Vertell AM – New Player On European Hotel Development Market – Led by Romain Semmel and Thibault Catala
Main Photo: Arenas Resort Altein, one of the four hotels acquired by Vertell AM in 2021
Date: May 2022
Names: Vertell AM – The four Arenas Resorts: Schweizerhof Sils-Maria, Altein Arosa, Victoria Lauberhorn Wengen and Valaisia Crans Montana
Location: They acquired a portfolio of four properties in Switzerland in mid-2021 in a joint venture with an investment fund from across the Atlantic: Arenas The Resort….looking to expand in Europe
Number of Keys: TBA
Fund: Vertell AM
Vertell AM was launched by Romain Semmel and Thibault Catala in May 2022. This structure dedicated to hotel investment and management combines their two profiles bringing complementary expertise to their clients.
Romain and Thibault both graduated from Glion Institut de Hautes Etudes and have a performance-based career path, as highlighted by Romain Semmel’s application to the Hospitality Awards when he was working for a real estate transaction specialist in charge of hotel assets. Thibault, on the other hand, followed the path of revenue management with an expertise developed around digital tools to monitor the activity of hotel properties.
Together they have acquired a portfolio of four properties in Switzerland in mid-2021 in a joint venture with an investment fund from across the Atlantic: Arenas The Resort. This transaction led them to found Vertell AM to maximise their development opportunities by offering services around the acquisition and management of hotel properties in Europe. They focus on underperforming assets in order to implement their tools and processes to restore performance.
Thibault Catala and Romain Semmel summarise their vision of Vertell AM’s value-added approach. Romain Semmel says : “During my many years in the hotel investment sector, I have experienced the lack of alignment between investors and hotel asset managers and operators. By creating Vertell, our ambition is to provide our partners with our expertise in identifying and structuring complex investment transactions combined with operational know-how to create value on our investments,”
As for Thibault, he says: “The hospitality sector is far behind in terms of digitization compared to other industries. At Vertell, we have implemented an innovative plug and play technology stack which, combined with our operational expertise, allows us to make more responsive and accurate management decisions to improve asset performance and profitability,” Catala started his career as Revenue Manager for Four Seasons and before that IHG in Europe and Asia.
Price: Undisclosed
THPT Comment: Always room for the “new kid on the block” especially these two with some good experience behind them…Not a bad start with the four ski hotels in Switzerland…where next?
First Seen: Hospitality On
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