Fattal completes first US hotel purchase with Blakely acquisition

First US purchase

Fattal Hotel Group completed the acquisition of The Blakely Hotel on 7 July 2026, its first hotel investment in the United States. The 117-room property sits on West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenue, within walking distance of Central Park, Times Square and Fifth Avenue, according to the company. The pre-war building has 42 suites, and the company says its rooms are larger than the Manhattan average.

Fattal did not disclose financial terms. CTech reported the price at $38.5 million, about NIS 117 million. The company did not confirm that figure.

Fattal plans a full renovation and repositioning and will keep the hotel closed during the work. CTech put the renovation cost at about $13 million over roughly a year, about a third of the reported purchase price. The hotel is due to reopen in mid-2027 under one of the group's existing brands. The Caterer reported the plan is to rebrand it as a Leonardo Hotel.

Why Manhattan

Manhattan hotel demand has been strong. Revenue per available room rose roughly 5% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, driven by a 6.5% rise in average daily rate, according to a May PwC report cited by Hotel Dive. That figure covers Manhattan overall.

Other investors have moved into the market. Blackstone bought the Kimpton Hotel Eventi for about $175 million last year, Hotel Dive reported. Gencom acquired The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park this year, after the InterContinental New York Times Square in December and Thompson Central Park in 2024. Israeli rival Dan Hotels agreed in October to buy a hotel in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, its first US move, CTech reported.

Portfolio and financing

Fattal owns and manages 329 hotels in 22 countries, including the Leonardo Hotels and NYX brands. Fattal describes itself as Israel's largest hotel operator. CTech counted 276 at the end of March, with three more hotels due to open by the end of May, a timing difference that narrows but does not close the gap to 329. That count was split between 154 hotels in Central and Western Europe, 61 in the UK and Ireland, 13 in Greece and Cyprus and 48 in Israel. The company's 329 figure carries no date.

Shortly before the Blakely deal, Fattal completed a €518 million capital raise, about NIS 1.8 billion, for a third partnership with Israeli institutional investors. The company committed €200 million; Harel, Menora Mivtachim, Mor, Phoenix and other investors provided €318 million. Unlike the partnerships from 2022 and 2024, the third can buy assets in the US as well as Europe. The Blakely purchase was made by the company itself, not the partnership.

What it means

Fattal has spent years building a portfolio in European gateway cities. The company lists London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Vienna among its markets. New York is its first test outside Europe and Israel.

Ronen Nissenbaum, CEO of Leonardo Hotels UK, Ireland, Benelux, Spain, Portugal and US Development, said the group sees "significant long-term potential in the property." He called the Midtown location an exceptional base for the US entry. David Fattal, the founder, said entering the US market is "a landmark moment" and "a major strategic step" in the group's international growth.

The first US property will show whether Fattal's European model travels. Its performance after reopening will be the measure.