Troubles mount for hotel tycoon

HOTEL boss Bea Tollman, whose husband is wanted in America on fraud charges, has suffered a fresh setback. Her Red Carnation chain, which includes luxury London hotels such as the Chesterfield in Mayfair and the Rubens opposite Buckingham Palace, made a pre-tax loss of £5.6m for 2001.

Her husband, Stanley 'Tolly' Tollman, 71, a former director of Chelsea football club and a close friend of chairman Ken Bates, is wanted over an alleged £27m fraud involving his Days Inn motel chain. The couple's son Brett, an ex-Red Carnation director, also faces fraud charges.

Stanley Tollman, declared 'a fugitive from justice' by the US Attorney's office in New York, has been seen in Britain, though he is now said to be running a hotel and property business in South Africa.

Red Carnation's holding company, Chesterfield (Mayfair), is run by Bea from her mansion in Belgravia, central London.

Three of its five hotels performed so badly that directors added a note to the accounts, saying that they considered 'the results for the period and the position of the company to be unsatisfactory'.

The worst performer was 41 Buckingham Palace Road, which was well reviewed when it opened, offering all-in packages including as much champagne as guests could drink for £350 a night. It was mothballed for the last two months of 2001 because business was so bad, but still showed a loss of £1.7m on turnover of less than £500,000. The Milestone in Kensington lost £1.8m and The Montague in Bloomsbury lost £770,000, with turnover down 18%.

Nigel Massey, spokesman for Bea Tollman, said: 'The hotel industry has been hit badly since September 11 and this is reflected in the accounts. I represent 14 of the best luxury hotel chains in London and, by comparison, Red Carnation is performing better than any of them. Occupancy rate is up 22% this year.

'In a time of recession, the Tollmans are bucking the trend and expanding - they have bought Hotel Angleterre in Geneva, which has been a huge success, and the 12 Apostles in Cape Town.

'Indeed, the London Tourist Board has just declared The Milestone the best small hotel in London.'