EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Going for Gold! The race is on as savvy investors snap up London hotel rooms near Olympic sites
Keen to avoid awkward situations as seen with the unfilled seats at the start of the Games last week, London’s hotel industry has been working hard to ensure that available rooms are filled during the Olympics and in keeping with ‘London 2012 Legacy’ – beyond.
And it seems that the effort has paid off with STR Global reporting that hotel occupancy in London reached almost 85% during the opening weekend of the Games and average room rates at £224.72 between Friday 27th and Sunday 29th July 2012.
At present, London hotels are busy particularly around the Docklands and Greenwich areas, an area notoriously short of beds, where occupancy has high jumped its way to 94.9%. This is one performance certainly deserving of a gold medal considering no host city over the past four Olympic Games has exceeded 90% hotel occupancy.
Commenting on this demand and the positive occupancy levels of hotels in London, Stuart Johnson, Head of Business Development at Property Frontiers, a Londoner himself who recently visited the up and coming Docklands area, said,
“Living and working in London, I can certainly vouch that tourism to the Capital is thriving! The Olympic effect is forecast to increase overseas visitor numbers from 30,000 to 60,000 per night this month alone according to the European Tour Operators Association and over US$700 million has already been spent by international guests according to VISA Inc.
“Indeed as PwC recently explained, the Olympics will have a long-lasting positive effect on London´s hotel industry given the investment that has been hammered into new and existing London hotels. The budget hotel sector alone has grown by 60% in room supply and we have seen investor interest in our project, the Holiday Inn Express – London ExCel, just minutes from the Olympic venues of ExCel and the O2 arena, spike so greatly since the Games began that only 13 rooms remain available.”
Situated less than 1 minutes’ walk from the Royal Albert Dock DLR station allowing access to the City in 22 minutes, the Holiday Inn Express – London ExCel is a superb investment opportunity. The spacious hotel rooms, operated by the global brand Holiday Inn Express, are very good value for money, priced 22% below RICS valuations, with 50% non-status finance available plus VAT paid by the developer resulting in a further saving of £25,000.
Priced at £125,000 with double digit NET yield of 10.5% by year 5, contact Property Frontiers today on 01865 202 700 for more information or visit http://www.propertyfrontiers.com/Tour-Olympic-London/index.php to watch Stuart Johnson’s exclusive video.