THE manager of one of Liverpool’s leading hotels last night called for an urgent rethink on the number of new guest rooms becoming available in the city. Marcus Magee, of Hilton Hotels, said he feared the number of rooms in the city – more than 4,000 – was reaching saturation point.

And Mike Dewey, deputy chairman of the Liverpool Hoteliers Association, claimed it may already be too late to regulate as the number of rooms was due to increase by around 35% in coming years.

The city’s cabinet member for regeneration, Malcolm Kennedy, last night pledged to look at whether a new strategy on hotels was needed.

Mr Magee, general manager of the Hilton at Liverpool One, was speaking as the four star hotel marked its six-month anniversary in the city.

He told the Daily Post: “I believe Liverpool is close to the threshold of having enough hotel bedrooms, and we need some sort of strategy (setting out how many are needed).

“There is not enough conference business coming to the city although it is developing and Bob Prattey (chief executive of the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre) is doing a great job.

“Between November and May, we had very good rates in occupancy and we certainly achieved our targets.

“But June and July were particularly challenging.”

He said the other big name brand hotels – Malmaison, Marriott, and Crowne Plaza – had all experienced a similar summer.

Earlier this week, the Daily Post revealed that Liverpool’s hoteliers sold more rooms than ever before in a record breaking July.

Nearly 95,000 reservations were made in the city region in the month – 17,000 more than the same period last year and 9,000 more than in July, 2008, when the city was European Capital of Culture.

Mr Magee said this research was consistent with the picture in the budget end of the market.

“People are always looking for a deal and the budget element in the city is doing well. I do believe there is a price sensitivity, no doubt.”

The key to maintain Liverpool’s hotels was to attract more business visitors to the city.

He added: “The infrastructure, compared to most key cities, is second to none, and everything in the city centre is accessible within a 10-minute walk.”

Despite the challenges he was upbeat about the future of his hotel and the trade in Liverpool.

He said: “We are certainly having a great time, myself and my team. Hilton had been trying to come to Liverpool for a long time, so we are delighted to be here.

“We believe our year end (in December) occupancy targets will be achieved.”