Business

ROCCO FORTE SCOUTS U.S.

Sir Rocco Forte is looking to bring his European luxury hotels to the States.

Sources say the European-based hotelier is already scouting locations in Manhattan for one of his first U.S. venues.

“He’s looking for something with about 150 rooms,” said a person familiar with the search.

Forte, who was knighted in 1994 for services to the U.K. tourism industry, established his present company, Rocco Forte, in 1996, and has opened 11 high-end hotels throughout Europe, including the Hotel de Russie in Rome, Hotel Savoy in Florence, and Brown’s in London.

He was formerly the chairman and chief executive of Forte Plc, a company founded by his father, Lord Charles Forte, in 1934.

During his time at Forte, the younger Forte oversaw the operations of more than 800 hotels and 1,000 restaurants, which employed about 100,000 people in 50 countries.

He transformed Forte from a British operation to an international hotel business with the George V in Paris, Sandy Lane in Barbados, the Ritz in Madrid and the Plaza Athénée in New York.

Forte Plc was sold in 1996 following a hostile takeover bid and has since been broken up.

Forte’s new company has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and recently opened the Charles Hotel in Munich. Today, Forte will unveil a renovation of Le Richemond, a luxury hotel in Geneva.

Next spring Rocco Forte will open a 101-bedroom hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. It will be created from a complex of five buildings. Rocco Forte also has plans to open a golf and spa resort in Sicily, and to manage a resort in Marrakech.