Sofitel, the luxury brand of France’s Accor Hotels Group, has re-entered the Spanish market following Swiss boutique real estate investor Propreal Capital Partners completion of the €40 mln redevelopment of the five-star hotel in Barcelona’s Vila Olímpica.
Sofitel Barcelona Skipper has 225 guest rooms over 19,000 sqm and was officially opened by Propreal CEO Yves Miorcec de Kerdanet and Maud Bailly, CEO of Accor Southern Europe.
Marcus Siggelow, head of asset management at Propreal, said: ‘Sofitel Barcelona Skipper represents a spectacular entry by Accor’s Sofitel brand into the Spanish market on a prime location opposite the city’s best-known beach, Barceloneta, and a few minutes’ walk from the Gothic’
Propreal is an independent real estate investor and asset manager founded in 2012, with a €1.3 bn portfolio of mixed-use properties, hotels, retail and residential-focused projects. The company is focused on 'unlocking property value' in markets such as Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, Canada and the UK, targeting urban properties with untapped potential.
Propreal said it used proprietary in-house data analytics expertise to optimize the asset management process and maximise the yield from its Barcelona investment. Two renovations were undertaken across the asset to ensure the new hotel was aligned with Sofitel’s demanding high-grade finishings.
A first renovation was undertaken in the public areas on the ground floor including the lobby, restaurants, and terraces, resulting in a significant increase in footfall across the property and a tripling the food and beverage revenues of previous years very quickly. The second phase of the renovation programme was started in 2021, including the complete renovation of the façade, all guest rooms, the conference area, rooftop terrace, fitness facilities/swimming pools and parking.
Maud Bailly, CEO Southern Europe, Accor Hotels, said: ‘Accor was looking for the perfect location to re-debut our top-of-the-range Sofitel luxury brand in Spain, and Barcelona was the perfect location.’
In Barcelona, over €750 mln was invested in the hotel segment in 2021, €100 mln more than the total capital invested in hotel projects in the Canary Islands in the same year.
