The group’s UK properties include the Dorchester, Coworth Park and most recently 45 Park Lane. Photograph: Nikos Vinieratos/Rex Features
London’s economy is booming and nowhere more so than in the glitzy hotels of Mayfair and Belgravia if profits at the Dorchester group are any guide.
The hotel group, a collection of ten of the world’s most luxurious hotels including the London landmark it is named after, has reported a 5% rise in revenue to a record £304.5m in 2012.
Over the past five years revenue has surged 17.4% as its ultimate owner, the Sultan of Brunei – who is worth an estimated £20bn – has added more hotels to the group.
In the year to 31 December 2012 revenue was boosted by the opening of 45 Park Lane, a 45-room art deco hotel which sits opposite the Dorchester on the former site of London’s Playboy club. In its first full-year of trading in 2012 the five-star hotel contributed to the group’s UK revenues, which increased by £18.8m to £106.6m.
The Sultan’s shopping spree continued in September when the group paid an estimated €105m (£89m) for the 121-room Hotel Eden in Rome, which counts Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson amongst its guests.
The 45 Park Lane joins the group’s two other UK properties – the Dorchester and Coworth Park, a country-house hotel in Ascot.
Operating profits from the three hotels rose four-fold to £15.5m compared to a £1.3m loss from the group’s hotel in Milan and its two in Paris.
Although average occupancy at the group’s hotels remained flat at 69% in 2012, the average room rate was up £10 to £518.
It is nearly four times the 2012 London average of £138.50 according to research firm Hotstats. The key industry data of revenue per available room also rose by £10 to £359 at the Dorchester group compared to the London average of £112.37.
