A company within the Sircle Collection group has been ordered by a court to pay €2.1 million in outstanding rent for the Park Centraal hotel in The Hague, adding to a series of legal challenges for the hospitality operator.
The ruling relates to the 154-room property, where landlord Deka sought to recover unpaid rent. The case follows closely on the group’s earlier dispute at the W Amsterdam hotel, where a Sircle subsidiary was evicted after accumulating rental arrears reportedly totalling €23 million. The hotel has since been taken over by a new operator, Corendon.
Deka is understood to be facing difficulties enforcing bank and group guarantees linked to the Park Centraal lease. The landlord is also investigating whether assets may have been transferred out of certain companies prior to their sale, in transactions that were said to have taken place without its prior knowledge.
Asset sales and strategic repositioning
The legal challenges come as Sircle continues to reshape its portfolio. Last summer, the group sold two Amsterdam hotels operating under the Max Brown brand (98 rooms in total) in a share deal to a subsidiary of UK-based Orca Holding. The transaction was estimated to exceed €30 million.
Sircle has also withdrawn from certain markets, ending its involvement in hotel operations in Ibiza and Hamburg. Meanwhile, a Berlin property originally earmarked for a new Sir Hotel—never opened—is currently on the market.
Despite these disposals, the group has signalled continued ambitions for growth. Over the past year, it has raised €30 million through a bond placement with Israeli investors to support development projects in Greece.
At the same time, Sircle is repositioning its Dutch De Park hotels in The Hague and Amsterdam, with renovation works underway and plans to rebrand both properties under its Sir Hotels concept.
Complex structure and financial strain
The group’s corporate structure has also drawn attention. More than 100 companies are registered at its Amsterdam address, with some entities held through structures in Cyprus. Sircle has stated that its ongoing operations depend on support from its parent companies.
Historically, investment fund Crossroads—founded by former Lehman Brothers banker David Gillerman—held a 31% stake in Sircle from 2015 before exiting in 2023. The group also explored a potential IPO in Frankfurt in 2024 with a strategic partner, although the listing did not proceed.
Financial disclosures indicate that several hotel-operating entities within the group are carrying negative equity and may be technically insolvent. Sircle attributes these pressures to the lingering impact of the pandemic, combined with rapid expansion and resulting liquidity constraints.
A company spokesperson has maintained that these issues do not point to structural weaknesses, emphasising the group’s model of separating real estate ownership and hotel operations into distinct legal entities with limited liability.
As legal proceedings continue and asset sales progress, Sircle Collection appears to be balancing a delicate restructuring effort with ongoing expansion ambitions.
