Article: Pygmalion founder on "breathing life" into undervalued hotels

Article about Pygmalion's first Italian hotel acquisition in Florence, detailing how the firm enhanced operations, increased profitability, and implemented strategic refurbishments across two hotels. It highlights franchise conversion, cost optimisation, and revenue growth initiatives that boosted performance and earned industry recognition.

Pygmalion Capital Advisers acquired nine hotels in Spain in 2018 and launched a €6.1 million decarbonisation programme to make the buildings more energy efficient and shift them to renewables. This involved installing heat pumps, a solar electric system, and establishing energy consumption monitoring.

The highly anticipated HAMA Award was presented on Tuesday 1 April 2025 by IHIF EMEA and the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) Europe and co-sponsored by Questex Hospitality and HotStats.

The winner of this year’s prestigious HAMA Europe Asset Management Achievement Award was Pygmalion Capital for their work on Project Arno, a transformative strategy that more than doubled profits across two Hilton hotels in Florence through smart restructuring, creative cost control, and operational excellence.

The article highlights Pygmalion Capital and Christophe Beauvilain, focusing on the firm’s plans for major hotel transactions across Southern Europe and its active management and ESG improvements to drive strong investor returns despite a slow market.

Pygmalion Capital has partnered with Lithuanian investment group Gemini Grupe to provide a mezzanine loan for Kennedy 89 in Frankfurt.

During an interview at the International Hotel Investment Forum, Christophe Beauvilain, Pygmalion's founder and managing partner, said his company looks at hotels with a price range of between 30 million euros ($32 million) and 50 million euros.