Historic Venice Hotel to Be Restored with €200 Million Investment

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Italy is preparing to restore the historic Grand Hotel des Bains in Venice, which has stood empty since 2010. Developer and asset manager COIMA, together with Abu Dhabi–based investor Eagle Hills, reached a debt settlement and plan to invest around €200 million in the hotel’s revival, Bloomberg reports.

The Grand Hotel des Bains, opened around 1900 and the inspiration for Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, was for decades a gathering point for stars of the Venice Film Festival. Several years ago, Est Capital planned to convert the property into luxury apartments, but the attempt failed, and in 2014 the hotel was placed under external administration. Its assets later passed to Hines Italia SGR and then to COIMA, which restructured them into the Lido di Venezia II fund in 2017.

Financial troubles followed the property for over a decade. At the time of restructuring, the fund’s debt stood at €137 million, with €45 million linked to Grand Hotel des Bains. Parts of the debt were held by UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, later transferred to Altea SPV, backed by Christofferson, Robb & Company. It was with these creditors that COIMA reached the agreement paving the way for the hotel’s revival.

The restoration will be financed through the new COIMA Des Bains fund, supported by the COIMA ESG City Impact Fund and Eagle Hills. Other institutional investors include Cassa Forense, ENPAM, Inarcassa, Intesa Sanpaolo, and more. Yoox Net-A-Porter founder Federico Marchetti is also among the backers.

COIMA already has experience renovating Venice hotels: in 2022, it sold the restored Hotel Excelsior to London & Regional Hotels. This time, the company plans to bring the Grand Hotel des Bains “back onto the world tourism map,” as COIMA CEO Manfredi Catella said, stressing close cooperation with local authorities. Once a symbol of the Venetian Lido, the hotel is set to again become one of the city’s landmarks, combining historic heritage with modern hospitality.

For Eagle Hills, this is the company’s first project in Italy. Its portfolio already includes over 90 developments across the Gulf, Europe, and Africa. The UAE developer is also investing more than $5.5 billion in two major complexes in Georgia, which will also feature luxury hotels, particularly in the Gonia resort district near Batumi.

Such investments align with global tourism and hospitality trends. Luxury hotels are attracting strong investor demand, driven by rising tourism potential. According to JLL, by the end of 2024, overnight stays worldwide exceeded 4.8 billion—102 million more than the year before. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew by 3.7%, while in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa), it was 25.3% above pre-COVID levels.

Eurostat data shows that in 2024, Italy ranked second in the EU for total overnight stays, with 458 million nights, 11 million more than in 2023. In Q1 2025 alone, tourist overnights increased by 1.1 million compared to the same period in 2024, with 31.8 million nights from international visitors—one of the highest figures in the EU.

Looking ahead, JLL forecasts global RevPAR growth of 3–5% in 2025, fueled by business and international tourism recovery. According to Business Research Insights, the hotel industry will maintain strong growth at least through 2032, supported by technological innovation, gastronomy and event tourism, and the expansion of new accommodation formats such as branded residences and hybrid living-work-leisure spaces.