The company opened its second Paris site, a €38m (£32m) St Christopher’s Inns hostel and Belushi’s bar opposite Gare du Nord, in August. Roberts said: “We ran at 95% occupancy since the first week and it’s exceeded our budget expectations.”
Regarding new site opportunities, he added: “We would like to expand in London, Amsterdam and Paris. One city we haven’t got into, which we think would be good for us, is Rome.”
The company will look to “move the model forward” and “change the relationship” from its company-owned approach.
Expansion
Asked if this could be in the form of joint ventures or franchises, Roberts said: “Yes. We’ve got a joint venture already in Barcelona and it’s working very well. It’s important to have local partners in some territories and, on that basis, joint ventures or franchise is where we see a lot of our expansion.”
There are no target numbers, said Roberts, who was recently promoted from sales and marketing director as part of a board restructure.
Beds & Bars, which operates 22 hostels with bars in 11 cities across eight countries, still hopes to open in New York and is open to discussions about opening in China. Roberts said he’s “interested” in some former Eastern Bloc countries.
The restructure also saw the creation of a new role of business development director, taken by Romain Viennois, formerly directeur général.