The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is preparing to place four hotels worth up to £650m on the market. The Times

Defying the credit crunch, the bank, which has instructed CB Richard Ellis Hotels to find buyers, hopes it will be third time lucky after two previous aborted attempts to sell the properties.

The four hotels - the Waldorf Hilton and Cumberland hotels in London, the Park Inn at Heathrow and the Marriott Victoria & Albert in Manchester - were due to be sold to Vector Hospitality, a hotel REIT, together with 11 other Hiltons owned by RBS, for about £1.1bn.

However, the sale collapsed in June when investors shunned the £2bn flotation of Vector.