Swire Properties to sell two Chapter hotels
Plans for a Hotel du Vin-style group of hotels from Hong Kong-based Swire Properties appear to have ended in light of news that it is to sell its UK portfolio including two Chapter hotels.
The group confirmed that specialist property agent Christie + Co had been appointed to market the 59-bedroom Magdalen Chapter in Exeter and the 61-bedroom Montpellier Chapter in Cheltenham (pictured), alongside the Avon Gorge hotel in Bristol and Hotel Seattle in Brighton.
The news comes four years after Brian Williams, managing director of Swire Hotels, announced plans to open a host of Chapter Hotels across prime UK towns and cities.
In 2011, Williams, who previously worked as chief executive of the Scotsman Hotel Group and in managerial roles for Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong and London, and at the Ritz, London, told The Caterer that he planned to have three Chapter Hotels open by 2014.
The group, which signed chef Simon Hopkinson as consultant, had earmarked the conversion of its Avon Grange hotel in Bristol to a Chapter property, alongside the development of other Chapters in university and cathedral towns and cities across the UK.
A statement for Swire Properties confirmed that all bookings at the group would be honoured and that all properties would continue to operate as hotels once the sale had been agreed. It also stated that no staff had lost their jobs as a result.
