Local operator buys Southsea hotel

The Sandringham hotel in Southsea, Hampshire, has been sold to a local hotelier.

Southsea is the main tourist area of the seasonal resort of Portsea Island. The hotel occupies a prominent corner position on Osborne Road, Clarence Parade and Nightingale Road overlooking the large common towards the Solent and the Isle of Wight.

It is a complex of two buildings, of which the earliest part dates back to 1820 and became a hotel in 1855. They were joined in 1872.

Offering 50 en-suite bedrooms, it has been run as a hostel on a room-only basis, serving mostly contractors and some walk-in leisure trade over the weekends.

The front lower ground has been set aside as a restaurant with bar that can be accessed from the hotel and from street level.

The Winchester office of Christie + Co sold the freehold off an asking price of £1m on behalf of administrator Greg Palfrey of Smith & Williamson.

By Angela Frewin