A NUMBER of unnamed parties have taken up a 40 per cent stake in Hongkong's Ritz Carlton Hotel, leaving 60 per cent with owners Diamond String, a subsidiary of Lai Sun Development. It is understood that the paper work for the deal has been signed and all that remains to be completed are a few formalities. According to Bernd Loeke, managing director and chief operating officer of owners representative Glynhill Hotels and Resorts, ''the formalities will be cleared up on August 2 and the hotel will open on August 16''. Glynhill, also a subsidiary of Lai Sun Development, owns a 50 per cent stake in Delta Hotels, the largest private hotel group in Canada with more than 30 establishments, including Delta Asia Hotels & Resorts and Chains Hotels & Resorts in China. Mr Loeke said he could not comment on how much Diamond String paid for the hotel, but this month's edition of Asian Hotelier reported the price to be US$153 million (about HK$1.19 billion) or US$708,000 per room for the 25-storey, 216-room hotel. ''I don't like talking about money. There are some who assume that the price was too expensive, but the Lai Sun Group sees it differently. When you consider the land alone, it was a very good price. ''But there is more to it than that. The Ritz Carlton is one of the most prestigious hotel chains in the world and we are proud to be associated with them.'' ''For Ritz Carlton, Hongkong will be its flagship in Asia,'' said Mr Loeke, who was, for 25 years, a senior vice president with ITT Sheraton Asia Pacific, managing director of the Sheraton Hotel in Hongkong, and the man behind the hotel group's move intoChina. Ritz Carlton general manager Eric Waldburger said yesterday that the hotel was looking in ''good shape''. In eight weeks, he has managed to hire 200 staff, some of whom had followed him to the hotel two years ago. Completed in August 1991, the hotel was bogged down in a quagmire of legal uncertainty and debt when the original developers, Ginzu Golf Services of Japan, went into receivership. Last December, Mr Waldburger had to lay off the last of his staff and had, since then, gone from day to day not knowing whether the hotel would ever open. Mr Waldburger said he could not divulge the length of the new management contract. ''Suffice to say, both parties are very happy.'' ''I can't get over the support we have been given from the industry and from clients. Ritz Carlton in Atlanta have stood by us and has been more than supportive. ''Lai Sun and Ritz Carlton have worked extremely well and have been very understanding of each other's positions and needs.'' To celebrate the grand opening next month, Mr Waldburger said there would be a special introductory discount of 38 per cent from August 16 until February 28 next year. Published rates for rooms range from $2,250 to $2,750 for the Parkview Rooms and $2,400 to $3,100 for the Harbour View Rooms. ''The discounts we will offer on rooms is our way of saying thanks to all those kind people who have waited so long.''
