Ayesa Engineering has been appointed project manager for the Spanish development of Selecto, the select-service hotel platform backed by Tikehau Capital, the global alternative asset manager. Quest Capital is acting as the platform’s operating partner for the Iberian Peninsula. The first of these properties, now under construction in Madrid, is being developed as a strategic pilot scheme intended to define and standardise the management principles to be applied across the rest of the portfolio.
The urban select-service segment continues to confirm its position as a resilient segment of the European hotel market. Its ability to capture both corporate and leisure demand, maintain stable occupancy levels and offer efficient operating models has made it an asset class sought after by investors. The Selecto platform was launched in June under a franchise agreement with IHG Hotels & Resorts, with an initial portfolio of projects in strategic urban locations.
Madrid: the platform’s pilot project
The first project in the portfolio is a 244-room hotel currently under construction in Madrid’s MadBit technology district, set to become the largest Holiday Inn Express in Spain. The property is LEED Gold certified and has been designed to meet high sustainability and energy-efficiency standards, as well as the environmental criteria required by the European Union.
Ayesa Engineering will oversee the asset’s development from the initial phases through to opening, ensuring efficient delivery, investment control and the achievement of the project’s strategic targets for schedule, cost, quality and sustainability. Opening is scheduled for the first quarter of 2028.
According to Miguel Tapia, real estate director at Ayesa Engineering, this first project offers the opportunity to establish common processes for managing scope, schedule, costs and quality standards, while optimising investment across the wider hotel asset portfolio; he added that its development will be decisive in ensuring reproducibility, efficiency and alignment with the client’s strategic objectives.
He also said that the contract strengthens Ayesa Engineering’s position as a project manager in the hospitality sector and demonstrates its ability to manage several projects simultaneously, including for clients such as investment funds and SOCIMIs (Spanish listed REITs).
A growing portfolio in Spain and Portugal
Celia Zapata, technical director for the hospitality segment at Quest Capital, said that Selecto had been established with an initial portfolio of projects in strategic urban locations, including MadBit and Las Tablas in Madrid, the area surrounding FYCMA in Malaga, and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Plaza Europa and the FIRA in Barcelona. For the first of these projects, Tikehau Capital has appointed ALDARA Construcciones e Infraestructuras as the company responsible for execution.
The platform’s first four hotels represent an investment of more than €150 million and lay the foundations for a significant portfolio of select-service hotels in Spain and Portugal, with a total investment target of between €300 million and €350 million.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Ayesa Engineering strengthens hospitality position via Selecto
Ayesa Engineering appointed project manager for several Holiday Inn Express projects backed by Tikehau Capital
Quest Capital acts as operating partner for the Selecto platform in Iberia
Pilot project: 244-room Holiday Inn Express, construction underway in Madrid’s MadBit district, set to become the largest of the brand in Spain
LEED Gold certified; opening targeted for Q1 2028
First four hotels represent an investment of over €150 million, with a total pipeline target of €300-350 million across Spain and Portugal
