Hotels Round-up

Gresham finally finds possible buyer
Irish hotel group Gresham has finally announced a firm offer for the company. Precinct, a company set up to take over Gresham, has offered g1.30 (87p) a share for the group, valuing it at g108.8m (£73.2m). But, if more than 80% of shareholders accept the offer they will receive an extra 5 cents (3p) per share, valuing the group at g113m (£76m). The directors of Gresham, excluding chairman Harvey Sonig and Amos Pickel, who are both from major shareholder Red Sea Hotels, are recommending the offer.

Huge rise in London hotel roomstock London will have as many as 19,000 new hotel rooms coming on stream by 2008, according to Visit London's new London hotel development monitor. The monitor shows that 11,500 bedrooms are set to open over the next four years, and that a further 7,786 rooms are likely to be built, subject to confirmed completion dates, if London's Olympic bid is successful. The average size of each hotel is also expected to rise from fewer than 100 rooms in 2002 to 170 in 2006.

Marriott landmark at West India Quay US hotel giant Marriott International will break the half-million-bedroom mark when it opens its new London Marriott West India Quay hotel in the capital's Canary Wharf on 1 June. And the group will not stop there. Over the next three years, Marriott will add a further 95,000 bedrooms to its portfolio of 2,700 hotels. This year, it also intends to invest more than $1b (£563m) in hotel upgrades, renovations and conversions.

Bvlgari set to shine in Milan setting Italian jeweller Bvlgari unveiled its first hotel last week. In a joint venture with Marriott's Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, the 58-bedroom Bvlgari Hotel Milan opened last Thursday (20 May). The hotel is the first of seven hotels and two resorts Bvlgari plans to open by 2007. The property cost $10m (£5.6m) to build and charges from g570 (£383) a night for a bedroom to g3,500 (£2,354) for the penthouse.

Swallow makes swift increase
UK hotel group Swallow Hotels has doubled in size since being bought by London & Edinburgh Inns in September for £56m. Since buying the 13 hotels, London & Edinburgh has added some 656 bedrooms to the portfolio. The group now consists of 26 hotels across the UK, and a further six are in the pipeline to open by the end of the year.