UK Condotel Company Welcomes U.S. Buyers

A UK condo hotel company is expanding a portfolio of London-based property to meet growing demand from international buyers for European real estate.

The company, GuestInvest, recently announced the launch of Nest, a luxury 170-room hotel in Paddington, central London. The deal is this: real estate investors buy their own fully maintained room at Nest, stay there for free and receive a percentage of the room’s income, which is earned when the unit is rented on their behalf throughout the year.

Rooms are now on sale off-plan to U.S. investors, with the hotel opening in early 2007.

“The GuestInvest model gives buyers a fantastic opportunity to invest in what is undoubtedly one of the UK’s fastest growing property investment initiatives. We are really excited to be offering US investors this opportunity to buy rooms in our latest property, Nest,” CEO & Founder Johnny Sandelson said.

Nest will offer savvy US condo-hotel (often called condotel) investors strong financial returns as well as a convenient base to access the rest of Europe. Nest is already selling well among UK and foreign investors, with the surging U.S. condotel market reaching saturation. UK and European condotels are gaining popularity.

The South Florida housing market, in particular, has become so competitive that GuestInvest and other agencies like it are becoming an attractive alternative for U.S. investors. According to Smith Travel Research, as of March 2006, condotel rooms make up 98,142 rooms or 19.5 percent of the hotel rooms currently under development in the US.

Condo hotels are often owned by suburban baby boomers, using stock market profits after the dot com collapse and favorable Florida home loan rates to buy a second home in major cities. The Florida condotel market, as one might expect, has boomed in recent months. Real estate investments are also rising among aging populations, pension funds and individuals, as priorities switch from growth to income.