Spanish real estate investment trust Azora has finalized its acquisition of Spanish hotel operator Medplaya Hotels, along with six of its owned hotel properties, for an undisclosed price.
According to a news release, the six hotels in Catalonia and Costa del Sol on the Spanish Mediterranean coast that Azora acquired as part of the deal comprise approximately 1,500 rooms. Girona, Spain-based Medplaya operates a portfolio of 15 hotels with 4,000 total rooms, all of which are in Spain except one hotel in Bulgaria — the 212-room Bella Vista Beach Club. Azora acquired seven of these hotels — with a total of 1,700 rooms in Benidorm and Costa del Sol — from Medplaya in 2019, retaining Medplaya as the hotels' operator via lease agreements.
Azora completed the deal via its European Hotel & Lodging Fund, which has direct management of 54 hotels. Azora itself manages more than 60 hotels and a total of 14,500 rooms across Europe and the U.S.
Azora's release said the “firm has invested over €4.15 billion in more than 110 hotels and 28,000 rooms since 2011. Its strategy spans high-quality hotels, urban hostels and assets requiring active management and repositioning, partnering closely with leading operators to maximize value.”
CEO and chairman Agustí Codina will continue to run Medplaya, which has been in existence since 1967.
The Azora-Medplaya deal has been rubberstamped by Spain’s Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, or National Markets & Competition Commission.
In July, Azora acquired a 50.1% stake in Greek hotel firm Donkey Hotels for an undisclosed price from family office Ioannou, which retained the rest of the entity. The Athens-based portfolio included five owned-and-operated hotels and 834 rooms, four of which are in Athens — the 563-room InterContinental Athenaeum Athens; 79-room New Hotel Athens; 51-room Semiramis, and 22-room Periscope. The remaining hotel is the 119-room Noūs Santorini on the island of Santorini.
In June 2024, Azora completed the acquisition of four adjacent buildings in Brussels, two of which currently operate as hotels, the 34-room Jardin Secret Hotel, now the Latroupe Jardin Secret, and 66-room Hotel Le Berger, now the Latroupe Le Berger. Azora did not announce the price for this transaction, but according to CoStar, the sale was for approximately €17.7 million.
Via the same fund, Azora also owns European hotel-management firm BluSerena Hotels & Resorts, which concentrates on Mediterranean resorts in Italy and hostel operator Latroupe, which has assets in Barcelona, Bilbao, Brussels, Dublin and Madrid.
When Azora acquired BluSerena in early 2022, Javier Arús, Azora’s managing partner of hotels, said the fund had placed approximately 55% of its €1.8 billion total.