The Glory Years:
The company, founded by Liran Wizman, started promisingly by transforming iconic buildings into trendy boutique hotels. Successes included the Parkhotel (with restaurant Momo) (154 rooms), the Sir Albert Hotel (90 rooms) (in a former diamond factory), and later the W Hotel (238 rooms).
For the W Hotel, EHPC purchased and converted two properties on Spuistraat for €79M and €76M respectively. The company expanded internationally with brands like Sir Hotels and Max Brown. Its financing strategy was based on buying, renovating, and selling properties, followed by leasing them back.
For instance, the W Hotel buildings were sold to the German firm Deka Immobilien in 2017 for €260M, with an agreement to lease them back for 20 years.
The Decline:
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, which dealt the company severe blows and led to losses, structural payment problems emerged. At the W Hotel, rent arrears accumulated to ca €23M. There had been previous legal disputes over pandemic-related rent. Sircle eventually stopped paying altogether, which the court deemed unacceptable. The hotel must now be vacated within two weeks, after which owner Deka, together with Marriott (the owner of the W brand), will seek a new operator.
Broader Problems:
The W Hotel is not the only problem case. Rent arrears also exist at Sir Savigny (44 rooms) in Berlin and Sir Albert in Amsterdam. A planned stock market listing through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SMG) failed in early 2025. To free up cash, Sircle has sold several of its “crown jewels” in recent years, including Sir Joan (38 rooms) in Ibiza to Spanish investor AX Partners for €28M and Sir Nikolai (94 rooms) in Hamburg to Israeli hotel company Leonardo Hotels.
Source: Parool, Leonardo Hotels, Hospitality Investors
