Originally Posted by
uggboy
That's interesting news. What's going on with GHM?
Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
I had high hopes for GHM, but they are struggling for existence - that's what it is. The decline started with the takeover of The Setai in Miami when Lehman Brothers violently forced them out. They won the court cases but damage had already been done.
These days, they are down to 4 hotels and most of key management switched to COMO apparently. And the market is reacting better to COMO, they are more 21st century, lifestyle oriented, have strategic partnerships in place and found better niche products.
Meanwhile GHM lost so many properties that I lost count, but at the same time they went very public with planned projects that never came to fruition. Bad press made the brand so unattractive that I cannot imagine which property developer would sign a contract with them these days!
The Nam Hai is their only property that is commercially successful (yet architecture is highly controversial), The Chedi Club is solid but there's been a lot of rumors recently that they might loose management of that one as well, don't get me started on Andermatt - a disaster: badly managed, a trophy property by Egyptian billionaire Sawiris that fails to produce revenue aside from 2 months a year and part of a huge project in the Swiss Alps (read: gamble) that's been slowing down for a while now. The Chedi Muscat in Oman is their only resort I love and that is critically acclaimed by trustworthy publications (such as Gallivanter's).
Not sure if GHM is fixable, and also not sure if AZ is still involved (or his son?).