by SARAH MARKS - London Evening Standard/This is London
July 11, 2000
The Blackstone Group is to spend £20 million revamping the Savoy Group hotels.
The project includes the restoration of the front hall at Claridge's and installing a health and fitness centre
at the Connaught.
This is on top of the £13.8 million the group lavished on the hotels last year. Blackstone, which paid £520
million for the Savoy Group in 1998, said it was looking to buy more luxury hotels but nothing had come on to the
market in the last two years.
Pre-tax profits rose by 18.2% to £47.4 million while sales increased nearly 7% to £120 million. Claridge's
and the Berkeley were the best performers with profits at each hotel increasing by around 32%. Blackstone's senior
managing director John Kukral said these two hotels had benefited from extensive restoration work started before
his company acquired them.
Occupancy rates at Claridge's rose by 2.4% to 76.6% while the revenue per available room grew from £228 to
£255. In the six months to 30 June, the Berkeley increased occupancy to 85%, up 7.5%, and the revenue per
available room by 14.6% to £259. Overall margins improved by 3% to 39%.
Other hotels include the flagship Savoy and the Lygon Arms in the Cotswolds.
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