Property firm Marylebone Warwick Balfour (MWB), owner of the Malmaison hotel chain, has sold the five-star Howard hotel (pictured) in London for £75m.

The new owner, Samosir, is a private hotel investment vehicle controlled by the Ho family, which owns the adjacent Arundel Court building on Temple Place.

MWB, which spent £15m refurbishing the 189-bedroom hotel it bought for £40m in 2000, instructed Jones Lang LaSalle to sell the Howard in September.

The hotel will continue to be operated by Swiss“tel until 2020, guaranteeing the new owners a minimum income of £4.45m a year, increasing to £4.72m by 2009.