JLL Advises Essendi on Sale of Four-Hotel Polish Portfolio to DeSilva Group

DeSilva Group has acquired a portfolio of four Accor-branded hotels in Poland from Essendi, in a transaction that transfers 752 rooms across Warsaw and Szczecin and expands the buyer's presence across multiple hotel segments. JLL's Hotels & Hospitality team advised Essendi on the sale. The deal received unconditional clearance from Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection on July 22, 2026, and was publicly announced in September 2026.

Portfolio Overview

The portfolio comprises four properties: the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria in Warsaw and three hotels in Szczecin — Novotel Szczecin Centrum, ibis Szczecin Centrum and ibis Styles Szczecin Stare Miasto. The Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, located at ul. Królewska 11 near Piłsudski Square, contributes 368 rooms to the portfolio. The three Szczecin properties together account for 384 rooms, with Novotel Szczecin Centrum offering 117 rooms, ibis Szczecin Centrum 106 rooms and ibis Styles Szczecin Stare Miasto 161 rooms at ul. Panieńska 10 in the city's Stare Miasto district.

The Sofitel Warsaw Victoria opened in 1976 and was renovated in 2018. The hotel's 368 keys consist of 335 guest rooms and 33 suites, and the property includes approximately 16,792 square feet of meeting and events space. Following the ownership transfer, the hotel will continue to operate under the Sofitel brand and remain managed by Accor.

Tomasz Lewandowski, Head of Land & Medium Size Investments at JLL, described the asset's enduring appeal: "Sofitel Warsaw Victoria is an example of a property whose value is built over decades. An investor buys not only space or revenue, but also an address, recognition and the place the property occupies in the history of the city."

Strategic Context for Buyer and Seller

For DeSilva Group, the acquisition adds four hotels to its Polish portfolio and broadens its exposure across hotel segments — from luxury at the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria to midscale at Novotel Szczecin Centrum and economy at the two ibis-branded Szczecin properties. The transaction also gives DeSilva a concentrated operating platform in Szczecin, where it now holds three hotels and 384 rooms in the same market.

For Essendi, the sale is consistent with a portfolio-management strategy focused on economy and midscale hotels in Europe while investing in the quality and long-term value of retained assets. The disposal spans segments from luxury to economy, indicating a reallocation of the portfolio rather than a departure from the Accor operating system, given that the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria will continue under Accor management.

JLL Advisory Team

JLL's Hotels & Hospitality group advised Essendi on the transaction. The advisory team comprised Jurrian Dompeling, Giacomo Torre, Sebastien Muylle and Stefan Giesemann. Legal counsel for DeSilva Group was provided by GESSEL.

Market Implications

The transaction reflects a broader pattern in European hotel investment in which portfolio sales are being used to achieve scale, diversify operating exposure and reposition holdings by segment. The four-property portfolio spans the luxury, midscale and economy tiers of the market, offering the buyer differentiated demand characteristics across its holdings. The Sofitel Warsaw Victoria's combination of a central Warsaw address, an established luxury brand, a 50-year operating history and a significant meetings-and-events component distinguishes it from the Szczecin assets and anchors the portfolio's premium positioning. The three Szczecin hotels, meanwhile, provide scale in a single market that may support operational efficiencies in staffing, procurement and local management.