Hotel Owner September 2018 | Page 11

MONTH IN REVIEW GO ONLINE www.hotelowner.co.uk ACQUISITION 7 Hospitality Management acquires DoubleTree by Hilton Aberdeen Treetops Dundee based 7 Hospitality Management has acquired the DoubleTree by Hilton Aberdeen Treetops. The hotel has been sold by Oaktree Capital Management to 7 Hospitality for an undisclosed sum. It is the second UK acquisition for the business, which is headed by Singaporean managing director Mohan Mulani. The 120-bedroom hotel is located in the West End of the city and comprises 12 meeting and conference suites with space for up to 800 guests - it is the largest hotel event space in the city. The management company will also launch their leisure brand 7 Health & Fitness at the property later this year. Richard Ellison, director, said: “We are delighted to win this contract and confident that despite a tough hotel market in Aberdeen, we can demonstrate our dynamic approach will deliver the owners desired return on investment. We look forward to repositioning the hotel through the various skill sets we offer.” Mohan Mulani, managing director, said: “We are pleased to have acquired our second hotel in Scotland. We have appointed the team at 7 Hospitality Management to manage our assets in Scotland. It is one of the first steps taken to tactically reposition the hotel and add value to the asset.” September 2018 1 APPOINTMENTS Five-star Fairmont St Andrews appoints new commercial director Fairmont St Andrews has appointed Lorraine Garvie as commercial director at Scotland’s five-star luxury resort. Having worked at the hotel since 2015, Garvie takes on the new role from her previous position as director of rooms and revenue. She will oversee the strategic planning and financial forecasting of the business with the sales, marketing, events, revenue and reservations teams reporting directly to her. The hotel said she will use her experience to increase new opportunities within the MICE industry and further grow awareness of the resort in the luxury leisure sector. The role will also see Garvie bring cohesiveness to the sales and revenue teams with a focus on developing reach in the US markets. Lorraine Garvie, commercial said: “I’m delighted to be leading an already established team at Fairmont St Andrews. We have such a beautiful product here in Fife and I am excited to be continuing the strategic growth of the business in the UK and new markets. “The luxury hospitality industry has always been a passion of mine since my university years, and I now find joy in mentoring and encouraging young talent into this growing industry.” John Keating, Fairmont St Andrews general manager, added: “Lorraine has been an integral part of the executive committee for the past three years, her extensive experience in strategic planning, forecasting and generating incremental revenue, is second to none. Her positive leadership and social strengths will make for a strong and successful team.” 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 AIRBNB Airbnb ‘exclusion zones’ recommended by head of Bristol Hoteliers Association The head of the Bristol Hoteliers Association (BHA) has called for city leaders to investigate short-term lets on platforms like Airbnb “as a matter of urgency” and has called for ‘exclusion zones’. While other major cities across the world have implemented strict rules on booking sites such as Airbnb, Imran Ali, chairman of the BHA, said Bristol has been to slow to address regulation and policing. Ali said the result has seen between 2,000 to 3,000 listings being offered to Bristol visitors that are unregulated on issues such as fire safety and are not paying rates or VAT like all other businesses. The head of the BHA now wants exclusion zones to be placed across the city and local residents to have the option and authority to block any properties or rooms from being offered in the street in which they live. Ali said: “Not only do these properties not pay business rates but lack the required level of fire, health and safety standards. I imagine as well, many landlords who still have a mortgage have not declared that they are leasing out their property to their lender and would be in breach of their mortgage agreement.” If you haven’t told your mortgage lender that you are letting out your property it also invalidates your insurance Imran Ali, chairman, BHA www.hotelowner.co.uk 11