Rocco Forte shrugs off rumours of sale

Rumours that Rocco Forte Hotels is set to sell the St David's Hotel and Spa in Cardiff were firmly denied by the group last week.

The rumour that the sale of the 132-bedroom hotel would finance the purchase of a hotel in New York was "absolutely unfounded", said commercial director Richard Power.

"We are not seeking a hotel in New York but if the present economic situation brought up a suitable property, we would be interested," Power added.

The group wants to increase its seven hotels to 20 by the end of 2006 but it is looking inside Europe under an understanding with joint-venture partner the Bank of Scotland.

London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Frankfurt, Moscow, Budapest, and Prague are all places the group would like hotels.

Power said that the rumoured sale was "no fun" for the company's employees at the Cardiff hotel, which has had a series of staff changes since it opened in January 1999.

He admitted that it was difficult to attract management to the city and some appointments had been mistakes, but he said the hotel now had a stable team.

St David's has seen 68% occupancy from 1 May to now, with an average achieved room rate of £95.

Apart from the cancellation of an American wedding in the week of 11 September, bookings have held up.

Business has been difficult at the 188-bedroom Balmoral in Edinburgh where the group has made five redundancies in the last two months.

However, Power said that the Balmoral was the only hotel in the group to have performed worse than last year.

Occupancy at the 230-bedroom Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg in Russia had tailed off from September until spring but Power said it was normal for the hotel to be either completely full or empty.

He is hoping that sponsorship of the Winter Ballet Festival in March will attract visitors.

The group is expected to exceed a projected turnover of £60m for the financial year to 30 April 2002.

by Ben Walker

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 29 November - 5 December 2001