Grosvenor House put up for sale after falling into administration

Iconic London hotel Grosvenor House has been put on the market after its owner was placed into administration.  

The five-star, 494-bedroom hotel became the largest hotel transaction on record in London when it was sold by RBS in 2010 for £470m. The property is expected to sell for in excess of £500m this time.

Deloitte was appointed administrator to Sahara Grosvenor House Hospitality, which owns the lease on the property.

Administrators will now work with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) which has been appointed to sell the property on Park Lane.

Mark Wynne-Smith, global CEO at JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, said: “The last hotel transaction on Park Lane took place two years ago and as the market has strengthened since then, we are looking forward to engaging with investors in an open marketing process.

“The hotel is set apart from its Park Lane hotel peers due to its extensive banqueting facilities, whilst the lease to Marriott International means that we expect the asset to appeal to a broad range of local and global investors.”

Post copied from: http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/3185-grosvenor-house-put-sale-falling-administration/

Hotel industry best in Britain for phone manner

Hotels rank among the best businesses in Britain when it comes to their phone manner, new research has revealed. 

The study of 1,000 consumers, conducted on behalf of PH Media Group, discovered that 50% are satisfied with the way the hotel industry handles their calls, putting it behind only dentistry (53%) in terms of Britain’s best performing businesses.

Average satisfaction ratings for the all businesses came out at just 23%.

Hotels scored particularly highly in the North West, where 57% of respondents were satisfied, while London (49%), Wales (48%) and East Anglia (47%) all dipped below 50%.

Mark Williamson, sales and marketing director at PH Media Group, said: “These results clearly reflect well on the hospitality industry and shows hotels are doing a good job of handling customer phone calls in a professional and efficient manner.

“But even though 50% of customers are pleased with the way their calls are being handled, there remains a significant proportion of callers who could have generated a negative perception through bad caller experience.

“Responding to calls more quickly or establishing a set practice for answering the phone both represent a good start but true best practice can be achieved by implementing tools such as on-hold marketing – bespoke voice and music messages that are played on hold – in order to establish top-class service and a congruent brand across all touch points with customers.”

Rewards for lovers of boutique and independent hotels

A reward programme has been set up for guests who like staying at boutique and independent hotels.

Pillow Perks allows guests to earn free nights at some of the country’s best boutique and independent accommodation from chic city hotels to laid back seaside retreats. On joining members get 250 bonus points and then for every pound spent one point is earned. Once 3000 points have been accumulated, guests can start to redeem the points for free reward nights. Points are not just gained from overnight stays but also using hotel spas, golf courses or bars and restaurants. The ultimate aim is to have 250+ hotels and a dynamic, powerful database of 200,000+ guests within three years.

For further details go to www.pillow-perks.com

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‘Wise up on Waste’ toolkit for chefs – packed with practical advice

Hotel makes big changes after ‘Wise up on Waste’ toolkit highlights improvement areas

Erskine Bridge in Glasgow, is just one of the many hotels involved in the United Against Waste campaign, using the ‘Wise up on Waste’ toolkit for chefs – packed with practical advice, tips and resources.

In 2011, Unilever Food Solutions, having partnered with the Sustainable Restaurant Association, called upon the hospitality and foodservice industry to tackle avoidable food waste by providing the toolkit for free.

Mark Potter, head chef at the Erskine Bridge Hotel, was fed up of seeing how much food was being thrown away at the end of each day and worked with Unilever Food Solutions to track his food waste over a week.

Mark said: “In just one week the Wise up on Waste toolkit had made a huge difference to the way my team deals with waste. The audit revealed that our breakfast buffet was to blame for the majority of food thrown away – with 17 kilograms of leftover baked beans, sausages and toast on one morning alone.

There is also a free Wise up on Waste mobile app, challenging chefs to reduce their food waste by at least five per cent. It is designed to accurately track food waste over a three-day period highlighting the average waste generated per day and per cover.

For more details on how Unilever Food Solution’s free downloadable Wise up on Waste free toolkit and new app can help your business visit www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.uk/wasteapp

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The Cavendish London is behind the British Hospitality Association's to reduce the rate of VAT

Cavendish London cuts room rate in support of VAT campaign

The Cavendish London is getting behind the British Hospitality Association's (BHA) Campaign to reduce the rate of VAT in the industry from 20 per cent to five per cent.

The hotel will be the first in the UK to simulate the proposed lower rate of VAT on its room rates during the summer months.

The industry’s on-going campaign to reduce the rate of hospitality VAT will support long-term and sustainable growth for the UK economy.

Independent research shows that a VAT cut on visitor accommodation and attractions would have three massive benefits: it would drive £4 billion of new revenue into the UK, create 80,000 jobs and would not cost the Government anything.

General manager for the Cavendish London, Neil Braude said: “By offering a reduced room rate to simulate less VAT, we are providing our customers with a more affordable stay. In turn, we aim to promote the impact an increase in business and leisure stays will have on the economy, including the creation of new jobs. Ultimately, we hope the Government gets behind this campaign.”

P.S: content credit and copied from: http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/index.php/hotels/1002-cavendish-london-cuts-room-rate-in-support-of-vat-campaign.html