Christian Arno

Christian Arno
GuestInvest Investor - Guesthouse West

As managing director of his own company - translation service, Lingo 24 - Christian Arno is no stranger to looking out for good business opportunities.

In 2004, Christian bought one of GuestInvest's debut rooms at Guesthouse West in Notting Hill, his first large investment acquisition. Three years on, Christian has sold his room and reflects on the opportunities that owning a hotel room offered, and the capital rewards that he's reaped.

Many of Christian's colleagues and clients frequently visited London, and rather than pay for their accommodation costs, Christian used his room to put up guests at Guesthouse West, utilising his free night allocation.

"GuestInvest was an ideal investment for my business. It provided a regular London base, and allowed me to put up clients and colleagues for nothing, and not have to worry about tenants or estate management."

While under the GuestInvest concept Christian was entitled to 52 nights a year for free in his room, he admits that over the three years he used only an average of 10 nights per year. This, however, increased the number of let-able nights for his room, thus increasing the revenue earned.

Since 2004, Christian has received an average return per year of 6-7%. In mid 2007, Christian made the decision to sell his room and sold it back through GuestInvest. In the three years of ownership, Christian has experienced a capital growth of 17%, equating to a £40,000 capital profit.

"Buying a hotel room was an ideal way for me to start an investment portfolio. I'm sure we'll continue to see this asset class grow, and one that I would have no hesitation investing in again in the future. It was an absolutely hassle-free, aggravation free, investment opportunity. GuestInvest even takes care of the marketing of the hotel to ensure occupancy rates are high. All I had to do was look forward to somewhere nice to stay!"