Dorchester Collection eyes MidEast for expansion

The Dorchester Collection is looking to open six new hotels within three years, its CEO has announced.

The luxury hotel chain will focus on the Asia Pacific region, but is also looking to the Middle East as part of its expansion plans, eyeing opportunities in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi.

In an interview with AFP, chief executive Christopher Cowdray said: “We have now nine hotels, they are all iconic. We own all of them except the Richemond (in Geneva). The aim is to have 15 hotels by 2015; it's ambitious but that's the plan.”

“We're looking at key cities in Europe, in the Far East and in America. To be precise, one in each of these cities, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney,” he added.

“We're also looking at the Middle East as well, Dubai, Doha and probably Abu Dhabi, but also in New York or Washington. It depends where the opportunities arrive. It's not a science, it's all about opportunity,” Cowdray said.

The company started when the Sultan of Brunei purchased the Dorchester Hotel in London in 1986 and began adding hotels to the chain. The most recent addition was the 45-room 45 Park Lane hotel in London last year.