdings and secure what is already a leading ownership position in the region. Pent-up leisure demand is sure to spill over into the resort market at the investor is making sure it gets more than its fair share when it does.