At the first day of the 2019 International Hotel Investment Forum, Starwood Capital Group received the HAMA Europe Asset Management Award.
Over the course of the last 25 years, Starwood Capital Group has been recognized as a leading global hospitality investor and asset manager for its series of acquisitions, its comprehensive renovation and refurbishment projects and, most recently, the creation of The Principal Hotel Co.
The process which saw three companies—Principal Hayley, Four Pillars Hotels and De Vere Venues—merge into one generated annual savings of more than £5 million through head office synergies, invested capex to the value of more than £200 million to date and implemented a three year-long technology overhaul at a cost of around £3 million.
In addition to winning the overall award, Starwood Capital Group and The Principal Hotel Co. have also been awarded the Re-position Strategy accolade, a sub-category within the HAMA Awards.
"We are honored to have won this prestigious award and to be recognized for the remarkable journey undertaken with The Principal Hotel Co.," said Cody Bradshaw, managing director/head of international hotels at Starwood Capital Group, said in a statement.
"The repositioning of The Principal Hotel Co. is the clearest example of how effective asset management, through diverse strategic initiatives, can deliver enhanced revenues and identify cost saving opportunities to maximize profitability, thus generating additional asset value to their owners," said Pablo Alonso, CEO/HotStats, speaking on behalf of the sponsors of the award. "At HotStats, supporting operational excellence and a focus on profitability is at the core of our business, and so, we are extremely proud to sponsor this year’s HAMA award.”
"When HAMA Europe first introduced the award, we set out to shine a light on projects that demonstrated effective hotel asset management in our industry," said Christian Youens, principal at Cedar Capital Partners, commenting on behalf of HAMA. "Now in its fourth year, this year’s submissions have continued to live up to that expectation and in awarding Starwood Capital for its multi-faceted investment to create The Principal Hotel Co., we have an excellent example of asset management and in turn value creation.”
“In The Principal Hotel Co., Starwood Capital has created a hospitality offering that is current, relevant and reflective of today’s hospitality consumer," said Alexi Khajavi, managing director of EMEA Hospitality + Travel Group, said on behalf of Questex. "The energy and effort required to deliver this project will have been immense and so it feels deserving of this award in reflection of the commitment by the team. We look forward to welcoming Starwood Capital to IHIF next week.”
The Hospitality Asset Managers’ Association Europe Asset Management Awards are co-presented by HAMA Europe and Questex Hospitality Group and sponsored by HotStats. The Awards were included in the IHIF program through the presentation of the main award in a dedicated session on Monday March 4, and will be included in a case study analysis of the finalists during a breakout session on Tuesday, March 5 at noon.IHIF is presented by Questex, the parent company of Hotel Management magazine.