Delight Hotels expelled as operator of mid-market hotel group
Delight Hotels is to be ousted as the operator of a group of seven three- and four-star regional hotels following concerns regarding its style of management.
A spokesperson for Washington Hotels, the company which owns the freehold of the hotels and, through its asset management company Mountain Capital, has an agreement to allow Delight to run the hotels, confirmed that it will be bringing in a new operator.
Licensed Solutions, a company which specialises in turnaround and restructuring projects in the hospitality industry, will take over the running of the hotels on 6 May.
Although the spokesperson would not be drawn on the reasons behind the ditching of Delight, he said the change of operator would bring "more stability" to the hotels.
The hotels which will fall under the remit of Licensed Solutions next week include the Chimney House, Sandbach: Honiley Court, Warwick; Madison hotel, Swindon; Redwood hotel, Bristol, Tewkesbury Park, near Cheltenham, Waterloo hotel, Bracknell and Westfield House, near Leicester.
The three-star, 48-bedroom Westfield House hotel is currently closed, but the spokesperson for Wasington Hotels said it will re-open under Licensed Solutions.
Delight Hotels, which was set up in December 2012, originally took over the running of what was then eight leasehold properties when the previous operator, Brompton Hotels, went into administration. One of the hotels, the Queensferry in North Queensferry, Fife, has since been sold by Washington Hotels.
However, since Delight has been brought on board, Caterer and Hotelkeeper has been contacted by a number of employees and ex-employees of the hotels, with claims of unpaid staff and utility bills.
"How can this happen?" he said. "I am sure I will not be the only one either."
Lee discovered the problem when he was told that he was not entitled to job seekers allowance as he had not paid enough contributions. He was sacked by Delight Hotels for gross conduct with no warning and now intends to pursue the issue through an employment tribunal.
The directors of Delight Hotels are Justin Wallace and Corby Hotels, which in turn names Malcolm Gray and Kimitri as its directors. None of the directors were available for comment.
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