ECE Work & Live acquires two extended-stay hotels in the UK

ECE Work & Live has acquired two British extended-stay hotels of the IHG brand Staybridge Suites in Liverpool and Newcastle. The purchase of the two properties lays the foundation for its planned strategy in the British hotel market, which envisages the development of an institutional portfolio of medium-sized hotels in the mid to upscale segment. ECE has entered into a partnership with Maya Capital for this strategy. The company will contribute its extensive expertise in the search for properties and will assume the role of asset manager as part of the transaction.

Both hotels are characterized by attractive locations, stable operating performance and excellent guest ratings. They are managed by the operator Cycas Hospitality.

The intention of ECE Work & Live is to build a portfolio of 7-8 medium-sized hotels in regional UK cities outside London with a total volume of up to GBP 150 million. Both established hotels in good locations with stable performance and management contracts under strong brands and hotels with value-add potential, possibly as "vacant possession", will be considered. The aim is to increase value through operational optimization and active asset management.

"The acquisition of the two Staybridge Suites hotels in Liverpool and Newcastle is part of our opportunistic approach of investing in smaller UK hotel properties that are often overlooked by institutional investors due to their size. Extended-stay concepts in particular are in high demand in the UK and offer attractive recurring yields. We see this as an excellent opportunity to build a portfolio with significant upside potential," says Jan-Hendrik Walloch, Managing Director Investment at ECE Work & Live.

David Pralong, Managing Director at Maya Capital, adds: "With this partnership, we are combining our expertise and resources to create value in a hotel segment that we believe has a bright future and continues to demonstrate strong operational performance."

Staybridge Suites Liverpool, which opened in 2008 and was last modernized in 2017, has 132 rooms spread over seven floors and is located within walking distance of the city center and just a few minutes from James Street metro station. The hotel is located directly on the harbor, in the immediate vicinity of Liverpool's largest event hall with 11,000 seats and the exhibition halls, where numerous events take place every year.

The Staybridge Suites Newcastle impresses with its good connections to the city center and local transport with the "Manors" metro station, which is only one stop away from the main train station. The hotel is in an established location within walking distance of the Quayside waterfront, Millennium Bridge and BALTIC Centre. It opened in 2009 and was extensively modernized in 2024. The hotel has 128 rooms on seven floors.

Maya Capital was founded in 2014 by David Pralong and has since invested more than 2.5 billion euros in various asset classes in Western Europe.

ECE Work & Live was advised on the transaction by Savills.