• Transaction volumes return to 2019 levels
  • Overseas investment accounts for 75% share of activity

UK Hotel investment rebounded strongly to £6.3bn in 2024 driven by a sharp uptick in portfolio deals, according to new data from leading global property advisor Knight Frank.

The 2024 total is up 198% year-on-year and 31% above the ten-year average, following three consecutive years of declining investment volumes. Overseas buyers accounted for more than three quarters (75%) of total capital deployed.

Activity was driven by portfolio transactions, which accounted for 57% (£3.6bn) of investment volumes and saw more than 20,000 hotel bedrooms acquired by private equity or overseas buyers. Standout transactions included Landsec’s disposal of the 21 AccorInvest hotel portfolio to Ares Management for £400m (for which Knight Frank acted for the vendor); Starwood Capital Group’s £800m acquisition of 10 Radisson Edwardian Hotels; Blackstone’s £700m acquisition of 33 Villlage Leisure hotels from KSL Capital Partners; and ADIA’s disposal of 33 hotels operated by Marriott to KKR and Baupost Group.

A total of £1.2 billion was deployed in single asset transactions in 2024, up 7% year-on-year. London accounted for 63% of single asset activity, with just nine hotels across the UK regions transacting for more that £10m due to a relative lack of availability.

There was a strong rise in fixed income investment deals, which accounted for 26% of total UK hotel investment. This has been driven by a number of institutions exiting the sector in order to meet redemption requirements and risk and ESG criteria. Ground rent deals have also featured more strongly than in recent years, including simultaneous tri-partite deals whereby capital from the ground rent is used to finance the acquisition.

Hotel development transactions exceeded £500 million in 2024 but remain down on pre-pandemic levels due to high construction and financing costs. These challenges notwithstanding, there continues to be strong interest in repurposing older office and retail buildings as hotels, including Criterion Capital’s acquisition of Edinburgh’s former Debenhams Store (for £50m) and Whitbread having undertaken selective sale and leasebacks of some of its freehold assets to recycle capital into the business to secure sites in strong locations, taking on planning and development risk.

Overall, activity continued to be weighted towards London, with 50% (£3.1bn) of capital deployed into hotels in the Capital. Aside from portfolio deals, some of the largest hotels to change hands in 2024 included Six Senses London (£180 million), The Standard (£185 million), Hyatt Place London City East (£84 million) and Motel One London Tower Hill (£56 million).

According to Knight Frank, investor sentiment towards the hotel sector is expected to remain strong in 2025, with the asset class demonstrating strong operational resilience and proven as a robust inflationary hedge. With some traditional lenders extending their loan books for the sector in 2025, the increased availability of debt should further support investment activity.


We have seen a strong rebound in hotel investment activity in 2024 underpinned by robust operational performance, fierce demand from overseas private equity buyers and institutions selling assets due to redemptions. Whilst the steady flow of portfolio transactions is likely to continue, we expect the normal market equilibrium to return in 2025, with greater momentum and opportunity for single asset deals. Capital from private equity is expected to continue to dominate, but we anticipate a greater volume of diversified capital to be deployed into the sector in 2025, particularly as the cost of borrowing reduces. Henry Jackson, Partner and Head of Hotel Agency at Knight Frank