Rocco Forte in talks over Brown's hotel

Rocco Forte has been tipped as a front runner in a bid for Brown's, one of London's most traditional hotels. It is understood that Rocco Forte Hotels is in talks with Brown's Singaporean owner, Raffles International, over the Mayfair hotel, expected to fetch more than £50m.

Since 1996, Rocco Forte Hotels has built up an international portfolio of seven properties, including three in the UK. The 118-bedroom Mayfair hotel was a former Forte hotel and would hold nostalgic appeal for Forte as well as giving him a sought-after London property.

"Everyone knows that we would like a London hotel," said commercial director Richard Power. However, he declined to comment on the group's interest in Brown's.

A spokeswoman for Raffles International confirmed that it was in discussions with "several companies". She added that since it had taken over the management of the Swiss"tel London two years ago, it no longer needed to run two hotels in London.

Raffles, using investment from its subsidiary company CapitalLand, a property investment firm, plans to expand its portfolio across Europe, and looking for hotels in key cities including Paris, Rome and Barcelona.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 19-25 June 2003