Singapore investors splurged almost US$798m on hotel investments

That's a whopping 35.7% of overall sales.

According to Savills, Singapore investors invested nearly US$798 million or 35.7% of all  investment sales in Q1/2014. 

Hotel investment activity in Southeast Asia, excluding Singapore, started to pick up in Q1 in terms of total transaction volumes, up 22.9% from the same period of 2013.

Here's more from Savills:

The total transaction volume was US$511.7 million, mainly due to the contribution of the sale of the Aman Resort portfolio to the hotel chain’s founder, Adrian Zecha JV Peak Hotels & Resorts Group, by DLF, one of the largest Indian developers.

The portfolio includes a total of ten properties in Indonesia, Laos, Bhutan, the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia, with a total transaction volume of US$150 million, representing approximately 44% of total transactions in Southeast Asia.

At the beginning of this year, Royal Group acquired the 215-room The Sentosa Singapore (formerly known as The Beaufort Singapore) from HKR International Ltd for S$210.9 million (US$166.9 million), representing less than S$1 million per room, taking into account its remaining lease of about 60 years.

This transaction was the first and only deal for the reviewed quarter, as well as the first resort hotel sold in Singapore in recent years.

The leisure hotspot Sentosa Island is ready to open yet another hotel to meet the demand of visitors. Far East Organization won the tender for a 60-year leasehold site on Artillery Avenue for an upfront land premium of S$32 million (US$25.2 million) from Sentosa Development Corporation.