Recently, the number of hotels for sale has increased. It is no longer difficult to find relevant announcements on the websites of real estate agencies. Hotels are for sale both in Tbilisi and in the regions. People involved in this business say that the largest share falls on Kakheti.
When asked whether this trend has become even more active recently, real estate agents note that there is an increase. Zurab Eristavi, managing partner of the company RENTALS, says that the interest in selling hotels has increased in their company as well, which has its own reasons.
According to him, one of the reasons is the unstable environment and reduced tourist flows, which the business can no longer cope with.
Eristavi talks about another observation. According to him, the demand for converting hotels into office space has also increased, which to some extent indicates that the business is looking for a direction that will be less loss-making.
“I can confirm that there has been an increase in requests for the sale of hotels, these are mainly family-type hotels in Tbilisi, and hotels are also being sold in the regions, especially in Kakheti. The reason for all this is probably that the number of guests visiting them has decreased. There are also questions about transforming hotels into offices in Tbilisi, the reason for this is probably that the hotel is not working. Businesses are finding it difficult to pay high fixed costs and are thinking of finding an alternative function for their property.
Converting a hotel into office space is a very difficult process. We have talked about this with various owners many times, because in this case every room has its own sanitary facility, there is a loss of space, therefore, no one needs 40 rooms with 40 sanitary facilities. Accordingly, a person will find the same space much more efficiently. As for capital expenditure, converting a hotel into an office is a very large expense," noted Zurab Eristavi, Managing Partner of RENTALS.
