Menzies Hotels ties up £16m Welcombe deal

Derbyshire-based Menzies Hotels bought the 64-bedroom Welcombe Hotel and Golf Course in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, for £16m on Monday (4 August).

The deal takes the privately owned group's estate to 19 hotels, mostly four-star properties, throughout the UK.

The country house hotel, with a championship par-70 golf course, was bought from the Countess de Chastenet de Puysegur, who acquired it from Orient-Express in 2000.

Chairman Nick Menzies described the new Menzies Welcombe hotel as "very much a trophy asset" with "huge potential". Menzies will be reopening the golf course to annual members, a business area that was discontinued by the Countess.

The company will invest £4m to reposition the property as a full resort hotel. The first phase will involve adding 14 bedrooms and new meeting rooms, and refurbishing public areas, function rooms and selected bedrooms.

The group will also submit a planning application for an indoor Waves leisure and spa facility that it hopes to open in early 2005.