Starwood Agrees to Sell Three Italian Hotels

WHITE PLAINS-A binding agreement has been signed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. to sell three hotels in Italy to EST Capital of Padova, Italy for a total purchase price of $229 million. The deal calculates to almost $550 a key for the 418 hotel rooms.

Marco Ferrari, Starwood’s director of external communication for Europe, Africa, Middle East, says the three hotel properties are: the 196-room Westin Excelsior and the 191-room Hotel Des Bains, both in Venice Lido and the 31-room Hotel Villa Cipriani in Asolo. Also part of the deal is some unspecified additional office, retail and storage space. The buyer, EST Capital, is an independent asset management company that specializes in the establishment and management of closed-ended property funds that are reserved to institutional and qualified private investors.

Ferrari says that Starwood is in discussions with EST Capital regarding whether it will continue to manage the properties once they are traded. Starwood expects the sale to close in the fourth quarter of this year. The hotelier currently operates 30 hotels in Italy. Starwood owns 10 of those hotel assets, including the three facilities now under contract with EST Capital.