Lowry Hotel on the market for £40m
ROCCO Forte Hotels has put the five-star Lowry Hotel in Salford on the market for around £40m.
The London-based group wants to sell the 165-bed hotel to focus on sites with more international travellers.
A spokesman said the chain would like to sell the property but continue to manage the hotel, however, it is considering all options.
The hotel has an average room rate of £170 and an occupancy of around 70% giving it revpar (revenue per available room) of £119.
Communications director Richard Power said: “Our preference is to sell the building but to be retained as the management company marketing and managing the hotel, which is quite a common way of doing it.
“But we’ll look at all the bids, whether they’re with a management contract or vacant possession. We did have an informal test of the market which suggests a value north of £40m as the market is strengthening for hotels at the moment.”
He added: “Some 98% of all visitors to the Lowry are from within the UK whereas for our other hotels in the UK the rate would be 20-25% and would have a much wider range of other nationalities to draw on. This means you can get higher room rates and you’re not vulnerable to one economy going down.”
He said cash from a sale would be used to strengthen the balance sheet and fund expansion in mainland Europe.
