Hustyns sold
Club La Costa Resorts and Hotels of Spain has snapped up Hustyns hotel and spa near Wadebridge, in Cornwall, for £10.8m.
The 90-acre resort includes a four-star, 37-bedroom hotel with spa and leisure facilities and 28 holiday cottages to be sold as units on 10-year leaseback deals with a guaranteed return of 6% per year.
It's the group's 22nd European resort and its third in the UK, where it hopes to acquire up to 15 more resorts in the next 18 months.
Chardon expands
Scottish hotel company Chardon Management has announced a £31m fund to finance five new properties in key UK cities.
The Glasgow-based group will develop and operate the hotels as branded limited-service properties, taking its portfolio from 12 to 17 hotels.
Chardon chairman Maurice Taylor said he believed there was substantial growth potential in the market.
The fund was developed in conjunction with HM Corporate Solutions (HMCS), the corporate finance arm of Glasgow-based lawyers Harper Macleod.
Pourcels open in Marrakech
Michelin-starred twins Jacques and Laurent Pourcel opened a seventh restaurant under their La Compagnie des Comptoirs brand in Marrakech, Morocco, earlier this month, along with business partner Olivier Château.
Called La Plage Rouge, the restaurant seats 150 inside but has a total capacity of 350.
Correction
In our report of the Caterer and Hotelkeeper Chef Conference (Caterer, 18 May, page 35) we inadvertently attributed to Jay Rayner disobliging comments about Jonathan Meades. He assures us that he was making the comments about himself, rather than Mr Meades, whom he has long admired. We apologise for any hurt or embarrassment that might have been caused by this error.
City cautious over Compass
Compass Group's latest financial results received a guarded welcome from the City last week.
Although the caterer reported a 9% slump in pre-tax profit to £184m in the first half of 2006, analysts were encouraged that no more bad news was on the horizon.
Andrew Grobler at Credit Suisse said: "Although there was no resolution to some outstanding problems, including the UN investigation, the more important issue was that there were no major new problems appearing and some stability seems to have returned."
Food service consultant Peter Pitham said clients were also regaining confidence in Compass after the recent bad publicity.
Energy guide for hospitality
Tourism South East and EDF Energy have produced a new free energy-saving guide to help tourism businesses reduce costs and safeguard the environment.
For more information or a copy of the guide, contact Paul Jeffries at pjeffries@tourismse.com.