Celebrating the first anniversary of the opening of The Westin London City, RBH, the UK’s most experienced hotel management company, reflects on a remarkable first 12 months of trading.

As Marriott International’s 1000th opening in EMEA, The Westin London City opened to significant anticipation as the newest waterfront hotel in London. Located on Upper Thames Street on the banks of the River Thames and with views across to iconic locations such as Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and The Tate Modern, the hotel launched in a challenging time amidst the post Covid recovery and was then faced with the impact of Omicron in late 2021.

Despite the challenges, the hotel has achieved some exceptional results, outperforming its competitor set comprising some of London’s top luxury properties in all major metrics including market share, guest satisfaction and profitability.

The hotel’s RevPAR performance is perhaps the greatest first year achievement with an RGI Index of 120.6 against its competitor set despite being a new hotel opening. RevPAR is over 20% ahead of the competition, and the rolling three-month RevPAR figure as at the one-year anniversary shows the hotel to be ranked at the top of its competitor set.

In addition, the hotel, led fantastically by General Manager Raffaele Ruocco, has received consistently strong guest feedback. Utilising online guest review platform ReviewPro, the hotel has achieved a higher average score than its competitor set in its first 12 months and is less than three points off the top spot. In recent employee surveys, the hotel team acknowledged the great culture which Raffaele has instilled at the hotel, saying: “I admire the company's work ethic and collaborative spirit. I love my job because everyone shares the same vision and is dedicated to the mission. There’s a great balance of both freedom and structure given to employees to support a positive culture that encourages growth.”

Despite the headwinds facing the hospitality industry, The Westin London City has also outperformed in terms of profitability, significantly exceeding budgeted numbers and, based on RBH’s use of Hotstats benchmarking data, is ahead of its competitor set in terms of 2022 Gross Operating Profit per Available Room (GOPPAR) by 3%.

Louisa Green, RBH’s Operations Director who oversees The Westin London City as well as several luxury and upper upscale hotels in the RBH portfolio (including The Gantry London – A Curio Collection by Hilton, Principal York and Hilton Aberdeen TECA) commented:

“On the first anniversary of the hotel opening, and halfway through our tenure of operating this amazing property, we are incredibly proud of the results achieved. As London continues its post-pandemic recovery, hotels like The Westin reiterate that where guests can receive exceptional service, in a quality hotel by motivated and engaged employees, then success will follow. The hotel team has been dedicated and diligent and together with fantastic support from the RBH central team, we can all celebrate these fantastic first year results together."

Matt Hughes, Senior Director – Owner Relations EMEA at Marriott International added:

“The Westin London City and our operating partners at RBH have achieved enormous success in the first 12 months of operation. Balancing the wellness promise that Westin Hotels & Resorts is famous for with an outstanding city location, this hotel has provided a new way for Marriott Bonvoy members and travellers to experience London."