Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com

Dorsett Will Convert Its Newly Purchased Building into Hotel

Dorsett Hospitality International has announced the purchase of an office building in London that is to be converted into a 260-guestroom hotel. The cost of the deal estimates £14 million (US$22.6 million).

The former office building named The Matrix House is located in the financial district of London. There is another prominent building near the nine-story Matrix House – the 30 St Mary Axe skyscraper. The office building was put under administration by Grant Thornton UK LLP. Currently the building requires renovation, and Dorchester has already announced that it will invest as many as £21 million (US$33.9 million) into conversion of the building. This will include not only complete redesign and building hotel rooms, but also adding of three additional stories to The Matrix House. Dorsett Hospitality, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, has announced the new hotel will have an average daily rate of £127 to £147, and the estimated occupancy rate is around 75-82%. However, neither an opening date nor the hotel’s brand have been revealed at the moment.

As Dorsett spokesman mentions, they consider the United Kingdom one of its main targets for expansion plans. Major European countries become very popular with Chinese tourists. Moreover, London is an important financial hub so it attracts many business tourists. Dorsett is mostly targeted at “Chinese wallet”, and this strategy has already proven itself. The company calls its Dorsett hotel in London at Shepherd’s Bush opened last year a successful project, even though the 322-guestroom hotel is to start operating only in 2014. The company’s current aim is to increase the total number of guestrooms in the UK to 600.

Recently the hotelier has announced the sale of its 209-guestroom Dorsett Regency hotel in Hong Kong to China Construction Bank. The sum of the deal estimates US$103 million.

14.10.2012

Previous article / Back to news index

Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, news, and reports about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com.