Alex Aitken, chef-proprietor of the New Forest's one-Michelin-starred Le Poussin at Parkhill in Lyndhurst, has purchased the three-AA-star Whitely Ridge hotel and restaurant in nearby Brockenhurst.
Aitken bought the property for £1.8m and will now temporarily house his award-winning restaurant-with-rooms while its Parkhill site is redeveloped.
Le Poussin at Parkhill closed at the end of last year and will undergo a £10m refurbishment, which will include a spa and 12 extra bedrooms.
Aitken also plans to increase Whitely Ridge's 14 bedrooms to 18. He said that business at Whitely was going well and that turnover was likely to exceed £1m in its first year.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 21 April 2005