Industrial capital is "hunting" five-star hotels.

The May Day holiday has passed, but the Urumqi R&F Wanda Vista Hotel, located in the core area, has seen a continuous flow of customers. Few people noticed that on the eve of the holiday, this hotel was auctioned off on the judicial auction platform by a company named "Zhejiang Qixian Automobile Service Co., Ltd." at an almost half - price base price. By delving into the business registration information, it was found that the winning bidder is actually a Zhejiang private enterprise that is two years younger than the Wanda Vista Hotel. However, this is not an isolated case. Five - star hotels in the stage of value reconstruction are being "hunted" by more and more industrial capital...

Wanda Vista Hotel Changes Hands to a Zhejiang Businessman for 337 million yuan

On April 30th, Zhejiang Qixian Automobile Service Co., Ltd. won the bid for the Urumqi R&F Wanda Vista Hotel at a price of 337,443,064 yuan. The hotel opened in 2016, with a construction area of about 47,500 square meters and 271 guest rooms. It is located in the core area of the Economic and Technological Development Zone in Urumqi.

When the hotel was put up for judicial auction in early April, the total asset value was about 422 million yuan (the starting price of the first auction), which was about 8,882 yuan per square meter. The price of 337 million yuan is the reduced price after the second auction, about 7,100 yuan per square meter, which is lower than the unit price of some high - end hotels in the core business district of Urumqi.

Taking international brand five - star hotels in the Youhao Business District in Shayibake District or the core business district in Tianshan District as an example, although there is no direct public information on the price per square meter for hotels like Conrad and Hilton, referring to their high - end positioning and similar project transactions, the unit price is usually between 10,000 and 15,000 yuan per square meter. The reference price for the disposal of the Urumqi R&F Wanda Vista Hotel is 603 million yuan. The transaction at the base price of 337 million yuan is equivalent to a 56% discount, with a significant discount space. It is obviously an "entry at a low price".

Although the hotel has gone through two judicial auctions, the hotel itself is not making losses but performing well. According to media reports, during the "May Day" holiday, the hotel was "fully booked". Even with relatively high room prices, it still attracted a large number of tourists and business travelers, enjoying market recognition and appeal.

The real reason for the hotel's auction is related to the financial pressure of the seller, R&F. As a heavy - asset, the hotel has high depreciation and a long return period, becoming a "cash - flow burden" for the enterprise, prompting the seller to quickly realize cash at a low price. In addition, the hotel industry was generally sluggish last year, with the transaction rate of judicially auctioned hotels being only 6.6%, and more than 90% of hotel assets failing to be sold. Under the buyer's market, the seller had to significantly reduce the price to attract buyers.

On one hand, the seller was eager to sell the hotel for cash, and on the other hand, the hotel had a stable customer base. So, the hotel welcomed a "bargain - hunter" - Zhejiang Qixian Automobile Service Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhejiang Qixian Automobile"). Business registration information shows that Zhejiang Qixian Automobile was established in 2018, with its registered address in Binjiang District, Hangzhou. Its business scope includes the sales of new cars, the wholesale of auto parts, leasing, and the sales of mechanical equipment. The company's main business is car rental, seemingly having nothing to do with the hotel industry, but there is an investment layout of Zhejiang businessmen behind it.

The controlling shareholder behind Zhejiang Qixian Automobile is Zhongke Jiutai Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongke Jiutai"), which is the actual acquirer of the hotel. Zhongke Jiutai has a wide range of businesses, including energy, finance, real estate, high - tech, etc. The group's headquarters is located in Hangzhou, and the actual controller of Zhongke Jiutai is Chen Jize. This is not his first time to invest in hotel assets.

In June 2022, Zhongke Jiutai acquired the Fanhai Diaoyutai Hotel in the core area of Qianjiang New City, Hangzhou. At that time, there were many international chain hotels such as InterContinental, Marriott, Conrad, and Park Hyatt around this hotel, with an excellent location. The hotel was popularized because of the Lantern Festival fireworks show, and its private rooms were in high demand.

The former Fanhai Diaoyutai Hotel opened in 2016. The owner is Zhejiang Fanhai Construction and Investment Co., Ltd., and the operator is Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality Group. In 2022, due to the debt pressure of its parent company, Fanhai Holdings, the equity of Zhejiang Fanhai Construction and Investment Co., Ltd. was included in the scope of judicial auction. Zhongke Jiutai completed the acquisition at a relatively low price (about 50 - 60% of the appraised price).

As the core asset of Zhejiang Fanhai Construction and Investment Co., Ltd., the Fanhai Diaoyutai Hotel was naturally included in Zhongke Jiutai's portfolio. Unfortunately, the change of the owner did not retain the operator. In August 2023, the new owner, Zhongke Jiutai, terminated the cooperation with Diaoyutai MGM Group and has been operating independently ever since. Currently, the hotel has been renamed Hangzhou Jiutai Hotel and is independently managed and operated by Zhongke Jiutai without entrusting other hotel groups.

However, Hangzhou Jiutai Hotel is not resistant to introducing a third - party operator. It was rumored that the hotel would introduce the LXR brand to compete with the LXR in Xi'an Qujiang for the "first appearance of LXR in Greater China". However, because the owner, Zhongke Jiutai, insisted on operating in a franchise mode, while Hilton Group did not accept the franchise mode for the first appearance of LXR in Greater China, the negotiation between the two parties finally broke down.

Chen Jize, the founder of Zhongke Jiutai, is from Nanyan Town, Pingyang, Wenzhou. He started his business in rabbit hair trading and later got involved in the timber and leather industries. What really helped him earn his "first pot of gold" was entering the coal mining field in 2003. In 2014 and 2015, he established Zhongke Jiutai and Tianchong Capital successively, officially entering the financial field. In 2019, the company moved back to Hangzhou, and its business scope expanded to multiple fields such as energy, finance, real estate, and high - tech.

The acquisition of the Urumqi R&F Wanda Vista Hotel is somewhat similar to the acquisition of Hangzhou Jiutai Hotel. Although it is not clear whether the hotel operator will be changed in the future, both are high - quality assets that were snapped up at the right time when the original owners were in decline. They are both clear parts of Zhongke Jiutai's huge investment portfolio.

Five - star Hotels Become a "Hot Investment Spot" for Zhejiang Businessmen

In fact, Chen Jize's bargain - hunting is not an isolated case. In recent years, five - star hotels have become the "bargain - hunting" targets of many Zhejiang businessmen in the judicial auction market. These Zhejiang businessmen come from different industries, but they all have strong capital strength and industrial operation experience, and there are some commonalities in the process of bargain - hunting.

First of all, in terms of capital structure, most of the Zhejiang businessmen who acquire five - star hotels come from traditional industrial capital in Zhejiang, rather than well - known Internet companies. When Internet companies get involved in the hotel industry, they mostly play the role of traffic introduction and marketing promotion. They use platform traffic (such as Fliggy, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, etc.) to provide reservation guidance, brand exposure, and targeted marketing services for hotels, and attract customers through content marketing, live - streaming sales, and membership linkage.

Even when Internet companies get involved in the deeper aspects of the hotel business, they mainly play a role through technology empowerment, brand operation, or model innovation. For example, Green Cloud Software, a leading hotel information service provider in China, has developed the "Green Cloud Chain" ecosystem, which covers the whole - life - cycle management of hotels and provides technical solutions such as PMS (Property Management System), central reservation system, and customer relationship management for more than 37,000 hotels.

Even an Internet giant like Alibaba, its self - owned brand "Feizhubuke" uses the hotel as a test field to test and verify the application scenarios of technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and robots, or to meet the internal business travel needs.

Ultimately, the core logic of Zhejiang Internet companies getting involved in the hotel industry is technology, traffic, and ecosystem empowerment, aiming to improve the digital level and competitiveness of the entire industry, rather than pursuing the scale expansion of traditional hotel business.

Different from Internet companies, traditional industrial capital in Zhejiang chooses to directly acquire five - star hotel assets and become hotel owners. Most of them come from industries such as building materials, energy, and commerce. They have accumulated rich cash flow through long - term industrial operations and have sufficient financial strength to acquire large - scale hotel assets.

A typical example is Bi Weiguo, the "king of building materials" from Ningbo, Zhejiang. In less than half a year, he successively acquired three five - star hotels, with a total investment of more than 900 million yuan, demonstrating his counter - cyclical investment strategy.

At the end of 2025, Bi Weiguo's Ningbo Jiangdong Modern Electromechanical Materials Market Development Co., Ltd. won the bid for the assets of the Wuxi R&F Sheraton Hotel at a price of 232 million yuan. One month later, through Ningbo Jiangdong Modern Home Market Service Co., Ltd., he won the bid for the assets of the Hefei R&F Westin Hotel at a price of 304 million yuan. In April this year, his Ningbo Jiangdong Modern Electromechanical Materials Market Development Co., Ltd. won the bid for the assets of the Wuhan R&F Westin Hotel at a price of 376 million yuan. Coincidentally, all three hotels were sold at a discount - each was "snapped up" at a 56% discount after the second - round price reduction.

This is not Bi Weiguo's first time to bargain - hunt for R&F hotels. In 2019, when R&F Properties first faced a liquidity crisis, he acquired the Ningbo R&F Sofitel Hotel (now Ningbo Yinzhou Sheraton) for 600 million yuan.

Even earlier, Bi Weiguo established Ningbo Weili Investment Group, with industrial investment and hotel operation as the two main businesses. Its business scope covers commercial real estate, financial investment, etc., providing financial and management support for hotel acquisitions. His hotel layout can be traced back to 2002 - in that year, he acquired the Ningbo China Minmetals Zhongxing Hotel, officially starting his hotel investment journey, and has since held the hotel property through his affiliated entities.

It can be said that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. Bi Weiguo had the idea of getting involved in the hotel industry from the beginning, but he did not use hotel properties to expand and increase leverage during the upward period of Chinese real - estate enterprises. Instead, he patiently waited for the downward period of the industry and took the opportunity to bargain - hunt for five - star hotel assets at a low price. It is worth noting that most of these assets are backed by mature hotel groups such as Wanda, Marriott, InterContinental, and Hilton, with a well - established operation system and capable of providing stable cash flow.

Of course, some new owners take a fancy to these high - quality assets at low prices and bravely cross - border to acquire them, completing their first layout in the hotel field. For example, in April this year, Zhejiang Junteng Automobile Supplies Co., Ltd. won the bid for the Yiwu R&F Wanda Realm Hotel. Business registration data shows that the company's main business is car - washing services, auto - parts sales, etc., having no direct connection with the hotel industry. This acquisition is an important step for the company's actual controller, Xu Shiyong, to extend from the automotive aftermarket to core physical assets, which can not only preserve the value of assets but also further integrate local resources, becoming another vivid example of Zhejiang businessmen's bargain - hunting.

What's the Strategy Behind the Counter - cyclical Bargain - hunting?

Overall, the frequent bargain - hunting of five - star hotels by Zhejiang businessmen seems to be for investment purposes, but in fact, it is a strategic move considering multiple factors.

On one hand, in recent years, the debt crisis of real - estate enterprises has led to a large number of high - quality hotels flowing into the judicial auction market, with obvious discounts. Zhejiang businessmen can acquire core - area assets at a relatively low cost to achieve value preservation and appreciation. On the other hand, many Zhejiang businessmen's main businesses are not in the hotel industry. Cross - border investment can diversify the risks of their main businesses. At the same time, high - end hotels can serve as a business platform to enhance the corporate image and expand network resources, with additional strategic value.

In addition, last year, hotels above four - star level were included in the scope of public REITs. Early layout facilitates future asset securitization. Coupled with the recovery of the tourism market, hotel revenues are expected to rebound. Zhejiang businessmen's move is also a bet on the long - term growth of the industry.

The fact that Zhejiang businessmen can take over the hotels shows that they do have a certain amount of financial strength and investment vision. However, whether they can make money after "taking over" depends on their operation ability. Simply put, who should operate the acquired five - star hotels?

From the previous cases of Zhejiang businessmen's bargain - hunting for five - star hotels, most of them will switch to self - operation. For the Urumqi R&F Wanda Vista Hotel mentioned above, although it has not been renamed on the OTA platform, there are already online rumors that the owner plans to switch to self - operation. Why do many Zhejiang businessmen choose to take the initiative to operate independently instead of continuing to cooperate with the operators?

In fact, among the five - star hotels bargained - hunted by Zhejiang businessmen, a certain proportion are international hotel brands, and the management fees of these brands are not low. The basic management fee is generally 2% - 5% of the annual revenue. For brands like Marriott and Hilton, it is mostly 2% - 3%, and for some luxury brands, it can reach 4% - 5%.

In addition, a marketing service fee or brand promotion fee accounting for 1% - 2% of the total revenue needs to be paid for brand promotion and market activities. If the hotel performs well, there may also be an incentive management fee linked to the operating profit, usually 5% - 10% of the operating profit. The better the performance, the higher the fee. This means that even if the hotel makes a profit, a considerable part of the profit still needs to be shared with the operator.

In this way, the management fees of international hotels account for 5% - 10% of the total revenue. If the franchise mode is adopted, the management fee ratio may be slightly lower (4% - 6%), while the management fee ratio in the entrusted management mode may be higher (6% - 10%). However, after switching to self - operation, Zhejiang businessmen can save these fees and directly use the funds for hotel operation, facility maintenance, or market promotion, thereby increasing the profit margin.

At the same time, the underlying logic of Zhejiang businessmen's bargain - hunting is their optimism about the long - term value of hotel assets. They hope to take control of the hotel operation, flexibly adjust the operation strategy, cost control, and service standards, rather than relying on external brand management teams.

Operational ability is the key factor in determining whether a hotel is profitable. Therefore, how to maintain the healthy operation of the hotel's cash flow through self - operation and thus maintain its high - quality asset attribute is the most core problem faced by Zhejiang businessmen after acquiring five - star hotels.

In fact, in recent years, not only Zhejiang businessmen but also many cross - border industrial enterprises have been acquiring five - star hotels. They combine their own industrial advantages with hotel business. Although their main business is not in the hotel industry, they can use the hotel as a business - synergy platform for high - end business receptions and customer activities, thereby reducing the cost of building their own reception facilities.

They can also introduce new concepts and technologies such as digital management, personalized services, and the integration of health and wellness, breaking the traditional operation mode. For example, Quanzhou Yanqu Network Technology Co., Ltd. (a game - development enterprise famous for the mobile game "Call Me the Big Boss") acquired the Quanzhou R&F Wanda Vista Hotel (now Quanzhou Wanda Vista Hotel) and used the hotel as an offline experience space for its game business. By combining the game IP to create a theme hotel or hold game - related activities, it achieved the cross - border integration of the game and hotel business, enhancing brand influence.

The "hunting" of five - star hotels by industrial capital is essentially a double - game of counter - cyclical asset allocation and industrial synergy.