Pat Doherty’s Harcourt Developments is considering a sale of its five-star Conrad hotel in
Sources said the Dublin-based group was seeking offers of £80m for the hotel, which it bought from Lloyds TSB for £63m in December.
Since buying the property, hotel values have increased as more traditional commercial property investors enter the market to chase yields that are comparatively higher than the rest of the property sector.
The 160-suite hotel is being offered either with a management contract to Hilton Hotels – which owns the Conrad brand – or on a vacant possession basis.
A source said: “It’s not surprising that Harcourt is trying to sell this hotel, as the operational numbers are weak. There is some active asset management to be done, however. The real trick would be to split the suites up to create more, smaller bedrooms.”
GuestInvest, a buy-to-let hotel firm run by Johnny Sandelson, and Galliard Hotels, a subsidiary of residential developer Galliard Holdings, are understood to have shown interest in the property. Both want to convert the hotel into an aparthotel.
Buy-to-let hotel group GuestInvest is keen to expand its London and UK portfolio and has recently formed a £140m joint venture with Bank of Scotland Corporate to turn the company, which currently has three London hotels, into a multi-billion-pound global business.
Galliard Hotels operates a similar buy-to-let scheme at its development at County Hall on
Harcourt denied it was in discussions to sell the property.
