While ultra-luxury steals the spotlight, institutional money is buying Novotels and ibises. Starboard Hotels and LaSalle Investment Management have just acquired seven Accor-branded hotels in the UK, totaling 913 rooms, from Ares Real Estate funds and EQ Group. The transaction brings Starboard’s UK portfolio to 28 hotels and over 3,000 rooms, and marks the operator’s first private equity joint venture. Here is a breakdown of the assets and what the transaction reveals about the regional UK hotel market.
- 🤝 The buyers · Starboard Hotels, a British operator, and LaSalle Investment Management, a global asset manager, in a joint venture
- 💼 The sellers · Ares Real Estate Funds and EQ Group, thereby clearing a UK portfolio of 18 assets acquired together in 2024
- 🏨 The portfolio · 7 hotels, 913 rooms, under Novotel and ibis brands, operated by Starboard under Accor franchise
- 📍 The cities · Birmingham (2 hotels), Sheffield, Southampton (2 hotels), Luton and London Barking
- 📈 The impact · Starboard reaches 28 hotels and over 3,000 rooms in the UK, including 15 under Accor brands; the price was not disclosed
The seven acquired hotels
The portfolio focuses on station, airport and city-centre locations, meaning year-round demand that is largely independent of the tourist season. It includes two hotels in Birmingham, the ibis Birmingham New Street located in the Arcadian Centre in Chinatown and the Novotel Birmingham Centre on Broad Street in Brindleyplace. The Novotel Sheffield Centre is a five-minute walk from the station, and the ibis Luton Airport is ten minutes from the terminal. Southampton features two addresses, the ibis Southampton Centre near the central station and the Novotel Southampton close to the cruise terminals, while the ibis London Barking provides the London exposure of the lot, with direct access to Canary Wharf.
A first joint venture for Starboard
The transaction is a first for the British operator, which had never previously established a joint venture with a private equity fund. “This is our first private equity joint venture transaction, and we are delighted to partner up,” summarizes Frazer Callingham, Managing Director of Starboard Hotels, who expects efficiency gains across his entire portfolio from this transaction. On the investor side, Leif Skogland, Vice President of Value-Add Investments in Europe at LaSalle, stated that he sees “strong potential in this portfolio.” Starboard immediately takes over the operation of the seven hotels under existing Accor franchise agreements, leaving the brands and distribution systems unchanged for guests.
For the sellers, the end of a 27-month cycle
On the vendor side, the transaction concludes a broader operation. Ares Real Estate and EQ Group had jointly acquired a UK portfolio of 18 assets in 2024; these seven hotels constituted the remaining balance. Hussein Sunderji, Managing Director and Partner at EQ Group, described a 27-month cycle that achieved significant value creation, driven by rapid execution and tight operational management. Twenty-seven months between the acquisition of a portfolio and its complete resale is a short timeframe for hotel real estate, speaking volumes about the restored liquidity of the UK market. JLL and Christie & Co acted as advisors on the transaction.
What the transaction reveals about the UK market
Two main takeaways emerge. First, institutional investor appetite is no longer limited to London: Birmingham, Sheffield and Southampton offer higher yields than the capital, with corporate and transit demand that is less volatile than commonly thought. Second, franchised midscale remains the true engine of transactional activity. A Novotel or ibis room sells for less than a luxury palace suite, but it fills up year-round, costs little to operate and generates predictable cash flow, which is precisely what funds are looking for. Discover hotel news in the United Kingdom on La Revue des Hôtels.
Our perspective
This transaction illustrates a division of roles that has become the standard in European hospitality. The owner provides the capital, the operator brings local expertise, and the brand remains that of a major group via a franchise. Accor neither bought nor sold anything here, but retains seven addresses in its network and the associated distribution revenue. It is a model where the hotel group no longer owns the real estate and takes on little risk, while performance depends on specialized operators like Starboard. For the traveler, nothing changes in the short term; the real question will be the renovation investment that the new joint venture dedicates to these 913 rooms.
Practical information
- Starboard Hotels · British hotel operator, 28 hotels in the UK
- LaSalle Investment Management · international real estate asset manager
- Brands involved · Novotel and ibis, Accor group
- Cities · Birmingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Luton and London
