London bets on luxury hotels to lure tourists     

The Rosewood London. Rosewood’s managing director Michael Bonsor says bookings from the US have increased in volume every week since February, while the loosening of restrictions across much of Asia has helped deliver a clientele willing to reserve extended stays in top suites.

On its first day of post-lockdown operations in September 2020, the Rosewood London welcomed just 20 guests into its 308 stylishly monochromatic rooms and suites. For a hotel that would see 80% occupancy during a normal year with visitors attending shows such as the London Fashion Week, the muted response was unprecedented — but also somewhat expected.

Tourism’s recovery in London has been an uphill climb. Although it outpaced Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Barcelona for hotel business in 2021, it reported only 36.7% occupancy across the entire calendar year. 

And 2022 has yet to deliver the full return to normalcy that anyone in the industry has hoped for: Visitors are still shying away from major cities as Omicron and its variants scuttle plans — not to mention the ongoing absence of high-spending Chinese and now Russian travellers.

Comeback story

But there’s reason to believe a comeback story is nigh. All Covid travel measures were dropped for entry into the UK and tourists have more choice than ever on where to stay.

In 2021, 26 hotels opened in London, adding 4,200 rooms, of which nearly half are four- and five-star accommodations, according to London’s promotional agency, London & Partners. An additional 46 properties are expected to open in the city this year, and of their 5,500 rooms, some 2,500 are on the luxury side of the spectrum. 

In the pipeline are flagship-worthy debuts from boldface brands that didn’t yet exist in London: Raffles, Peninsula, and Waldorf Astoria.

The most recent data in mid-March from hospitality insights company STR shows a steady recovery in this year’s first quarter, when occupancy rose to a peak of 58.8%, some three-fourths of pre-pandemic business. 

Although it doesn’t break down occupancy levels by type of accommodation, leisure-focused luxury hotels are faring significantly better in general than business travel-dependent standbys. 

Rosewood’s managing director Michael Bonsor says bookings from the US have increased in volume every week since February, while the loosening of restrictions across much of Asia has helped deliver a clientele willing to reserve extended stays in top suites.

“London has been leading the real estate industry for many years. To be truly established, any major hotel brand needs to have a presence here,” says Rafael Serrano, chairman and chief executive officer of Prime Investors Capital. 

• Bloomberg