Alrov is one of Israel’s leading property companies, and own and operate Israel’s leading hotel, The David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem.  The group is looking to expand their collection of luxury hotels, having recently acquired the Café Royal site on London’s Regent Street to redevelop into a 160 room luxury hotel, and have now acquired the Conservatorium van Amsterdam to convert into a 130 room luxury hotel.

The Conservatorium is one of Amsterdam’s most magnificent heritage buildings, constructed between 1899 and 1914 as the headquarters of what is today’s ING Bank.  It is located in the city’s Museum Quarter, with a highly visible corner location opposite the Van Gogh and Stedelijk museums.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Senior Vice President Chris Martin, who handled the sale, commented: “The Conservatorium presented the most outstanding opportunity seen for many years in central Amsterdam to develop an absolutely top end luxury hotel, and attracted strong interest from the majority of the world’s best known luxury hoteliers.”

Amsterdam continues to be one of Europe’s most desirable hotel locations.  According to Mr Martin, “in Amsterdam in the last three years we have sold the hotels American, Le Meridian Apollo, InterContinental Amstel, Swissotel, Crowne Plaza and now Conservatorium, demonstrating both the depth of our knowledge and experience in this market and the strength of investor demand for Amsterdam’s major hotels”.

Alrov’s conversion of the Conservatorium into a luxury hotel is due to commence in 2008, with the hotel due to open in 2010.