London's Halcyon hotel to close

The Halcyon, the four-star hotel in London's Holland Park, is set to close at the end of this month because its owners have decided they want to change the use of the property.

General manager Will Oakley, who has been at the Halycon for two years, said the owners would be announcing the change of use in the future. He said the hotel was profitable and the owners' decision to close had nothing to do with the prevailing economic climate or the aftermath of 11 September.

"They felt they had had a good run with the Halcyon," said Oakley. The Halcyon was their only hotel interest, and the owners wanted to concentrate their investment on another, unrelated, business.

The hotel is owned by the Halcyon Hotel Corporation, itself part of a large and diversified family-owned group based in India. The parent company is called Leaderwick Services.

"It is a great shame and very sad for all of us here," Oakley added, but said he did understand and sympathise with the owners' reasons.

The Halcyon was created 17 years ago by the conversion of a 90-bedroom hotel into one with 42 larger bedrooms. Oakley believes it was one of the first boutique hotels to open.

He said management was currently consulting with the 50 mostly full-time staff and had called in a human resources firm to talk to them individually and help them find placements before the closure on 31 May.