Oxford Circus Holiday Inn to get £34m upgrade

A Westmont Hospitality subsidiary has secured £34m to buy the leasehold of and refurbish the Holiday Inn hotel in London's Oxford Circus.

Leumi UK has agreed to lend £34m to Juniper Hotels Holdings (JHHL) towards the project, which will re-position the hotel as an upscale boutique offering, increasing the number of rooms to 171.

The loan is the latest in a series from Leumi UK, the UK subsidiary of Israel's largest financial institution, and Westmont Hospitality, a part-owner of JHHL and hotel owner/operator with 56,000 rooms across three continents.

Soraya Shamji, hotel consultant at Leumi UK, said: "The outlook for well-specced assets in central locations is positive as consumer demand and investor interest in hotels rebounds from the pandemic. Our strategy of supporting hotel operators during Covid-19 has proven effective and has allowed us to forge relationships with leading operators, and we're proud that it is now leading to those same partners creating opportunities like this one."

Stephan Jaques at Westmont Hospitality said: "There is immense value given today's hotel market in pivoting hotels towards a luxury offering. It was important for us to work with a financial partner with detailed knowledge of the hospitality sector, and Leumi UK have certainly delivered on that front."

David Yeadon, executive director real estate debt advisory at SPF Private Clients, said: "We are delighted to have provided assistance to our long-standing client in relation to the successful financing of this new London venture. Leumi UK's sector expertise and relationship-focused approach has been pivotal to this project.

"Prime central London hotel assets have rebounded spectacularly, and in the safe hands of Westmont Hospitality the purchase and re-positioning of this hotel is bound to be a resounding success"