Football hotels go it alone
A football team's performance on the pitch has little effect on the hotels that have sprung up in and around their grounds, according to those who run them.
Rob Allan, deputy general manager of the De Vere Whites hotel at Bolton Wanderers' ground, explained last week: "Certainly, coming up to the Premiership last season raised the profile of the hotel, and the fact that we have stayed up this season can only be good news. But in terms of hotel revenue, it doesn't mean a great deal. At the end of the day it's only 20 nights out of 365. There are actually more matches [24 home games] in the First Division."
Conference business
He underlined that conference business was the main source of revenue for football hospitality. The hotel, which opened in October 2000, has been running at 65% occupancy.
Bolton Wanderers escaped to the Premiership, avoiding ITV Digital's collapse, which has left all First Division clubs about £2.5m out of pocket. In contrast, Reading FC, which has a large hotel, was promoted to the First Division last season. Stan Lock, football analyst at Brewin Dolphin Securities, said Reading was commercially active, with a strong support base, and better placed than most to weather the loss. "They have a very wealthy chairman and also benefit from hosting rugby," he said. The club owns the 140-bedroom Millennium Madejski hotel, which is operated by Millennium & Copthorne. General manager Ruraigh Whitehead said the hotel's focus was on corporate business, and it is located near a large business park.
In the Premiership, Lock believed that midmarket hotels like West Ham's would perform better in the current economic climate. However, West Ham's director of hospitality, David Thorpe-Tracey, said business at its three-star hotel had been "quite slow - getting up to 50% occupancy". His target for next season is 65% occupancy. He said it had been difficult to operate the hotel, which opened last December, with building work still going on. The hotel is in a £35m new stand, which was officially opened by the Queen this month.
Turning the 70 hotel bedrooms into executive boxes - and then back again - on home match days had gone smoothly. Room rates start at £85.
Thorpe-Tracey said that 80% of executive boxes - which cost £23,000 to rent per season, before the cost of food and drink - had already been booked for next season. A sit-down dinner costs £30 a head and a buffet is £20. His biggest challenge was filling the hotel on non-match days.
Franchiser Choice Hotels Europe receives commission on bookings. Thorpe-Tracey said he expected the group to step up its marketing of the hotel now that all building work had finished.
At the upmarket 291-bedroom Chelsea Village hotel, football fans account for just 5% of business. Marketing manager Abigail Torr said performance this year had been in line with the rest of the London market: a poor start, but May and June looking strong.
The hotel, with a rack rate of £160 a night, benefits from visitors to the Stella Artois and Wimbledon tennis tournaments over the summer period.
Football hotels
West Ham United Hospitality
Boleyn Ground, Green Street, Upton Park, London E13 9AZ
Tel : 020 8548 2701
Millennium Madejski hotel Madejski Stadium, Bennet Road, Reading, Berkshire RG2 OFL
Tel: 0118-925 3500
De Vere Whites hotel De Havilland Way, Horwich,
Bolton BL6 6SF
Tel: 01204 667788
Chelsea Village
Fulham Road, London SW6 1HS
E-mail : info@chelseavillage.co.uk
