ROCCO FORTE is back in the London with the purchase of Brown”s Hotel in the heart of Mayfair, one of the capital”s outstanding hotels with a history that goes back to 1837. It was from where Alexander Graham Bell made the world”s first telephone call from the hotel in 1876; it was the first hotel to have a lift installed; Rudyard Kipling wrote many of his works in the building sited in Albemarle Street. The ”51m purchase of the 118 bedroom five-star property marks another major progress point in the career of Sir Rocco Forte who was forced out of the hotel business in 1996 following an acrimonious takeover of the old Forte Group. A major refurbishment is expected to quickly get under way plus the addition of further bedrooms. Rocco Forte Hotels is now established as a quality operation with eight five-star properties and a further opening in Frankfurt in 2006. http://www.roccofortehotels.com