Doyle Collection to sell Boston hotel

The Doyle Collection has agreed to sell its Back Bay Hotel in Boston to Loews Hotels Resorts for an undisclosed sum.

New York-based Loews confirmed the purchase yesterday and said the sale would close in February.

“Boston is one of the most vibrant markets in the US, and an excellent city for a Loews property,” Jonathan Tisch, chairman of Loews Hotels Resorts, said in a statement yesterday. “This one-of-a-kind, historic hotel is a unique addition to our growing portfolio.”

The purchase brings to 21 the number of hotels in Loews’s portfolio, including another recent purchase, the 356-room Madison Hotel in Washington DC and properties under construction in Orlando and Chicago. “The Back Bay Hotel is a strategic addition as we expand our brand,” said Paul Whetsell, president and chief executive of Loews Hotels Resorts.

Unsolicited approaches

The Doyle Collection put the property on the market late last year through estate agent CBRE after receiving some unsolicited approaches.

It is also selling two of its three properties in Washington DC – the Marriott Courtyard Hotel and the Normandy Hotel.

The Back Bay is a leased hotel that has been operated by the Doyle Collection since 2004.

The lease was acquired in 2002 by the former listed Jurys Doyle Hotel Group, a predecessor to the Doyle Collection.

Jurys Doyle paid $20 million for the lease and invested $45 million in transforming the former Boston police department’s headquarters into a 225-room hotel.

The Doyle Collection, which is controlled by the Doyle and Beatty families, plans to deploy the funds raised from the sales on bolstering its position in the London market, where it has three large luxury hotels.

Accounts just filed for The Doyle’s Collection’s business in the UK show that pre-tax profits rose by almost 50 per cent to £7.1 million in 2011.

Accounts for Doyle Hotels (UK) Ltd show that sales fell by 35 per cent to £14.1 million from £21.9 million.

The drop in turnover arose from the disposal of two of the group’s three London hotels to other group undertakings.

An exceptional £8.8 million gain from the group reorganisation was behind the profit rise.