{"id":29148,"date":"2023-08-24T11:40:08","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T09:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riu.com\/blog\/?p=29148"},"modified":"2023-08-24T11:40:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T09:40:08","slug":"opening-hotel-riu-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.riu.com\/blog\/en\/opening-hotel-riu-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Luis Riu: “I have very high expectations for the new Riu Plaza London Victoria”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Luis<\/a>

Luis Riu G\u00fcell, CEO of RIU Hotels & Resorts, and his son, Luis Riu Rodr\u00edguez, at the chain’s new hotel in London, the Riu Plaza London Victoria.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Riu Plaza London Victoria<\/u><\/a>\u00a0is now open, and I am really happy with the results. We\u2019ve opened a great hotel that brings a completely new product to London<\/b><\/strong>, as well as an excellent service and advantages for customers such as its excellent location or the competitive rate, which also includes breakfast<\/b><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Breakfast<\/a>

Breakfast at the Riu Plaza London Victoria hotel in London.<\/p><\/div>\n

City openings are particularly costly, and this one was no exception. It takes a long time from when you purchase the building and define the project to when you finally open the hotel. It seems like a lifetime ago that we bought the building at the end of 2018<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and we\u2019ve had to wait five years to see our plans for this hotel become a reality. It has been a long process that got more intense and sped up in the last weeks. For this and many other reasons that I\u2019m going to tell you about today, this opening has been really satisfying<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

A 4-star hotel at a very competitive price in central London<\/h2>\n

It doesn’t matter what happens, what the weather is like or changes in travel trends, London consistently ranks as one of the world\u2019s most visited cities<\/b><\/strong>. And not only is it the leader in terms of visitor numbers and overnight stays, but also in average rates.<\/p>\n

I have very high expectations for this project<\/b><\/strong>. We have stayed faithful to our product line and service philosophy. That\u2019s why we opened a 4-star, newly-built hotel with an attractive design and excellent service<\/u><\/a>, where guest comfort is the top priority.<\/p>\n

Another chain was studying the same building and had plans to build more than 700 rooms. We have made just 435. We want a trip to this city to be a good combination of experiences in the destination and the relaxation and comfort that one expects from a good hotel<\/b><\/strong>, all at a more than fair price.<\/p>\n

\"Exteriors<\/a>

Exteriors and fa\u00c7ade of the hotel Riu Plaza London Victoria.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hotel and real estate investors always keep an eye on London. Good opportunities with large, versatile buildings in premium locations are very scarce and prices are sky high. If such an opportunity arises, you need to act at lightning speed as prices also fluctuate very quickly. When the opportunity to invest in the building at 1 Neathouse Place came up, we didn’t hang around<\/b><\/strong>. As proof of this strong demand, just one week after closing the deal, we received an offer to buy it back for 50 million euros more than what we had paid. But we are hoteliers, not speculators, and that offer only reinforced our belief that we had acquired an excellent asset.<\/p>\n

Riu Plaza London Victoria: the tenth hotel in the Riu Plaza line<\/h2>\n

It is already the tenth RIU Plaza hotel<\/b><\/strong>. Over the past 13 years, we have consolidated our city product and now have RIU Plaza hotels in some of the world\u2019s most important cities<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The RIU Plaza line<\/u><\/a>\u00a0has given the chain some of its best hotels, such as the Riu Plaza Espa\u00f1a<\/u><\/a>, with its 360\u00ba Rooftop Bar, the most spectacular terrace with the best views in Madrid<\/u><\/a>, or the Riu Plaza New York Times Square<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and its stunning vistas of the city\u2019s skyscrapers.<\/p>\n

These are just some emblematic examples, but our hotels in Dublin, Guadalajara, Berlin, Panama, San Francisco and Miami<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0are also real gems. And the future Riu Plaza Chicago<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and Toronto<\/u><\/a>, both currently under construction, will be the next establishments to result from this quiet but unstoppable process of city expansion.<\/p>\n

70% hotel occupancy in only 4 weeks of operation<\/h3>\n

Our customers from the UK<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0enjoy RIU\u2019s beach product<\/b><\/strong>. Thanks to their preference for our hotels in Cape Verde, Jamaica and the Riviera Maya, they have become RIU’s second largest outbound market in terms of turnover and stays<\/b><\/strong>, only topped by the United States.<\/p>\n

We hope that this brand awareness will give a boost to our hotel in London, just like Germany\u2019s affection for the RIU brand did for our hotel in Berlin<\/u><\/a>. In fact, to date, the vast majority of bookings at the Riu Plaza London Victoria have been made by customers from the UK, followed by the United States, Spain, Germany and Ireland<\/b><\/strong>. We\u2019re really pleased with the evolution of bookings as we are already operating with an occupancy rate of 70%<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0just four weeks after the opening.<\/p>\n

Hotel offer aimed at holidaymakers in London<\/h3>\n

Time will tell because we have only just opened, but if this good trend continues, it will soon be on par with our high expectations. As for the type of customer, we think that the majority will be holidaymakers<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0who come to the city to visit the sights. We believe that 15% to 20% will be people on business trips<\/b><\/strong>, but they won\u2019t come to work in the hotel as we decided not to build a convention and meeting space this time.<\/p>\n

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