Granfel sells number sixteen
Number Sixteen, a 36-bedroom townhouse hotel in London, has been sold by Granfel Holdings to an overseas investor for about £1.4m.
The new owner, who was represented by consultant Quantum Associates, has additionally paid about £1.6m to the freeholders for a new 105-year lease. The old lease had less than 10 years to run.
Jane Roberts, who has been at the hotel for nine years, will remain in charge as general manager and there will be no changes among the 25 full- and part-time staff.
The purchaser is a Malaysian family with hotel interests in such cities as Melbourne, Sydney, Beijing and Hong Kong, as well as some residential property in London.
Granfel Holdings, which is ultimately owned by the Kuwait Investment Office, asked agent Hartnell Taylor Cook to find a buyer in order to concentrate on its East Sussex National golf estate.
Its other remaining property - the 85-bedroom Half Moon Beach Club in Sarasota, Florida - is not currently on the market, although Granfel chief executive John Sinclair admitted it was not part of the company's overall strategy.
Granfel also has planning permission for a 200-bedroom hotel at East Sussex National, although Mr Sinclair, whose name is at the centre of mounting speculation in the Forte/Savoy soap opera, said that at the moment he had no plans to take that up.
