Why Edinburgh is leading Scotland's £431 million hotel sale boom
Scotland enjoyed a surge in hotel sales last year as investors tapped into the sector’s “solid fundamentals” with another strong year on the cards.
New figures reveal that hotel transaction volumes (involving sales of £1 million and above) topped £431m in 2024, up 38 per cent on 2023 and considerably higher than the ten-year average of £282m. Overall, Scotland accounted for about 7.5 per cent of all UK hotel deals last year, the highest total outside of London, according to the latest data from property consultancy Savills.
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Hide AdEdinburgh continued to be Scotland’s hotspot, with hotel deals in the capital accounting for £251m of the 2024 total - some 58 per cent. Key deals included Pandox buying the DoubleTree Hilton in Edinburgh city centre for £49m and Millemont purchasing the city’s Yotel, both from Starwood. Elsewhere, in Glasgow Swiss Life bought the Maldron Hotel in a £33m deal.


The sale of a number of these well-known hotels across Scotland saw single asset volumes reach £286m. In turn, a third of transactions accounted for larger portfolio allocations, including the sale of the Village Hotel platform acquired by Blackstone, KKR & Baupost, with operating partner Amante acquiring the 33-hotel Marriott Portfolio and Ares’ acquisition of 21 Accor hotels.
In terms of buyer profile, the figures show that 40 per cent of purchases in 2024 were from domestic buyers, a significant decrease on the 77 per cent seen in 2023. This is due to US buyers making large portfolio acquisitions.
As a result, international capital accounted for 60 per cent of the hotel purchases, with the money coming from locations including the US, Sweden and the UAE. Experts said this increase can be attributed to sustained revenue per available room (RevPAR) in recent years - a key industry measure.
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Hide AdLooking at the year ahead, Savills anticipates another strong year for the Scottish hotel sector with a number of sale processes already underway, including Nuveen Real Estate’s disposal of the landmark W Hotel in Edinburgh. The firm also pointed to a number of “highly anticipated” openings and up to 1,500 rooms in development, such as Cheval Maison in Glasgow, and the Hoxton and the Jenners building, both in Edinburgh. Scotland is, therefore, expected to remain one of the highest performing hotel markets outside of London in 2025.


Steven Fyfe, hotel capital markets director at Savills Scotland, said: “Once again, Scotland performed exceptionally well in 2024 and we continue to see year-on-year increases in transaction volumes, reflecting the strong RevPAR growth in key markets. Private equity confidence has been central to this recovery. This is because the sector remains supported by solid fundamentals, serving as an inflationary hedge and offering continued international appeal.
“In particular, Edinburgh remains a global tourist destination, which we have seen in the higher than average number of single asset sales. It is also uniquely placed to cater for various products including serviced apartments and hostels, making the city especially appealing to investors looking to enter the market. With all this in mind, we expect transaction volumes will continue to outpace the ten-year average in 2025.”
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