Hospitality in the News - 28 May 2020

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Re-purposing Real Estate: the opportunity for Hospitality

It can be difficult at uncertain times like these to look forward when hospitality businesses around the world are either in lockdown, or struggling with the operational challenges of coming out of lockdown and, crucially, being profitable when they do start trading.

Check out our video where we discuss unlocking lockdown in the hospitality sector.

Yet some things are very clear now – hotels have already been turned into rehabilitation and nursing homes for patients discharged from hospitals. Many of us will be going to the office much less than we used to and the challenges retail stores were facing to deal with on-line retailers have only accelerated. So landlords of vacant retail units and unlet offices are going to need to find an alternate use for their buildings.

If you look beyond the current crisis, the underlying demographic and structural trends of hospitality are powerful – it can offer options to convert offices to hotels (or rehab centres), to change retail units selling goods to ones selling an experience or a service, and to move restaurants from sit-down casual dining to health conscious ready-made takeaway. It might not look like it today, but hospitality will be the solution to many landlords.

Did you know?

At 2.5m wide, Eh'häusl Hotel in Amberg, Germany is the world's smallest hotel with just 53 sqm. It was built in 1728 as a way to get around the marriage laws. It used to be necessary to provide proof of land ownership before your marriage could be legally registered. A "resourceful groom" built the hotel in the gap between two buildings and put this in his name so he could get hitched. Legend claims that the house changed owners frequently, allowing many couples to tie the knot. It has been called Eh'häusl, or 'marriage house' ever since.