US investment bank Morgan Stanley has sold the five-star Hilton hotel in Barcelona to Westmont Hospitality for around EUR 40 mln. The property was bought by Morgan Stanley in July 2007 together with seven other hotels for EUR 556 mln.

The hotel will be operated by the Westmont Hospitality chain from April 2011.

Located at avenida Diagonal, the 289-room property was developed in 1990 and renovated in 2001. It offers around 25,000 m2 of space across 289 rooms.

It is the third Spanish hotel to change hands in Spain this month. Earlier in February the Spanish hotel chain Set Hotels sold the freehold of the five-star hotel El Rompido Golf on the west coast of Huelva, Spain, to Precise Hotels Collection for an undisclosed sum. Also this month, Continental Property Investments (CPI) acquired the five-star Hilton hotel Valencia out of administration for just EUR 42 mln.