Small Luxury Hotels looks to expand in UK
Hotel consortium Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, is looking to expand its portfolio of properties in the UK.
SLH's chief executive, Paul Kerr, said there is room for growth beyond the 36 hotels currently located in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands.
"We'd be happy to take on more hotels, especially in Devon, Cornwall and the Lake District where we currently are not very well represented," he said.
"We have some way to go in the UK to reach the same kind of coverage that exists in France, where SLH has 52 hotels, and Italy, which has 59 properties.
Strict joining criteria - which resulted in only 55 hotels being accepted from 1,100 applications in 2010 - include individuality and independence, a sense of the locality and high-quality standards which are checked through a mystery guest programme. Member hotels vary in size from six to 192 bedrooms.
"Having grown from 70 hotels in 12 countries to more than 530 hotels in over 70 countries throughout the last two decades is a testament to the fact that small, independent hotels see value in our brand and customers trust the names," said Kerr. "Small Luxury Hotels of the World is all about offering our guests small hotels with big experiences while demonstrating a passion for high service standards."
SLH, which drives bookings through its global distribution system, its website and direct to member hotels, recorded an 18% increase in reservations during 2010.
Current members in the UK include the Goring, London; Bovey Castle, Devon; and Feversham Arms, North Yorkshire.
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By Janet Harmer
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