South Kensington’s Art-Led Exhibitionist Hotel Sold for £10.6m
Main Photo: The Exhibitionist Hotel
Date: March 2022
Name: The Exhibitionist Hotel
Location: South Kensington, London, England, UK
Number of Keys: 37
Seller: Private family
Buyer: 4C Hotels Group
BNP Paribas Real Estate has sold the iconic The Exhibitionist hotel in South Kensington for £10.6m to an undisclosed buyer on behalf of a private client. The hotel was one of the early adopters of being classified as “an art hotel” with a gallery space including eight galleries and also 37 individually designed rooms for up and coming artists to exhibit their work.
Following a competitive bidding process on behalf of its unnamed client, the freehold boutique hotel on Queensberry Place was snapped up for 15 per cent over its quoting price; it is the first time the freehold of the property has been sold for over 75 years.
The Exhibitionist is a stone’s throw away from the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and dates back to 1876. It formerly comprised two interconnecting Victorian town houses arranged over lower ground, raised ground and five upper floors. The property became a hotel in the late 1980’s and underwent extensive refurbishment in 2015.
Richard Talbot-Williams, Senior Director, Hotels at BNP Paribas Real Estate commented: “Investor sentiment towards rarely traded prime London hotel assets has remained extremely robust and durable through the pandemic period, a time during which there has continued to be a very limited supply of ‘proceedable’ hotel investment opportunities.”
“The competitive nature of the bidding for this prime town house hotel from both domestic and foreign buyers demonstrates a very high level of future confidence in the success of London hotels, in which we are great believers.”
The hotel is let on a triple net lease for a further 15 years, expiring March 2037 with four-yearly upward only rent reviews. It generates a current annual rent of £237,500.
The hotel had some great-named suites such as Trash City, Squint Splash, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Jimmie Martin and the Squint Penthouse…all relating to the art
Price: £10.6 million
Price per Key: £286,486
THPT Comment: This hotel lives up to its name. Rooms and communal areas are bold and maximalist in design, with some unusual artwork. Rumours of a ‘clothes optional’ policy cannot be confirmed or denied.
First Seen: City AM
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