The NH and Meliá chains are the two largest hotel groups in Spain with the most establishments for rent, with 230 and 116 hotels, respectively. The strategy to rent assets carried out by both entities has allowed them to get rid of significant mortgage burdens, but it has forced them to assume large rental bills, which are now difficult to afford in the absence of clients to control the pandemic. For this reason, the hotel companies are seeking to renegotiate their rents, which represent an annual cost of €487 million, according to Cinco Días.
The NH chain spends the most money on rent. The company run by Ramón Aragonés has 369 hotels, of which 230 (62%) are rental properties. The hotel chain pays a fixed annual rent, with a small variable proportion, for 215 of those and a full variable rent, based on revenues, for the other 15.
