Hilton Group has sold its package of 11 provincial hotels to Stardon UK for £111m.

The new owner, a joint venture between US property group Starwood Capital and Glasgow-based investment company Chardon Hotels, signed the contract late last night and hopes to finalise the deal within the next five weeks.

Starwood will be the majority shareholder in the new partnership, which was set up for the purposes of the deal.

The 11 four-star sites, which will operate under the franchised Hilton badge, will be run by management company Chardon Management.

Chardon Hotels and Chardon Management are both owned by Glaswegian entrepreneur Maurice Taylor, and currently operate four hotels in Scotland. The eleven new Hilton properties will report to Chardon Management's Glasgow head office

Hotel staff will become employees of Stardon UK.

Chardon Hotels marketing director Nicola Taylor said: "This has been in the pipeline for a couple of months. We've felt for a while that we had a head start and we've been working at a very fast pace with Hilton."

Wolfgang Neumann, Hilton UK and Ireland area president, said: "Hilton is pleased by the progression of the portfolio realignment process. With four new properties under way and other new properties close to finalisation, Hilton expects to have replaced this room stock in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2007."

The deal includes the following four-star properties:
Hilton Bradford (120 bedrooms)  
Hilton Leeds Garforth (144 bedrooms)
Hilton Brighton West Pier (131 bedrooms) 
Hilton London Mews (72 bedrooms)
Hilton Corby (105 bedrooms)  
Hilton Moorside Grange (94 bedrooms)
Hilton Dunblane Hydro (208 bedrooms)  
Hilton Norwich (121 bedrooms)
Hilton East Kilbride (101 bedrooms)  
Hilton Portsmouth (119 bedrooms)
Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor (189 bedrooms)

by Tom Bill

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