That’s yet to deter investors. London hotels valued at 4.1 billion pounds changed hands in 2015, about 250 percent more than a year earlier, and compares with the previous record of 2.1 billion pounds in 2006, according to data compiled by Knight Frank LLP. That’s pushed yields -- which move in the opposite direction to prices -- to less than 4 percent.
The largest hotel transaction last year was the purchase of a majority stake in Maybourne Group -- which owns Claridges, the Berkeley and the Connaught -- by Qatar’s Constellation Hotels Group for an estimated 2 billion pounds, according to Knight Frank.
Fewer Russians
Russia’s elite are spending more time in their own country, as a weak ruble hurts their spending power and President Vladimir Putin urges Russians to travel within the country and support the ailing economy. U.K. visas granted to Russians fell 38 percent last year.
"The decline in Russian visitors is just one of the issues facing London’s luxury hotels, Kett said. "If you add it all together, it becomes an issue."