Top manager quits delayed Kempinski

The Kempinski hotel group's plan to open its first London hotel has been delayed and the hotel's first general manager has already left, partly in disappointment at the postponement of the opening.

Carsten Rath, who was to have opened the hotel in Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, said that one of the reasons he left was the delay. He spoke to more than one hotel group about a new job before accepting a post as general manager of the Breidenbacher Hof hotel in Dusseldorf, Germany, which is being refurbished and should open in September under the management of Ritz-Carlton.

Rath said that the opportunity to work for Ritz-Carlton was another reason he left Kempinski.

Kempinski has been looking for a suitable site for a hotel in London for many years and has previously said that it was extremely pleased with the Harrington Gardens building. Rath said that the hotel was completed, so he was unsure why it had not opened, but a Kempinski spokeswoman said it was not yet finished.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 13 - 19 January 2000