Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa May 2014 | Page 46

STRATEGIES

“We have a professional and well established team of
specialist hospitality executives who specialise in the
hotel investment industry to assist with purchases and
advise buyers on how to maximize your investment,”
says Taylor.

“Investing in hotel suites is an
excellent and profitable
alternative to the traditional
buy-to-let investment.”
The result is what Taylor calls a truly passive “armchair
investment” that is ideal for the busy investor who does
not have the time for hands-on property management.
An added bonus is that a holiday option is tacked on. Each
investor has 60 days “owner time” per annum which can
either be used or exchanged at other resorts worldwide. This
is a nice-to-have but should not detract from the investment
benefits, cautions Taylor. “This is ultimately an investment.
It’s about rands and cents at the end of the day rather than
the purchase of an exotic getaway.”
In addition to income from rentals, investors stand
to benefit from capital appreciation of the properties.
This is exacerbated by a bullish outlook for the tourism
industry and hospitality sector with continued pressure
on the rand making South Africa and increasingly
attractive destination for international visitors.
Taylor’s confidence in Hotel Room Investment’s
ability to optimise returns for its investors stems
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May 2014 SA Real Estate Investor

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from an already impressive performance in a market
segment where élan has been something of a trail
blazer for 14 years.
Since 1998, executives within the group have developed
19 sectional title hotels including the Protea President
Hotel in Sea Point, Lagoon Beach Hotel Apartments
and Mandela Rhodes Place in Central Cape Town, the
Rex Hotel in Knysna, the Riverside Hotel in Durban,
the Alpine Heath Resort in the Northern Drakensberg,
Ocean Reef Resort in Zinkwazi, Kwazulu-Natal,
Fairview and the Aviator Hotel in Johannesburg and
Greenway Woods Resort in White River, Mpumalanga.
Taylor explains that this investment option was
initiated when financial institutions were hesitant to
fund hotel developments despite the fact that the post
apartheid tourism sector needed to be rejuvenated after
sanctions were dropped and additional hotel rooms
were needed. This was one of the alternative options for
raising finance.
It proved both popular and successful and, over the years
since it first came to South Africa, has evolved. Rental
property agreements and the rules of schemes have
been refined, all to the benefit of potential investors.
Now that Hotel Room Investments is investing
offshore, there’s another plus for buyers. Annual earnings
can be paid in dollars into an account in the country in
which the resort is located, providing a potential forex
hedge and further diversifying investors’ portfolios.

RESOURCES
Hotel Room Investments
www.reimag.co.za