RF Hotels adds to luxury group

RF Hotels has bought its fourth property - the 183-bedroom Hotel Amigo in Brussels - for £16m.

The luxury five-star group owned by Sir Rocco Forte bought the hotel from the Blaton family, which has owned it since it opened in 1957.

It will be refurbished in the next two to three years at an estimated £5m cost.

The hotel, close to the city's Grand Place, will remain open throughout the work.

Forte said: "It is an excellent hotel which we intend to make the best in Brussels."

Douwe Cramer, former general manager of the five-star Royal Windsor in Brussels, has been appointed manager.

In the first half of 2000, RF Hotels will double in size from three to six properties, with the Hotel de Russie in Rome and the Savoy in Florence due to open in April and May respectively (Caterer, 13 January, page 8).

The company aims to have 10 hotels next year and is looking at Frankfurt, Prague and Berlin.