Despite global disruptions in other parts of the world, the pace of hotel transactions across Europe is forecast to increase this year.
Carine Bonnejean, managing director of international hotels at Christie & Co., said a war in the Middle East and stubborn inflation in many European countries are certainly disruptors, but hotel investment continues, especially in the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.
Especially in the U.K., hotel deals picked up in 2025 and that momentum should continue throughout 2026, Bonnejean said on the latest episode of the CoStar News Hotels’ “The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News” podcast.
“On our side, we did 100 [hotel] transactions last year in the U.K., which in the context of what we’ve done in the past few years is a very logical number, and a little bit up,” she said, adding there were fewer portfolio transactions.
“There was a very healthy turnover of single-asset transactions,” she added.
Spain continues its success story while Italy is proving to be a strong hotel deals market, with more destinations there in the investment spotlight, Bonnejean said.
“All the interest was very centered around Milan, Rome, Venice. … We have seen more interest, more activity in secondary markets, when the market starts to — just as it did in the U.K. — get to a certain volume of transactions, [investors] need to have more than just a few luxury assets than just ones in the (principal) cities, so we are seeing much more in secondary cities such as Naples, Bologna, Verona,” she said.
For more from Carine Bonnejean on what investors and hoteliers should keep their eyes on in Europe in 2026, listen to the podcast embedded above.