Investors have read the situation correctly. In a turbulent real estate market, hotel assets still stand tall — in fact, they outperform. Week after week, I see it clearly on the ground. Ambition on one side, caution on the other, yet a shared conclusion: hospitality outshines other asset classes.
And yet, a persistent paradox remains: transactions dominate creation. Deals are flowing, appetite is real, but new supply struggles to emerge because the underlying mechanics are stalled. The “three-way partnership” between developer, property company and operator — so productive when aligned — is struggling to restart. Greenfield projects compete with conversions, which are faster, more straightforward, and often more rational. Forward funding is no longer a given; financing structures are being reworked, risks renegotiated, and timelines stretched.
Why this inertia when demand is strong and capital is not lacking? Because the constraints are multiplying: the cost of debt, banks’ heightened requirements, anticipation of ESG-related capex, the scarcity (and therefore high price) of land — not to mention increasingly restrictive zoning and land-use rules. The stubborn gap between financing costs and asset-value adjustments is stalling part of the development pipeline.
The solution lies in methodology and in the territories. When cities want diversity, we must give them life before giving them square meters. The hotel is no longer just accommodation. It is a workplace, a meeting place, an experiential venue open to its city and its neighborhood. Where land is constrained, mixed-use becomes the answer. Our value proposition — built around content that elevates hybridization — is a differentiator across all segments.
Our ecosystem is ready. It has never been as rich, complementary, and equipped to bring new supply to life. Developers capable of steering complex projects and anticipating new uses. Long-term real estate investors increasingly integrated into asset management. Savings institutions that understand cycles and support the real economy. Operators who invest, take risks, franchise, or manage with discernment. Boundaries are shifting, professions are converging, and value chains are interlocking.
Concepts are not lacking. Lifestyle hospitality has moved beyond marketing flair to become a true urban grammar. Serviced residences prove their operational efficiency and superior returns. Large groups understand this and are repositioning at speed, through openings and acquisitions, while European operators refine their models.
The remaining key is political: stability and visibility. Two rare words — yet without them, projects stumble. Our industry needs clear rules, realistic timelines, and coherent arbitral choices between housing, retail, offices and hospitality. Territorial planning must stop opposing functions and instead orchestrate uses. This requires active cooperation with local authorities to design relevant, accepted, contextualized projects, all aligned with a master plan that reflects a territory’s ambition.
We must rebuild the pact between the long-term investor, the developer who knows how to build responsibly, the operator who knows how to bring places to life, and the territory that knows what it wants for its residents. Transactions are only a moment in time; the birth of new supply is a patient, demanding, sometimes thankless, yet always necessary endeavor.
Let us seize the opportunities of a reshaping Europe, a France reinventing its centres, and secondary destinations seeking their narrative. Hospitality is not a cyclical indulgence. It is an essential service, rooted in useful real estate, generating jobs, pride, and social connection.
