in brief

£300,000 relaunch

Securum Hotels Holdings has relaunched its Montague Park Hotel in Bloomsbury, London, as the Montague in a move to reposition the property into the corporate market.

As a result of a £300,000 refurbishment programme, the company expects to raise the yield (occupancy multiplied by average room rate) by 22% in the coming year.

"We have improved the appearance of the hotel substantially," said Securum managing director Kai Ringenson.

"That means we can improve our sales mix, with more guests paying corporate rates, instead of relying on discounted tourist rates."

Swedish company Securum operates a portfolio of hotels acquired from bad debtors of troubled bank Nordbanken.

RECEIVERS HIT DVK

DVK Executive Hotels, owner of the 92-bedroom De Vere Park Hotel in London's Hyde Park, and Orchid Hotels, which operates the 98-bedroom Royal Court Hotel in Coventry, have gone into receivership after failing to meet financing costs. The two companies were run by the same directors.

Geoffrey Kinlan, joint administrative receiver at BDO Stoy Hayward, said the hotels would continue as going concerns but would eventually

be sold.

D'arcy's ON TRACK

Forte's Beaumont Hotel in Bolton has launched a new themed restaurant and bar concept.

Named D'Arcy's, it is based on a fictional 1920s traveller who ate his way around the world. A model steam train runs above the bar. The concept was designed by hotel general manager Gary Atkinson.