Vienna’s Hotel Imperial, used by stars including Madonna and Mick Jagger as well as politicians and diplomats, was bought by Dubai’s Al Habtoor Group LLC for $78.8 million.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. sold the 138-room property, which will continue to operate under its Luxury Collection brand, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. All of the rooms will be renovated as part of the deal.
“Hotel Imperial was one of the first Luxury Collection hotels and its full restoration together with our partners will reinforce the majestic heritage of this historic hotel,” Michael Wale, President of Starwood for Europe, Africa and Middle East, said in the statement.
Vienna’s luxury-hotel market is expanding. The city’s Tourist Board predicts that the number of beds on offer in the five-star category will rise to 9,600 in 2018 from 7,700 in 2014.
Hotel Imperial has been in business since 1873 on a site near Kaerntner Strasse, one of Vienna’s most prestigious shopping streets. Last year, the hotel hosted talks by 17 nations, including the U.S. and Russia, on Syria’s civil war.
Adolf Hitler also favored the hotel and had a permanent suite there, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
