Aroundtown owns the 4-star Hilton Hotel, which is right in the heart of Berlin on the Gendarmenmarkt with excellent accessibility to its top-tier central location. Gendarmenmarkt is next to other major tourist attractions, including the Brandenburger Tor, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz, and is a highly sought-after business district, with the regional headquarters of many of the world’s leading corporations as well as many embassies.
The hotel covers an entire street block with the front of the hotel forming one side of the Gendarmenmarkt, which is currently used as a driveway for its entrance. The Gendarmenmarkt is a prime tourist, residential and commercial location, and using the front side as a driveway is under-utilising a prime commercial space. Thus, there is substantial upside potential in converting the driveway into prime leisure retail space targeted at complementing the area’s use as a destination for top restaurants, culture and historical landmarks.
The hotel’s very large above ground car park is also a misplaced utilisation. A conversion into high-end residential condominiums, which can be integrated into the hotel’s operational systems, will provide substantial upside potential in an area that benefits from strong residential demand. The large lobby and conference spaces are also not utilised efficiently, and with some changes and conversions can increase the property’s yield significantly. The hotel’s rooms will also be upgraded to increase returns further.
