Wyndham acquires European hotel brand Vienna House

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has acquired the Vienna House brand for $44 million from Berlin-based HR Group, a leading European hotel operator and long-standing franchised partner of the company.

The sale adds an upscale and midscale portfolio of approximately 40 hotels and more than 6,000 rooms. HR Group will continue to own or lease and operate existing Vienna House hotels under long-term franchise agreements with Wyndham. The move enables Wyndham to grow the Vienna House brand by leveraging its marketing scale and franchise expertise, while allowing HR Group to focus on its core competencies as a leading owner and operator of strategic real estate across Europe, according to the companies. Upon closing, the Vienna House brand will become part of Wyndham’s portfolio of brands and will be known as Vienna House by Wyndham.

The acquisition adds 28 hotels in Germany alone, giving Wyndham 120 franchised hotels and more than 19,000 rooms, while also expanding across surrounding countries. Together with Wyndham’s current presence in Europe, the combined portfolio of more than 400 hotels in more than 30 countries will provide business and leisure travelers an expanded offering of branded hotel options across the region.

“Europe continues to present accelerating growth for the travel sector with strong demand steadily bouncing back across leisure and business,” said Geoff Ballotti, president/CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “Vienna House’s guest-centric culture, strong brand recognition and ambitious brand development plans align with our distribution goals, making it a perfect match to continue our international growth and reinforces our position and commitment to the region.”

Dimitris Manikis, president for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA), Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, added, “Over the past 30 years, the Vienna House brand has built a highly recognized name for travelers in many European countries. The acquisition of the Vienna House brand and our expanded collaboration with our trusted partner, HR Group, mark a key step in expanding our market presence even further, adding immediate scale and capability and supporting our ambitions for growth in important destinations across EMEA.”

Vienna House caters to a wide demographic of business and leisure travelers, with a portfolio of hotels, including both Vienna House and Vienna House Easy hotels, located across Europe, including Berlin, Munich, Prague, Krakow, Bucharest and more.

“We found an excellent like-minded partner in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, sharing the same passion to bring high-quality accommodations where travelers want to be,” said Ruslan Husry, sole shareholder/CEO, HR Group. “The Vienna House brand has built a fantastic reputation in many European destinations, and our expanded and close-knit collaboration with Wyndham will provide the strength, scale and expertise needed to grow the brand faster and ensure more guests experience what Vienna House has to offer, while also tapping into the renowned benefits of Wyndham Rewards.”