A figure that recently appeared in the press deserves more attention than it received: Germany’s annual rate of energy-related building refurbishment stands at 0.69%. At that rate, the average building is energy-refurbished once every 145 years. The absence of public outrage is notable.

I asked an AI tool to calculate the overall refurbishment rate for all above-ground construction in Germany in 2024: 0.83%. Every 120 years, the entire built stock is, on aggregate, renovated once.

Hotels are a sub-category of that stock. My observation is that they are not refurbished at a materially faster rate than other building types. The implications are visible: properties held together by accumulated decoration, passed from one investor to the next without triggering a capital event, their fabric gradually consumed.

Anyone who has spent time in the plant rooms and roof voids of an older hotel’s back-of-house can read the risk. It seems increasingly likely that ‘impeccable maintenance’ will join ‘impeccable service’ as a competitive differentiator in hospitality. The fundamentals — a functioning HVAC system, an uninterrupted hot-water supply, a watertight roof, windows that close and a lift that operates — will cease to be assumed and begin to be marketed. The window for early movers is open.