Real Yorkshire Pubs has bought a country house hotel in the North Yorkshire village of Burythorpe, where it already owns the Bay Horse pub.
The three AA-star Burythorpe House hotel is just 18 miles from York and well-placed for visits to Malton, Pickering, Castle Howard and the North York Moors.
The building, which dates back to 1750, offers 12 en-suite bedrooms, a lounge, a 22-seat conservatory dining room, a 52-seat restaurant and a snooker room.
A converted coach house contains the leisure facilities that comprise a sauna, solarium, gymnasium, and heated indoor swimming pool while a two-storey wing provides accommodation for the owners in the form of an en-suite double bedroom, kitchen, utility room, lounge and conservatory sitting room.
The Leeds office of Colliers Robert Barry sold the freehold off an original guide price of £895,000 on behalf of Trevor and Sheila Austin, who opened the former residential property as a hotel in 1990.
The Austins, who intend to pursue their interests in equestrian sport, have retained the stables, fields, riding arena, a cottage and five letting bedrooms that they plan to convert into self-catering units.
By Angela Frewin