Criterion Capital has acquired the 732-room St Giles London Hotel on Tottenham Court Road, UK, consolidating ownership of a key site in the West End.
The acquisition gives Criterion Capital sole ownership of the property, which is next to Tottenham Court Road Underground station.
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The hotel is situated near Oxford Street, the British Museum, Theatreland, and several academic and medical institutions, benefiting from high foot traffic and accessible transport links.
The transaction is the latest stage in a process extending more than 30 years. Before establishing Criterion Capital, founder Asif Aziz was part of the Michael Laurie team that advised YMCA on selling the hotel to Ravenscroft Investments in 1993.
After establishing Criterion Capital, Aziz expanded the company’s interests in the surrounding area, including the purchase of the underground NCP car park in 2006.
Criterion Capital subsequently redeveloped this site into a fully underground hotel, now operating under the Zedwell brand. The project involved the adaptive reuse of an existing structure, incorporating measures to retain embodied carbon.
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By GlobalDataFollowing the YMCA’s decision to end operations last year, the organisation offered its freehold interest in the site to Criterion. The acquisition resulted in the entire property returning to single ownership for the first time since its original development, bringing together areas that had previously been under separate ownership.
Criterion Capital claims that the reunification reflects its approach to strategic and responsible long-term management, with an emphasis on respecting the heritage and history of complex urban properties while investing to support their future development.
Following the acquisition, Criterion Capital’s West End hotel portfolio consists of more than 3,700 operating rooms. The company has a confirmed development pipeline that is projected to exceed 9,000 rooms by 2029.
In July 2024, Criterion Capital announced plans to transform the former Debenhams building on Princes Street in Edinburgh into its first Zedwell brand hotel in Scotland.
