Meininger Hotels continues its growth plans in the markets already penetrated in Italy. In January 2022, the group opened its fourth property in France. In Germany, the chain’s main market with 13 facilities, two new openings are planned this year, in Bremen and Dresden.
In Italy, on the other hand, after Milan (Milan Garibaldi for 80 keys, Milan Lambrate for 131 keys) and Rome (Rome Termini for 118 keys), Venice was chosen as the third location in which to add a new piece to its expansion. With the inauguration of the new property in Venice Mestre, the number of keys of the group in Italy will grow beyond 440 rooms.
The 7-floor building will be subject to slight revamping in view of the opening scheduled for mid-2022. The building, leased to the Meininger group, had been taken over by Deka Immobilien on the occasion of the Cà Marcello portfolio deal which had seen the transaction, in 2019, of several properties located in the Mestre hostel cluster for a total value of approx. 200 million euros.
The new Meininger property will open in the same location where Wombat’s Hostel The Venice Story in Mestre was inaugurated in 2019 for EUR 46.7 million (approx. EUR 417,000 per key), and closed in summer 2020. With a total area of 4,500 square meters, the building offers 434 beds and 112 rooms, including double rooms and multi-bed rooms for up to six people.
The new player is inserted, replacing Wombat’s, in a context already highly subject to competitive pressure. In fact, the area of Cà Marcello di Mestre located between the railway, the homonymous road and the railway overpass concentrates, in just 16 thousand square meters, 6 large accommodation facilities that target the same demand segment. The current chain hotel supply in the microlocation counts a total of 1,367 rooms (6 properties).
Even higher, however, is the growth of the Mestre branded keys offer, which has grown strongly in recent years, recording a CAGR of +23% in the 2017-2021 period.
Although the economy & hostel district of Mestre has experienced a tumultuous period already in its first 2 years of life, a further crowding of large structures and managed by professional operators might be expected.
In particular, for the next few years, several openings are planned in the area, such as the Accor Tribe with 286 keys.