Abhouvi and Quinlan fancy a break from hotels

  Private investors Igal Ahouvi and Derek Quinlan are sounding out buyers for their £1.1bn Marriott hotels portfolio.   The pair, who bought the 47-strong portfolio of hotels from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007, have being trying to gather interest in a sale of all or part of the portfolio since July.   However, the package, which includes the 200-bedroom Marriott County Hall on London’s South Bank, has failed to excite much interest.   One agent who had been approached with the portfolio said: “They are hoping to sell for more than they paid for the hotels a year ago. That’s just not going to happen – £1.1bn was a lot of money to pay back then.”   Another added that Ahouvi and Quinlan were just testing the market following the successful £85m sale of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Blackfriars, EC4, and rumours of a Middle Eastern bid for US-based Morgans Hotel Group – owner of the Sanderson and St Martins Lane hotels in London’s West End.   Marylebone Warwick Balfour is understood to be doing the same with its Malmaison and Hotel du Vin properties, which are being marketed through Bank of America for around £650m.   Sources said that neither Quinlan nor Ahouvi need to sell the assets, and that RBS, which provides more than £850m of debt on the hotels, was not forcing a sale.   The pair have already sold three hotels from the portfolio. Last October, Principal Haley Group bought the Marriott Sheffield and two Renaissance hotels, in Derby and Solihull, from the investors for around £50m.   samantha.mcclary@rbi.co.uk