Dorchester Collection

Dorchester Collection is a luxury hotel operator owned by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), an arm of the Ministry of Finance of Brunei. Dorchester Collection owns and manages nine luxury five star hotels: The Dorchester (London), The Beverly Hills Hotel (Beverly Hills), Plaza Athénée (Paris), Hotel Meurice (Paris), Principe di Savoia (Milan), Hotel Bel-Air (Los Angeles), Coworth Park (southwest of London), 45 Park Lane (London) and Hotel Eden (Rome).

Dorchester Group Limited
Dorchester Collection Ltd
TypePrivate
IndustryHospitality
Tourism
FoundedJune 11, 1981 (1981-06-11) in London, United Kingdom[1]
HeadquartersLondon, W1
United Kingdom[1]
Number of locations
10
Key people
Christopher Cowdray, (CEO)
François Delahaye, (COO)
Helen Smith, (VP Sales and Marketing)
Total assets £1.893 billion GBP (2014)
Total equity£879 million GBP (2014[2])
Number of employees
3500
ParentBrunei Investment Agency
WebsiteDorchester Collection Website

History

In 1987, the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, bought the Dorchester Hotel and the Beverly Hills Hotel and then transferred the ownership to the Brunei Investment Agency in 1991.[3] The Audley Group, owned by the BIA, was established in 1996 to manage the hotels under one company. Later, the Audley Group became the Dorchester Group Limited.[3][4] The Dorchester Group Ltd. owns the Dorchester Collection which was established in 2006 to manage several luxury hotels in Europe and the United States. The Dorchester Collection manages 9 luxury hotels.[5][6][7] The hotels are a mix of wholly owned and part-owned hotels as the Dorchester Collection acquires them and manages them on behalf of third party owners.[5][6]

Restaurants

Controversy

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, via his Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) owning the Dorchester Collection hotels, raised concern abroad in April 2014 by implementing the Sharia law penal code that includes death by stoning, the severing of limbs, and flogging for crimes in Brunei such as abortions, adultery, and homosexual acts. None are exempted from the Sharia Law regardless of the classes they are in and the laws only apply in Brunei's border. Brunei has a complex legal system that consists of two parts which involve separate courts and legislation for Islamic and non-Islamic citizens.[15]

In protest, a United States national LGBT advocacy organization, the Gill Action Fund, canceled its reservation to hold a conference of major donors at the Beverly Hills Hotel and demanded a refund of its deposit. The hotel management responded by issuing a statement asserting that it does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.[16] Fashion designers Brian Atwood and Peter Som subsequently called for wider protests, urging the fashion industry to boycott all of the hotels owned by the Dorchester Collection.[17] The Beverly Hills Hotel, long a popular spot for celebrity functions, has been rejected by much of Hollywood over the controversy.[18] HR Magazine said that the protests are "misguided" and will not affect the government policy of Brunei when the Dorchester Collection's annual revenue is $300 million while the BIA has over $30 billion in assets from oil and gas.[19]

Chief executive officer Christopher Cowdray asked the public to consider the issue at hand in a broader perspective, citing the fact that many brands are backed by foreign investors.[20] The U.S. national advertising-industry newspaper Adweek declared that "the bad press and protests have tarnished the glamorous image of the Beverly Hills Hotel, one of the most famous hotels in the world" and added that "such extreme brand damage will be difficult to repair."[21] As of May 2014, "more than $2 million worth of events have been canceled at the Beverly Hills Hotel by dozens of groups."[22] There have also been people speaking out in opposition of the protests and boycott of the hotel. Russell Crowe and Kim Kardashian have spoken out against the boycott, despite disapproval of the new laws in Brunei, citing how it is unfair to punish the hardworking employees and workers at the hotel.[23][24]

In March 2019 when the Sultan announced the coming into force of the sharia law in question on 3 April 2019 George Clooney,[25] Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres called again for a boycott of all hotels associated with him.[26] It resulted in the Sultan backtracking on enforcing the laws that would have made sex between men and adultery punishable by stoning to death[27] in May 2019.

References
  1. "DORCHESTER GROUP LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)".
  2. "DORCHESTER GROUP LIMITED - Filing history (free information from Companies House)".
  3. "Dorchester Group". The Caterer. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  4. "Dorchester Group Limited". Companies in the UK. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  5. "Hotel Bel-Air". Dorchester Collection. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  6. "Dorchester Collection". Hospitality Net. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  7. Patti Pietschmann (June 6, 2012). "Tasty treats spice up summer at Dorchester Collection hotels from London to LA". Examiner.
  8. "Restaurants & Bars". The Dorchester. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  9. "Dorchester Collection to Manage Rome's Iconic Hotel Eden". Hospitality Net. September 18, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  10. Forbes Travel Guide (January 13, 2012). "An Inside Look At Wolfgang Puck's New Restaurant At Hotel Bel-Air". Forbes. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  11. Eric Rosen. "See and Be Seen at The Polo Lounge". Los Angeles Confidential. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  12. "Gourmet Hotels in the UK". Condé Nest Traveller. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  13. Amol Rajan (November 13, 2011). "Cut at 45 Park Lane, London W1". The Independent. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  14. Valerio M. Visintin (October 15, 2013). "Acanto dell'Hotel Principe di Savoia". VivaMilano. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  15. Brunei Darussalam (PDF) (Report). Yale Law School. November 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-26. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  16. "Beverly Hills Hotel Boycotted by LGBT Group Over Sultan of Brunei Ownership (Report)". The Hollywood Reporter. April 19, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  17. "How A Stay At This Iconic Los Angeles Hotel Supports The Stoning To Death Of Gays In Brunei". Queerty. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  18. Brunei Ownership Casts a Shadow on a Beverly Hills Hotel, The New York Times, May 10, 2014.
  19. Arvind Hickman (May 19, 2014). "Why the Dorchester Collection protest is wrong". HR Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  20. ELAINE GLUSAC (May 27, 2014). "Can a Hotel Boycott Change a Sultan's Policy?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  21. Christopher Heine (May 6, 2014). "Beverly Hills Hotel Boycott Gathers Steam". Adweek. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  22. Jared Sichel (May 21, 2014). "What's a boycott worth?". Jewish Journal. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  23. Curtis M. Wong (May 27, 2014). "Russell Crowe Defends Brunei-Owned Hotel Chain While Stressing Support For Gay Rights". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  24. Cavan Sieczkowski (June 24, 2014). "Kim Kardashian Weighs In On Beverly Hills Hotel Boycott". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  25. Clooney, George (2019-03-28). "George Clooney: Boycott Sultan Of Brunei's Hotels Over Cruel Anti-Gay Laws". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  26. "Brunei anti-gay laws: Ellen posts desperate plea on Facebook". www.news.com.au. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  27. "Brunei says it won't enforce death penalty for gay sex". BBC News. 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
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