A HONG Kong company, Wharf Holdings, which bought a chain of American hotels from Aer Lingus in 1988 for 135 million (£85.5 million) has just sold them for over $500 million. Even though it invested heavily in the hotels, that's not a bad profit over seven years. They must be sick as parrots in Dublin Airport.

Wharf Holdings bought the Omni chain, which included the prestigious Berkshire Place in New York, the Parker House in Boston and the Ambassador East in Chicago. Now it has sold them to a Texas oil family from Corpus Christi.