Two former Corus managing directors have succeeded in snapping up a package of five hotels from their old employer, including the 138-bedroom Richmond Hill and 68-bedroom Richmond Gate in Surrey.
The £50m deal is being funded by a finance firm called Leverguide, with Nicholas Crawley and Charles Holmes leasing the hotels from Leverguide through their company Folio Hotels.
Just before Christmas Crawley emerged as a leading candidate to take over the hotels, as talks entered their final stage.
The deal will see Crawley take control of the two Surrey hotels, which are both close to Heathrow, along with their adjacent Cedars health and fitness club.
The other hotels in the deal are the 45-bedroom Makeney Hall Hotel near Derby, the 53-bedroom Buckerall Lodge Hotel in Exeter and the 48-bedroom Castle Inn Hotel, near Keswick, Cumbria.
Crawley, also a former managing director of the Scotsman hotel group, said: “These hotels offered an attractive opportunity given our experience of operating the assets in the late 90s. We remain keen to add further hotels and leases to Folio Hotels in due course.”
Leverguide is owned by multi-millionaire property magnates Gary and Alan Landesberg and David and Elliot Rosenberg.
This is their first foray into the hotel market, although last year they set up Admiral Taverns.
by Nic Paton
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