Room Mate is currently in talks with two European hotel chains to incorporate 32 establishmentswhich add to the 22 operational ones, with which its executive president and founder, Kike Sarasola, believes that it can reach its goal of reaching 100 hotels in two or three years. This was explained in an interview with Efe in which he also confirmed that other new hotels will soon join the brand, especially in Italy, something that the manager already confirmed in a recent interview with HOSTELTUR in which he explained the advantages to grow with the support of 150% of investors. In that country he negotiates five hotels, two of them in Milan, two more in Venice and one in Rome.
“We are growing by searching hotel by hotel, with possible group purchases of 10-20 hotels”, among which the two operations in Europe stand out, one of them with 10 hotels and another, with 22, from companies that do not operate in Spain.
The chain has opened a new line of business, with the brand Collectionin the 4-star plus segment, to which it has currently added two hotels, one in Barcelona and another in Milan, but to which they will soon add three more, located in Italy.
In fact, says Sarasola, Of the new people who are going to join the company, the majority (around 60%) will go to that new brandwhich maintains the characteristics of the Room Mate, such as being in city centers and having been decorated by first-rate names, but they go up a notch, aimed at clients around 40-50 years old with good purchasing power.
Facade of the Room Mate Giulia, in Milan. Source: Room Mate Group.
“Our clients in these hotels, especially Americans, are willing to pay more. They don’t want the ostentatious luxury of a 5-star, they want quiet luxury. They don’t want to pay 1,500 euros per night to sleep, shower and have breakfast, but they do want to pay 500 with about fantastic services,” he says.
He claims to be “delighted” with the owners of the company, although understands that Angelo Gordon could exit the capital within a period of 5-10 years, because it is in the nature of the funds, that they always enter with an exit vocation, “but not me,” he assures. She does not even rule out re-entering the shareholding.
Affects the good results of 2023, which raised turnover to 106.5 million, with Italy “shot” and Spain “evolving very well too” and highlights that in 18 months the company has gone from being in bankruptcy to achieving positive results.
This 2024 will be a good year and in fact in the first quarter they recorded an increase in sales of 10%, although double-digit growth “is not sustainable”, so it will be a stabilization exercise, with increases in the turnover of one digit
“The year is looking very good, it seems that the wars have not affected it and people prefer to travel rather than buy a car or a house, they want to live from day to day,” he explains. The forecasts are even good in Türkiyewhere they have a hotel in Istanbul, because despite the proximity they have not noticed the effects of the instability in the Middle East.
Other Room Mate news:
– Sarasola: the advantages of growing with the support of 150% of investors
– Room Mate launches new brand after the best results in its history
– Capital increase in Room Mate of €38.2 M to grow again
– Kike Sarasola, the resurgence of the phoenix at the head of Room Mate
– Changes in the Room Mate senior management team
– Kike Sarasola reveals the expansion plans for the new Room Mate
