Mandarin Open To Acquisitions As It Continues Steady Growth
by Doug Gollan /The Mandarin Oriental New York. Photo: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
While Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has historically added two to three properties per year, next year it will only add a single property, in Doha, Qatar. That said, group head of marketing Michael Hobson told media at ILTM that with the deep pockets of owner Jardine Matheson behind it, Mandarin can act quickly when it sees opportunities. Earlier in the year it bought the hotel it was managing in Boston for $140 million, perhaps keeping it out of the hands of Hilton Worldwide and its Waldorf Astoria flag.
Speaking of consolidation in the luxury sector, Hobson said, “We watch all of that with great interest. We like that the destiny of our group is under our control…We strive to find our niche and dominate it.” He said on a RevPar basis it competes at the very top in all the markets it operates, and “we have a fair amount of organic growth.” In terms of acquisitions, he told the media, “We’re always looking (but) they’re not easy to come by.”
The group is in the midst of a GBP 100 million renovation of its Hyde Park location in London. The first half will be finished by second quarter 2017 with the job completed by mid-2018. It will also use next year to plan for an extensive restoration of its Madrid property, likely to begin in 2018.