Interstate Hotels & Resorts plans to increase its European footprint through a newly formed alliance with European hotel asset management company IHI Ltd., the company announced last week.
Through the alliance, Interstate plans to manage more hotels in Europe. It already manages six hotels owned by affiliates of IHI parent company Harte Holdings, including two boutique hotels in downtown London. IHI, through its affiliates, has an interest in 14 hotels—10 in Europe and four in the United States—as well as six European hotels in its development pipeline.
"Our emphasis will be on third-party management opportunities, and, when appropriate, we may co-invest with owners and developers," Interstate chairman and CEO Thomas Hewitt said in a statement. "We already are working on several possible development projects sourced by IHI Ltd. that Interstate will manage."
Eventually, Interstate plans to open a European office to oversee its portfolio, similar to its international offices in Russia, Mexico and India, Hewitt said. The company, which recently was acquired by a joint venture of Thayer Lodging and Jin Jiang
(BTNonline, March 11), currently has 12 hotels under contract in Europe.