Hotels, investments at 1.4 billion. Family offices receive a record 30% share

Record growth in investments in hotels, the increasingly decisive presence of new players such as family offices, the resilience of large cities, Rome in primis, and the discovery of Capri as the first resort destination for those seeking opportunities. These are the key points of the survey on the hotel real estate sector in the first half of 2025 by EY, which Il Sole 24 Ore is able to anticipate.

"Family offices have consolidated their position in the Italian hotel market, acquiring 30% of the total investment volume compared to 22% in 2024," says Marco Zalamena, head of EY's hotel division. "This is significant growth for this category of investors, who focus on value-add transactions with medium- to long-term horizons. Overall, investment volumes in the first half of 2025 rose by 31% compared to a year earlier to EUR 1.4 billion. Rome confirmed itself as the most attractive destination, absorbing 29% of the total capital invested, amounting to EUR 397 million, and recording a record average price per room of EUR 906,000, a 190% increase over the fourth quarter of 2024. Venice followed with 16% of total investments, while Milan attracted 9% of volumes. Another sign of market maturity is the balance between domestic and foreign capital: 51% of total volumes come from Italian investors and 49% from abroad. International investors come mainly from Europe (26%), the United States (12%) and South America (10%), while the Middle East has taken a step backwards - dropping from 22% to just 1%, after years in which it was an important player, just think of the properties it owns in Italy, from the hotels on the Costa Smeralda to the Gritti in Venice, from the Four Seasons in Florence to the Grand Hotel Imperiale in Forte dei Marmi, the latter now in the hands of the Emirati Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of the company that developed the Burj Khalifa. Hotel operators remain the main group of investors with 31% of the total volume, driven by The Palace Company (Progetto via Vergini which will become a new Baglioni Hotel in Rome) and the Villa d'Este group which bought two hotels in Cernobbio, the Miralago and Regina hotels, and two hotels in Como from the Passera family.

"The leisure sector has become increasingly popular," says the report, although as mentioned, the large cities such as Milan, Rome, Venice and Florence know no crisis. But it is the islands of the Gulf of Naples (Capri and Ischia) that concentrate 38% of investments in the resort segment, contributing to the 80% growth recorded by theleisure segment, which rose to 518 million out of a total 1.4 billion (or 37%) year-on-year. Deals such as those for the Caesar Augustus in Anacapri, Villa San Felice also in Capri, and the Punta Molino Beach Resort in Ischia weighed on volumes, testifying to a strong repositioning towards ultra-luxury facilities. Destinations such as Lake Como (32%) and Forte dei Marmi (8%) also consolidate the growth of the Italian leisure sector. Development projects (greenfield and conversions) grew by 156% year-on-year, a true expansionary phase. Developments account for 23% of total transactions. Assets purchased in vacant possession account for 51%, confirming the desire to build or rethink space. The use of management contracts increases, now at 10% of volume, after being absent in 2024.