Millennium & Copthorne to take a hit from London Mayfair hotel closure

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels announced on Thursday that, as part of its commitment to increase investment in its assets as it announced in its preliminary results for the period ended 31 December, a decision has been made to close the Millennium Hotel London Mayfair entirely during the remainder of its refurbishment programme.

The FTSE 250 company said that would accelerate the works, in order to reposition the property within a new luxury competitive set.

It started the refurbishment in November last year as a phased process, with the hotel closed entirely at the beginning of July.

The hotel, which had 336 rooms prior to the refurbishment, was scheduled to reopen in the first quarter of 2019 with 315 rooms.

“The impact of the project on group revenue for 2018 is estimated to be approximately £20m, with a consequent impact on hotel operating profit,” the board said in its statement.

“As a result, group profit for the current financial year is anticipated to be commensurately lower.

“Overall performance at our other London hotels for the second quarter of 2018 also continued to be weaker than last year due to lower revenue and continuing cost pressures.”

Millennium & Copthorne said further details would be included in its interim trading results, which were currently scheduled to be released on 3 August.