Maltese Le Méridien carries €10m ticket
A rare opportunity to buy Malta's first modern luxury hotel has come to the market.
The London office of Christie + Co is seeking offers in excess of €10m (£6.7m) for the Le Méridien Phoenicia hotel.
Director Jeremy Jones believes the hotel will be of equal interest to buyers who want the hotel to continue to be managed as a Le Méridien by Starwood Hotels and to those wanting to operate it under their own brand.
The hotel, which holds a five-star rating from the Malta Tourism Authority, lies at the entrance to Malta's capital city, Valletta. It overlooks Marsamxett Harbour and is just seven kilometres from Malta's International Airport.
The purpose-built property first opened in 1947 and was relaunched in 1997 under the Le Méridien brand
It provides 136 bedrooms across six floors, ranging from classic doubles to exclusive suites with harbour views.
Food and drink facilities include the 120-seat Phoenix restaurant, the 55-seat Pegasus Brasserie and the colonial-style Club Bar.
The hotel offers an extensive range of conference, meeting and banqueting facilities at include the Palm Court Lounge (for up to 500 delegates), the Ballroom (800), the Maryanski Porch (90), the Green Lounge (190), the Knights Room (20) and the Boardroom (6)
There is also a business centre on the ground floor and a decked area that can accommodate up to 800 guests outside alongside the fully-heated outdoors swimming pool.
The hotel also hosts a hair salon, jewellers and gift gallery run by third parties, and provides accommodation for the management, sales and administration staff.
Customers are predominantly from the UK, Germany and France and forecast figures for 2006 include revenue of €6.3m (£4.2m), revenue per available room of €76.20 (£51.17), a 72.3% occupancy, and a €105.30 (£70.71) average daily rate.
By Angela Frewin
