Photo courtesy of Baccarat Hotel
Sometimes money is no object.
It certainly isn't if you're China's Sunshine Insurance Group Co. Ltd, who have agreed to acquire the Baccarat Hotel in New York City for a price of more than $230 million, which averages out to more than $2 million per room.
According to the Wall Street Journal's Craig Karmin and Esther Fung, the hefty price tag would be a new record in terms of cost per room. Karmin and Fung note that the Plaza Hotel sold for $2.04 million per room back in 2012.
What's even more impressive, though, is that the hotel sold before even opening its doors.
"This only occurs in very robust market conditions," said Lodging Advisors CEO Sean Hennessey. "Because hotels aren't pre-leased like office buildings, the risk of filling the guest rooms now falls to the new owner, rather than the developer"
Property investor and seller Starwood Capital Group will continue to manage the 114-room Baccarat Hotel.
If you're still wondering how a hotel room could possibly be worth so much, consider that the hotel features 15,000 separate pieces of French crystal stemware and that suites here run for as much as $18,000 per night.
Whether the group is looking to save the time it would take to develop another property or bolster its image around the world, it's clear that the company has a plan in place.
Prior to this noteworthy purchase, the Sunshine Insurance Group bought a Sheraton hotel in Sydney for $380 million in November 2014.
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