Brownsword Hotel Group Snaps up Imperial Hotel Torquay

Date: August 2016

Location: Torquay, Devon, UK

Name: Imperial Hotel – four star

No. of Keys: 152

Seller: The Hotel Collection (Lone Star Funds). The hotel was once the (provincial) flagship of THF – Trusthouse Forte, with the iconic Harry Murray, now Chairman of Lucknam Park Hotel, as GM from 1974 – 1994.

Lone Star acquired the Hotel Collection in June 2014, when the group was made up of 21 properties. A year later it announced that it would dispose of the individual properties within the group in order to focus on properties operating under various international brands such as Hilton, Doubletree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn from Hilton Worldwide, Mercure and MGallery from AccorHotels, and Jurys Inn under the umberella of the then newly created company, Amaris Hospitality.

Savills and Rothschild acted for Lone Star.

Buyer: Brownsword Hotel Group, headed up by Christina and Andrew Brownsword, he being the once owner of Bath Rugby and CEO of Hallmark Cards.

The main collection of the portfolio is made up of eight primarily country house properties including Gidleigh Park in Devon and the Bath Priory, as well as Sydney House in Chelsea, London, Abode Hotels, its group of city centre properties, is located in Canterbury, Exeter, Chester, Manchester and Glasgow.

The Imperial Hotel will become their 14th property. Last month, Brownsword completed the acquisition of the 52-bedroom Old Swan & Minster Mill in Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire, from the de Savary family.

Price: £12.5m

Price per Key: £82,237

THPT Comment: Good to see this historic hotel go back into loving hands….The Brownswords said that they are looking forward to becoming “custodians of this piece of Devonian tradition and building upon its extensive history and reputation”.

First Seen: The Caterer