In Brief
Ex-porter convicted over pensioners' hotel deaths
A former porter has been found guilty of killing an elderly couple in a fire at the Bolton Moat House hotel almost three years ago.
Lee Carson, 24, from Bolton, was convicted of the manslaughter of William Robertson, 75, and his wife Margaret, 81, from Blackpool. Carson was caught after telling friends that he had started the blaze at the 115-bedroom hotel in April 2001. He is still to be sentenced.
London looks set to lead economic recovery
Things are looking up for London hoteliers this year, with consultant TRI Hospitality predicting the capital will lead the recovery of the sector.
It forecasts that London hotels will see revenue per available room (revpar) increase by 6.6% in 2004. Next year, the situation is likely to be even better, with a forecast increase of 12%, while by 2006 revpar levels are expected to climb above those attained during the bumper millennium year.
The improvement in figures will be driven by rising room rates. Occupancy is expected to climb only modestly.
Jurys Doyle agrees sale of Limerick hotel
Irish hotel group Jurys Doyle has announced the sale of its 95-bedroom Jurys Limerick hotel to Danesfield Ltd for g9.75m (£6.6m). Danesfield is owned by John Lally, who is also proprietor of the 96-bedroom Harbour hotel in Galway.
Jurys Doyle said the hotel didn't fit with its plan of operating larger hotels, and that it wanted to concentrate on developing the business of the 151-bedroom Jurys Inn Limerick.
Transfer of ownership of the hotel is expected to be completed on 5 April.
Queens Moat unloads Edinburgh Capital hotel
Queens Moat Houses has exchanged contracts to sell the 111-bedroom Edinburgh Capital Moat House hotel to Portland Hotels for £5.25m. The sale is expected to by completed by the end of next month.
In the 12 months to 29 December 2002, the Edinburgh Capital Moat House generated profit of £400,000 on a turnover of £2.6m.
Proceeds from the sale will either be used to repay debt or for working capital purposes.
