Hotel Investment Boom in Europe | Record Luxury Brands and Conversions

According to the latest Europe Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the European hotel market is recording a dynamic course in the first quarter of 2025, with 1,683 new projects and 247,472 rooms under development.

Of these, 46% are already under construction (766 projects / 115,227 rooms), while 386 projects (57,992 rooms) are expected to start within the next 12 months. In addition, 531 projects (74,253 rooms) are in the early planning stage.

New construction starts in the first quarter showed healthy activity with 90 new projects and 11,184 rooms, up 14% year-on-year, while 94 new projects with 13,576 rooms were announced in the same period.

Explosive growth is recorded in renovations and brand conversions: at the end of March, there were 718 such projects with 93,305 rooms, up 32% in projects and 26% in rooms compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, the luxury chain scale recorded a record with 132 projects and 17,124 rooms, while the upper upscale category also reached a new high, with 281 projects and 45,091 rooms. Most projects are located in the upscale (358 projects / 55,297 rooms) and upper midscale (325 projects / 47,738 rooms) categories, which together correspond to 41% of the total projects and 42% of the rooms in the European pipeline.

The protagonists of the development

At the country level, Great Britain maintains its primacy with 288 projects and 41,338 rooms. This is followed by Germany (153 projects / 25,971 rooms), Turkey, which recorded a record with 133 projects and 19,350 rooms, France (119 projects / 12,078 rooms) and Portugal (115 projects / 14,199 rooms). These five countries cover 48% of the projects and 46% of the rooms in the entire European pipeline.

Spain also deserves special mention, reaching a new high with 92 projects and 13,509 rooms.

The cities with the largest development plans

London is at the top with 81 new projects and 15,459 rooms, followed by Istanbul (49 projects / 7,743 rooms), Lisbon (36 projects / 4,230 rooms), Dublin (26 projects / 4,696 rooms), and Tashkent (25 projects / 4,261 rooms). Edinburgh also recorded notable performances, with a record number of rooms (18 projects / 3,028 rooms), and Madrid, with a record number of projects (17 projects / 2,410 rooms).

New openings and forecasts

In the first quarter of 2025, 41 new hotels with 5,450 rooms opened across Europe, while another 314 hotels with 42,099 rooms are expected by the end of the year. LE estimates that a total of 355 new hotels with 47,549 rooms will open in 2025, while 371 new hotels with 50,255 rooms are forecast for 2026.

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