Crimson Hotels buys the Park Inn London

The Park Inn London in Russell Square has been sold to the Crimson Hotels Group, the independently-owned, UK-based hotel company, for an undisclosed sum.

The sale of the 214-bedroom hotel, which includes a restaurant, bar and 14 conference and meeting rooms, was handled by Ernst & Young, administrators for WG Mitchell, the Northern Ireland-based property company owned by brothers Patrick and Hugh Hegarty. 

Formerly known as the Bonnington, the property was bought by WG Mitchell in 2007 for £70m.

Crimson, which currently owns and manages 11 hotels in the UK, Portugal and Dubai, plans to upgrade the property’ reception, food and beverage outlets and meeting rooms.  It is also looking to re-brand and re-position the hotel, which is currently operated by Rezidor under the Park Inn brand.

In the UK, Crimson operates six hotels including the Crowne Plaza Gatwick-Crawley and the Holiday Inn Woking, and is currently building the largest Holiday Inn Express in Europe with 300 bedrooms, near London Heathrow Terminal 5.

Director of Crimson, Aly Kassam, said: “This is a time of growth and expansion for our company and the addition of this central London property to our portfolio is an exciting opportunity for us.”

More than 50 formal tours of the hotel were carried out by the agents Christie + Co, culminating in a combined £1b-worth of funded offers through a multi-stage bidding process. 

“What this sale clearly identifies is the huge demand for true central London hotels from well-funded UK, Far East, Middle East and US buyers,” said Jeremy Jones, director at Christie + Co.


Administrators seek £50m for two Park Inn hotels >>

Largest Holiday Inn Express in Europe to open at Heathrow >>

Crimson Hotels in Top 100 Hotels >>


By Janet Harmer

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