Waldorf and Hyatt Regency hotels fall into administration

Both hotels, which were owned by the same family – Gulsham Bhatia and her son Asif – were handed over to administrators after the holding firms failed to make loan repayments.

The hotels will now be placed on the market, although no guide sale price has been released.

Waldorf​

The Waldorf hotel in London's West End was owned by Choicezone, which had defaulted on loans to three banks in December 2010.

The banks, Barclays, Allied Irish and Credit Agricole, were owed over £100m. They appointed KPMG as administrators for the property.

Hyatt Regency​

The Hyatt Regency in Birmingham is operated by Hyatt Holdings on behalf of the holding company Hyatt Regency Birmingham Limited.

The owners, who owe around £30m to Barclays, breached their debt covenants several times between December 2009 and December 2010. Ernst & Young were appointed as administrators for the Hyatt Regency hotel.

‘Business as usual’​

Daniel Hunter, spokesperson for Barclays Corporate, told BigHospitality: “I can confirm that Choicezone Limited, the owner of the London Waldorf, defaulted on its loans from Allied Irish Bank, Barclays and Crédit Agricole CIB last year and administrators were appointed in May this year.

“Regarding Hyatt Regency Birmingham Limited, it defaulted on its loans to Barclays earlier this year, and administrators were also recently appointed. These administrations involve only the hotels’ freehold – therefore neither has any impact upon the day to day running of the hotels,” he said.

Joint Administrator at Ernst & Young, Diana Frangou, said, “We have the full cooperation of Hyatt Holdings (UK) Limited, the Operating Company, and will be working closely with them to ensure that it is business as usual while we seek a buyer for the hotel as a going concern.”