NEW YORK -- Hotelier Bernard Goldberg sold his Gotham Hospitality
Group of five Manhattan properties to the global investment bank
Credit Suisse First Boston for an undisclosed amount.
Goldberg said he sold the boutique properties -- the Hotel
Wales, the Shoreham, the Mansfield, the Roger Williams and the
Franklin -- in order to acquire larger New York hotels. Although he
did not elaborate on his plans, a joint statement issued by Gotham
Hospitality and Credit Suisse said Goldberg is "pursuing four major
properties in the New York area."
Unique Hotels & Resorts, a management company with offices
in New York and Los Angeles, was tapped by Credit Suisse to operate
the five hotels. Eric Prevette, comanaging director of Unique
Hotels, said the company manages small, upscale properties.
Prevette said the Gotham properties will serve as "flagships of
a five-star hotel group offering a luxury experience to
value-conscious travelers. As a growth strategy, we think New York
is important because it will be the source of a great amount of
business for the other properties we are involved in."
Prevette said the company will begin operating the Rosario
Resort on the San Juan Islands in August and next year will manage
the Cuisinart Resort & Spa on the Caribbean island of
Anguilla.
Prevette said Unique Hotels will invest a "significant amount of
capital" in the five New York hotels, including a renovation of the
Hotel Wales, the first hotel Goldberg purchased in 1988, and the
completion of an expansion of the Shoreham. Prevette said Unique
Hotels "within the next few weeks" will create a central booking
system linking the five New York hotels and, eventually, its other
resorts.