The Signet Collection Announces Second Hotel Site – The Retreat Elcot Park
Main Photo: The Elcot Park, currently a Mercure Hotel
Date: November 2021
Name: The Retreat Elcot Park – to Reopen Spring 2022
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK
Number of Keys: Was 73 will reopen as 55
Seller: S Hotels & Resorts – Singha Estate, who have some 30 hotels in the UK and are looking to sell a further 5 under-performing hotels. These are largely the old Jarvis Hotels, that became Jupiter and sold to a JV Singha by Patron Capital and West Register in 2015
Buyer: Signet Collection, headed up by Hector Ross, who reopened their first property – The Mitre at Hampton Court in September 2020
The Signet Collection, headed up by former Longshot COO Hector Ross, has announced plans to open its second hotel next year.
The group will launch The Retreat Elcot Park in spring 2022 following on from The Signet Collection’s debut hotel The Mitre Hampton Court in September 2020.
Housed in a Grade II-listed 18th-century building dating back to 1772 and located between Hungerford and Newbury, The Retreat was once the childhood home of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The hotel will comprise 55 bedrooms and two restaurant – an all-day dining brasserie and pan-Asian restaurant, overseen by chef Ronnie Kimbugwe, whose background includes time with the Gordon Ramsay group at Claridge’s Hotel and a decade with the Bel and Dragon Country Inns. He also runs the F&B operation at The Mitre.
Other elements include a whisky tasting room, honesty pantries on each floor, various meeting and events spaces, plus outdoor pursuits such as a walled working garden, tennis courts, an outdoor infinity pool (complete with designer cabanas and Whispering Angel pool bar), croquet lawns and children’s zone.
There will also be a health club, with pools, treatment rooms, steam and sauna, plus a gym, spin studio and wellness area.
The Courtyard will be a mixed-use retail space consisting of a bakery, coffee house, hair salon and wine store.
Hector Ross, managing partner, says: “We are delighted to announce the second hotel from The Signet Collection coming next spring. As with The Mitre Hampton Court, we look forward to unveiling a property which will be enjoyed in the context of its historical significance, both preserving and restoring authenticity coupled with offering a vast array of activities on site to keep our guests entertained.”
Hector Ross is the former COO at Longshot Holdings and previously worked with Ollie Vigors and Joel Cadbury at Bel & The Dragon and on the launch of luxury hotel, Beaverbrook, before branching out on his own when he acquired The Mitre.
Price: Around £4m
Price per Key: £55,584
THPT Comment: Firstly fab price paid…and if they achieve with The Retreat what they did with The Mitre, the residents of Newbury will be very pleased!
First Seen: Boutique Hotelier
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