Asset Management Achievement Award

About the award

HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award

The Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) Europe is a forum for European hospitality asset managers to share their knowledge, experience, and best practices to put asset management at the forefront of the real estate industry. Our membership roster includes representation from institutional funds, individual owners, private equity investors and real estate groups.

The HAMA Europe Award was established to recognise the key role played by hotel asset management in sustainably growing asset value and driving underlying investment returns. The award ceremony is an ideal forum to showcase your asset and asset management ability with Europe’s top hospitality asset managers.

As the hotel industry continues to face a multitude of challenges, hotel asset management has never been so crucial in managing all stakeholder’s needs.

Some outstanding prior winners include London & Regional Properties, Pyramid Hotel Group, Global Holdings, Starwood Capital, Amaris Hospitality, The Social Hub and Henderson Park & EQ Hotels, with investments that have covered both single assets and large portfolios, collectively demonstrating the breadth of the hotel asset management discipline.

The award is co-sponsored by Questex Hospitality and HotStats. The Award ceremony is a key moment of the International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF).

8th HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award

As an Award candidate, there is the potential to speak in front of your valued peers by sharing your case study at the panel session at IHIF, as well as the possibility of receiving the Award and industry recognition as the 2024 winner.

I. SUBMISSION PROCESS

We invite applications based on a phased two-stage submission process as outlined below, with the final award to be made at IHIF in Berlin, from 15th to 17th April 2024.

Submissions are invited for single assets and portfolios located exclusively in Europe. Details of the judging criteria that will govern the award can be found in section II, Judging Criteria, below.

1. First Round Submission: the initial submission will be a short narrative, including data as appropriate, based on the parameters set out below.

  • Download and complete the First Round Submission Form.
  • Freeform submission under the provided headings.
  • Include one or two pictures of the subject property/properties, ideally setting out before and after if there were construction works.
  • NOTE Submissions are to be made by email to award@hama-europe.org by 6th February 2024

2. Second Round Submission: the Award Committee shall shortlist the submissions, inviting these shortlisted candidates to complete a full application for judges to review.

  • Invitation to shortlisted candidates will be sent by mid February 2024, including a Second Round Submission template document.
  • Final submission guidance shall be provided to those shortlisted candidates by the HAMA Europe Award Committee members.
  • HotStats will work with the shortlisted candidates to provide them with key benchmarking data for their project submission.
  • Submission shall be ca. 10 pages long, including some performance data and using the application template provided.
  • Detailed submission to be submitted by email to award@hama-europe.org by 12th March 2024.

3. Selection Process

  • The judging panel shall review and vote on the shortlisted submissions to select a winner.
  • The Award Committee will invite the winner to prepare and present their case study at a dedicated panel session during the IHIF 2024 conference in Berlin, where the winner will be publically announced.

II. JUDGING CRITERIA

In evaluating all the submissions, the judges will use the following criteria:

  • Assessment of overall strategy with clear goals
  • Asset management actions that are clearly linked to strategy
  • Directly attributable value enhancement with demonstrable results
  • Amendment of strategy or asset management actions to improve results
  • Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy, and actions

CONTACT

For any queries related to the submission process please contact HAMA Europe confidentially at award@hama-europe.org.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award Committee and the judging panel will treat all information submitted in applications as confidential and materials shall not be used for any other purposes outside of the HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award. Please note, that the Award Committee reserves to right to request official proof of the data submitted to verify its authenticity. In case that the Award Committee requires any additional information, have any questions with regards to the submission, or has shortlisted a submission, the Award Committee will contact you directly. To view the full HAMA Europe Privacy Policy please click here.

Questex LLC will treat all information submitted in applications as confidential and materials shall not be used for any other purposes outside of the HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award. To view the full Questex Privacy Policy please click here.

Enter your asset management project’s details to be considered for the award.

Past Winners

2023 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award

The 2023 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award recognised the key role of hotel asset management in identifying and successfully implementing value enhancing strategies under challenging circumstances, as evidenced by the three finalists:

  • Avingstone for Four Seasons Madrid
  • Henderson Park & EQ Hotels for Project Metropoles
  • Invesco for Holiday Inn Express Portfolio

We are pleased to announce that Henderson Park & EQ Hotels are the winners of the 2023 HAMA Europe Asset management Achievement Award for their asset management of the Hilton Metropoles in London and Birmingham.

Henderson & EQ devised and delivered a strategy for the Metropoles that not only fully optimised operational performance through Covid, but also took this period as an opportunity to invest in a major capex programme that both increased room-count within the existing demise and repositioned both hotels towards the higher-rated transient and MICE clientele. Furthermore, the plan was complemented by a value enhancing re-gearing of the operator contract.

2022 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award

The 2022 Award recognised that as the hotel industry emerged from the pandemic, hotel asset management was never so crucial in managing all stakeholders in hotel ownership and enabling projects ultimately to creatively adapt to the changing needs of the customer over the short and longer term.

We are pleased to announce The Social Hub, formerly known as the Student Hotel, as winner of the 2022 HAMA Europe Asset management Achievement Award, for its hybrid hospitality model allowing for an agile and sustainable asset management strategy implemented at its Vienna project. Its flexible business model tapping different accommodation markets (from hotel to students and coliving), coupled with an innovative asset reconfiguration of its 810-room hotel in Vienna, allowed the group to rapidly shift large stocks of hotel rooms to more resilient segments and therefore successfully navigate the pandemic.

This project was a clear example of asset management starting at the concept of the project, making sure that flexibility is built in. When announcing the Award at IHIF, Harriet Durbin, HAMA Europe Board member for the Award commented “the judging panel were impressed with the business model, alternative use analysis and implementation that enabled the business to target different sources of customers in response to the market conditions”.

Arnaud Leblanc, The Social Hub Head of Asset Management said that “We are thrilled and honoured to receive the HAMA Europe Asset Management Award, this is great recognition by the industry experts that mixed-use properties and innovative asset management are ever more key to performance in this market. This is exciting and encouraging, we see that future is bright.”

2020 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award

The HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award recognises exemplary work in asset management initiatives for the hospitality industry. The award, which is co-sponsored by HAMA Europe, Questex Hospitality Group and HotStats, was created to recognise the best hotel project in class which has led the way in terms of providing innovative solutions and maximising the return on investment as well as growing the asset value of a particular asset or portfolio of assets located in Europe over a time period of the last 3 years.

The fifth annual HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award invited submissions for three subcategories: HAMA Europe Award for a Single Asset Strategy, HAMA Europe Award for a Portfolio Strategy and HAMA Europe Award for the Best Sustainability Strategy.

The quality of submissions was extremely high, and seven finalists were identified. In evaluating the submissions, the jury panel took into account the following Award criteria:

  • Overall Strategy: asset description, project background, investment rationale, key objectives & deliverables.
  • Asset Management Actions: specific initiatives, challenges overcome, innovative & creative tactics deployed across areas such as operations, physical asset, brand/operator selection, contracts & legal, space utilisation, investment management.
  • Value Enhancement Results (Operating Performance & Real Estate Value): detailed operating KPI improvements, market penetration, customer review scores, Real Estate valuation uplift.
  • Environmental, Social, and Governance Criteria: Positive impact of project on environment (nature), social (relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and local communities) and governance (leadership, audits, internal control, shareholder rights).

Following independent voting by the jury panel to identify the subcategory winners, an overall winner was selected.

We are very pleased to announce that the Overall Winner of the fifth HAMA Europe Award is Amaris Hospitality Limited for The DoubleTree by Hilton London Angel Kings Cross, England (and winner of the Single Asset Strategy). In addition to Amaris’s extensive hospitality knowledge and expertise, this transformation project featured the rebranding and repositioning of a Jury’s Inn hotel to a DoubleTree by Hilton, a 151 key extension and an extensive refurbishment, resulting in a quantifiable EBITDA uplift and real estate value creation.

The winner of the HAMA Europe Award for a Portfolio Strategy is Principal Real Estate for the Principal Hotel Real Estate Fund I, Europe. This project demonstrated achievements in the full asset management cycle from acquisition to exit for the fund, featuring investments in 16 hotels located across key European markets. Throughout the hold period asset management initiatives successfully implemented to increase the portfolio income and real estate value included: substantial renovations, change of brands, contract restructurings, lease extensions and the eventual sale of the portfolio in late 2019.

The winner of the HAMA Europe Award for the best Sustainability Strategy is Conscious Hotels for the Conscious Hotel Westerpark, the Netherlands. This project demonstrated a commitment to all aspects of sustainability encompassed in ESG from the beginning of the development through to the day-to-day running of the hotel, they delivered on their promise: “Eco-Sexy, Big Smiles”.

The fifth annual IHIF HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award will be formally presented to the winners during the 23rd International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, Germany by Nick Chadwick, HAMA Europe President (Senior Vice President at Starwood Capital), Theodor Kubak, HAMA Europe Co-Founder and Board Member (Managing Partner at Value One & Arbireo Hospitality) and Harriet Durbin, HAMA Europe Board Member (Managing Director at Panorama Hospitality) with Michael Grove, HotStats, Managing Director EMEA

2019 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award presented to Starwood Capital Group at 2019 IHIF

The fourth annual IHIF HAMA Europe 2019 Asset Management Achievement Award was co-presented by HAMA Europe and Questex Hospitality Group and sponsored by HotStats. The award was presented to Cody Bradshaw Managing Director and Head of International Hotels at Starwood Capital Groups for their remarkable undertakings in restructuring the The Principal Hotel Company.

The Principal Hotel Company project was submitted in the 2019 IHIF HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award Re-positioning category and was voted winner of the category as well as the overall winner.

Theodor Kubak, HAMA Europe Board Member (Theodor Kubak, Managing Director of Arbiero Hospitality) said: “The Hotel Asset Management Achievement Award now in its 4th year has provided a unique platform to showcase how all stakeholders, Owners, operators, architects, lenders and not least public offices can bring about real change for the good of the industry, the community and most importantly for the guests.”

Michael Grove, Managing Director of Hotstats EMEA said: “This year we received entries from a wide range of projects from all over Europe, representing remarkable performance enhancement. These projects were assessed by a panel of judges representing a cross section of our industry, from banking to legal, brokerage to architects and brands, alongside members of the HAMA Europe Board and Questex.”

Christian Youens, HAMA Europe Vice President (Principal at Cedar Capital Partners) said: “This project is a portfolio of hotels consisting of 3 U.K. hotel and conferencing portfolios (originally 50 hotels) purchased over 13 months to form a leading hospitality platform, to which were added 5 additional landmark assets acquired between 2015-2017. Thanks to excellent acquisition prices, unparalleled timing and first-mover advantage, £200M+ capex invested, a £3M technology overhaul over 3 years, 2 brands launched and more, the portfolio has now received 12 industry awards, sold 24 of its non-core assets and was one of 2018’s major portfolio transactions in Europe.”

The IHIF HAMA Europe Value Add Strategy 2019 Subcategory Award was awarded for the growth plan of the Tifico Hotel Group under the ownership of Goldman Sachs and Piershine.

2018 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award presented to The Global Holdings at 2018 IHIF

The third annual IHIF HAMA Europe 2018 Asset Management Achievement Award was presented by Theodor Kubak, HAMA Europe Board Member (Senior Investment Manager at Union Investment) and Christian Youens, HAMA Europe Vice President (Principal at Cedar Capital Partners) to Billy Skelli-Cohen from Global Holdings at the 22st IHIF which took place in Berlin.

The Global Holdings Pullitzer Amsterdam project was submitted in the 2018 IHIF HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award Re-positioning category and was voted winner of the category as well as the overall winner. The Pulltitzer Amsterdam project was focused on the renovation of the famous Pullitzer Amsterdam hotel including the renovation of the 25 independent 17th and 18th century canal houses, launch of new F&B outlets as well as the launch of the Pullitzer brand positioned as a unique independent hotel creating an authentic Amsterdam experience.
The award was presented to Billy Skelli-Cohen, Managing Director of Global Holdings, who said: “With the renovation and re-positioning of the new Pullitzer Amsterdam we achieved something unique in the world. We took all that was great already about this property and added the right elements to make it even better. We injected new life into historic buildings with a fantastic design, giving longevity for the next decades to come.”

In addition HAMA Europe has issued three further awards to recognize Sustainability, Value Add and Repositioning strategies within this area of the industry. The winners of these awards are:

IHIF HAMA Europe Value Add Strategy 2018
Art Invest Real Estate Management

The Le Méridien project was focused on the complete restructuring of a 300-guest rooms hotel in a prime location in Frankfurt. By effectively combining its real estate construction know-how with its expertise in the hotel business Art-Invest overcame legal risks arising from the acquisition out of insolvency by restructuring the operational framework together with Munich Hotel Partners as well as technical risks with regard to the building condition. Due to the owner’s insolvency and existing over-rent the property suffered from a significant maintenance backlog. About €12.0 million were invested in the refurbishment and modernization including the renovation of the guest rooms and bathrooms as well as the refurbishment including a complete restructuring of all public areas to improve operating efficiency. After completion of the business plan the asset was sold to First Sponsor Group from Singapore at the end of 2017.

The award was presented to Alexander Schöneich, Head of Hotel Asset Management and Erik Florvaag, Head of Hotel Acquisitions at Art-Invest who said: “The Le Méridien is a prime example for the successful implementation of a value add strategy by restructuring the operational model and by repositioning an old hotel through an extensive refurbishment program. In line with Art-Invest’s “Manage-to-Core” approach, we spotted the asset in a difficult owner situation, identified its potential and developed a strategy for value creation. After successful implementation of the defined strategy, the property was sold just 2.5 years after acquisition. With passion for hotel real estate and faith in the future of the hotel we created a hotel that not only meets the requirements of today’s traveller, but also the demands of international investors.”

IHIF HAMA Europe Sustainability Strategy 2018
Host Hotels & Resorts

The Sheraton Stockholm project focused on three main projects to make the property more energy efficient and sustainable. A new heat pump and cooling equipment were installed with the heat pump connected to the lake water circuit, allowing heat to be extracted and used in various heating systems. Not only is it more efficient, it is also more cost effective than purchasing heat from the city. Further energy savings from the recent installation of heat recovery coils in key systems, allow heat energy from exhaust ventilation to preheat outside air coming into the building. Finally, the replacement of original and inefficient air handling units will further reduce electricity costs. Other recent sustainability projects at the property include new switchgear, new low flow showerheads and faucets and revamped plumbing. In 2018, the initiatives helped reduce utility costs by 21.6% compared to a pre-installation 2016 baseline.

The award was presented to Christopher Ford, Senior Vice President Asset Management; Luc Boschmans, Vice President Asset Management; and John Valembois, Vice President of Design and Construction at Host Hotels & Resorts. Mr. Ford stated he was very proud of his team’s efforts and grateful for the recognition by HAMA and Questex. He went on to mention, “Sustainability has become a very important component of how projects are valued and Host Hotels & Resorts is on the leading front of this important initiative. Our senior management team has placed sustainability as a priority in our organization and we annually report results of these measures. Furthermore, our company is very fortunate to work with great partners in Europe: APG, GIC and Marriott International that support our environmental efforts.”

IHIF HAMA Europe Re-positioning Strategy 2018
The Global Holdings

The Pulltitzer Amsterdam project was focused on the renovation of the famous Pullitzer Amsterdam hotel including the renovation of the 25 independent 17th and 18th century canal houses, launch of new F&B outlets as well as the launch of the Pullitzer brand positioned as a unique independent hotel creating an authentic Amsterdam experience.

2017 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award presented to Pyramid Hotel Group at IHIF

BERLIN (March 7, 2017): The second annual HAMA Europe 2017 Asset Management Achievement Award has been presented to Chris Pfohl from Pyramid Hotel Group this afternoon at the 20th International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF).

The award is co-sponsored by HAMA Europe and Questex Hospitality Group and recognises exemplary work in asset management initiatives for the hospitality industry. The award was created to recognise the best hotel project in class which has led the way in terms of providing innovative solutions and maximising the return on investment as well as growing the asset value on a particular asset located in Europe over a time period of the last 3 years.

The Pyramid Hotel Group project was focused on the acquisition, renovation and re-positioning of The Temple Bar Hotel in Dublin, Ireland. The Pyramid group leveraged all aspects of operational and real estate optimization techniques to maximize value and transform the property, repositioning it from a 3-star to a 4-star segment.

In addition, and new for 2017, HAMA Europe has launched three further awards to recognize Sustainability, Value Add and Repositioning strategies within this area of the industry. The winners of these awards are:

IHIF HAMA Europe Value Add Strategy 2017
Union Investment Real Estate GmbH

The project was focused on the Pullman Berlin Schweizerhof Hotel where Union Investment Real Estate GmbH changed the use of areas with the aim to increase EBITDA and also restructured the operational model, moving away from a direct lease contract to a tri-angle partnership balancing the interest of different parties and optimizing the asset value.

IHIF HAMA Europe Sustainability Strategy 2017
UBM Hotels Management GmbH

The project was focused on developing an Energy Monitoring System across a portfolio of 15 hotels aimed to save energy consumption on a long term basis.

IHIF HAMA Europe Re-positioning Strategy 2017
Pyramid Hotel Group

The project was focused on the acquisition, renovation and re-positioning of The Temple Bar Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.

Theodor Kubak, HAMA Europe President; Senior Investment Manager, Union Investment presented the awards and Kubak said: “All of this year’s submissions demonstrated world class hotel asset management skills. The winners displayed flawless execution of the core competencies of the hotel asset management profession as reflected in the HAMA Certified Hotel Asset Manager (CHAM) programme.”.

2016 HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award presented to London & Regional at IHIF

BERLIN (March 8, 2016): The first annual HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award has been presented to London & Regional for their work on the InterContinental Hotel, Dublin this morning at the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF). The award was collected by Henri Wilmes, VP Acquisitions Hotels on behalf of London & Regional.

The award is co-sponsored by HAMA Europe and Questex Hospitality Group and recognises exemplary work in asset management initiatives for the hospitality industry. The award was created to recognise the best hotel project in class which has led the way in terms of providing innovative solutions and maximising the return on investment as well as growing the asset value on a particular asset located in Europe over a time period of the last 2 years (2014-2015).

Theodor Kubak, HAMA Europe President; Senior Investment Manager, Union Investment and Cody Bradshaw, HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award Jury Chairman; SVP Head of European Hotels, Starwood Capital presented the award and Kubak said: “Asset Management is a critical piece of the industry which often doesn’t get enough exposure. In creating this award, we hope to highlight the importance of Asset Management to the lifecycle of a hotel and the value it can deliver”.

Kerry Gumas, President and Chief Executive Officer, Questex said “although this was only the first year running this process, we were delighted to have seven strong finalists and see this award as an important part of the conference programme going forward. The role Asset Management plays in creating a strong base for the investment stage of the hotel cannot be underestimated. We look forward to developing this relationship into future years”.