Hendricksons on the move again. 3rd Hotel operation in Kingston underway

A release from the Jamaica Stock Exchange today advised that the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel will now be operated by Surrey Hotel Management Ltd, a company owned and operated by Kevin Hendrickson. The new operator is expected to “refurbish and reorganize the Hotel on a sound financial and profitable basis”.

Kevin Hendrickson is not new to the Hotel business. He also operates The Knutsford Court, and the Courtleigh. A background on Kevin on the Knutsford Court’s website highlights that:

Kevin Hendrickson, one of the four children of retired business tycoon Karl Hendrickson, is the man behind The Knutsford Court Hotel. This property (the Knutsford Court) is his second acquisition in Kingston’, with The Courtleigh Hotel & Suites being the first.

Jamaica Pegasus

New ownership, Greater value?

What does this mean for patrons to the Pegasus? Are we to expect greater value from this addition to the number of hotels already owned? Lower prices? Better service? What kind of refurbishments and reorganizations are expected? How much will be invested? We would really hope so. The Hendrickson’s should have enough operations to sufficiently drive down prices and increase quality and efficiency. But who know’s what the strategy will be. The Pegasus joins a long list of hotels being operated by the Hendricksons:

The Hendrickson family also own and operate in Jamaica other gems including the Sunset Beach Resort & Spa in Montego Bay, The Sunset at the Palms in Negril, Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios, The Courtleigh Hotel & Suites in Kingston, The Ruins at the Falls in Ocho Rios and Coconut Bay in St. Lucia. (Knutsford Court Website)

The Pegasus was listed as one of the Top Six companies to watch in 2011 by the Gleaner, as the Hendricksons, at the time had majority control of Pegasus, operator of The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, and had launched a takeover bid for the other minority shares. The same article stated that the plan was for Pegasus to be de-listed if more than 90% of the shares were acquired.

— The Full JSE Release

Pegasus Hotels of Jamaica Limited (the Company) has granted a Lease of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel to Surrey Hotel Management Limited (“Surrey”), a company owned and operated by Kevin Hendrickson, operator of The Courtleigh Hotel & Suites. Surrey will take over the operations of the Hotel with effect from Friday, October 28, 2011. The lease follows the Company’s announcement in its 2011 Annual Report that it had decided to cease to be operators of the Hotel and to lease the property to an operator capable of refurbishing and reorganizing the Hotel on a sound financial and profitable basis.

As the Company will no longer be operating the Hotel, it will be making all employee positions redundant with effect Friday, October 28, 2011. Surrey has agreed to review applications made by those employees interested in potential employment with the new operators. Surrey has indicated that guest rooms and Hotel services such as restaurants will be closed temporarily on Saturday, October 29, 2011 and Sunday, October 30, 2011 in order to facilitate operational hand-over procedures. A full refurbishment exercise is contemplated in 2012 and further information on this will be provided in due course.