UAE’s Al Habtoor buys Hilton hotel in Wembley, London
Acquisition part of plan to ramp up international footprint
The UAE’s Al Habtoor Group has announced the purchase of the Hilton London Wembley, part of a bid to boost its international hospitality portfolio.
The hotel, which first opened in 2012, features 361 rooms and suites, an indoor swimming pool and fitness centre, in addition to a variety of food and beverage outlets catering to the needs of hotel guests and outside customers. The hotel also has a 693sqm Grand Ballroom that can host up to 700 people, as well as 10 meeting rooms.
“I am delighted with the addition of the Hilton London Wembley,” said group chairman Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, adding that he has been looking at the London property market for some time. “The hotel is in an ideal location. It is close to the iconic Wembley Stadium, Heathrow Airport and the centre of London.”
The Hilton Hotel Wembley overlooks the English football stadium in the heart of the 85-acre Wembley Park, a regeneration project involving the development of large-scale retail, residential, office and entertainment facilities.
In December, the Al Habtoor Group’s hotels division reported a revenue increase of 23% in the first nine months of 2015, with the group chairman saying he had earmarked AED2 billion in overseas investments in 2016.
The latest purchase brings the total number of hotels in the Dubai-based conglomerate’s international property portfolio to six. The Al Habtoor Group has two Hilton-branded hotels in Lebanon, one in the United States, and two five-star properties in Hungary.
The group’s Dubai assets include the Habtoor Grand Beach Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection; the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah; and the recently opened St. Regis Dubai in Habtoor City. The company will open two more hotels within the Al Habtoor City mixed-use development, alongside a polo resort and club in Dubailand and a new Metropolitan hotel on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road.
