According to Savills of the nine new brands entering the UK hotels market, four operators are Asian, three European and two American. The firm also finds that Asian buyers are the strongest performers in terms of price and ability to purchase.

Savills reports that American boutique operator Thompson Hotels with its JV Hong Kong based Harilela Group will open an 85 key hotel in Belgravia this summer in the former Sheraton premises. Meanwhile Malaysian operator Tune Hotels, Hong Kong operator Shangri La and Maltese brand Corinthia all have plans to open in Central London. In addition, it states that Thai Group Dusitani, US boutique brand Kimpton Hotels and Singapore based KOP Group are all actively looking in London whilst Dutch boutique Citizen M has recently opened in Glasgow. In the budget sector, Germany’s Motel One is looking for sites in the UK.

Rachel Ellis, associate of Savills hotels team, says: “Its no surprise London is the main focus for these operators with its business and tourist trade but also the forthcoming Olympics. Whilst the budget brands have been dominating the market this year, boutique outfits remain the fashionable option and will be popular with business visitors and tourists alike. With an increasing number of tourists coming to Europe from Asia we naturally expect to see a rise in penetration of the Asian brands in key capital cities.”

Savills has recorded that in terms of hotel buyers, investors funded by private wealth are the most active in the London luxury five-star hotels market. Based on data collected from hotel enquiries since 2007, interest from funds, banks and property companies have fallen away with private wealth and private equity based investors making up nearly 70% of 2010’s hotel interest between them. The firm also reports that 43% of interested parties so far in 2010 are from overseas and half of these from the Middle East, most of whom are funded by private equity or wealth.

Greg Childs, associate director of Savills Hotels, comments: “A handful of overseas private families have been shopping for landmark freehold hotels in central London since early 2009. As we saw with the Stafford last year these parties are able to significantly outbid the usual set of investors and consider a purchase in London as a capital protection play rather than looking too closely at returns.”