Antiques expert buys Somerset hotel
Martin Miller, founder of the Miller Antiques Guide, has bought Glencot House country house hotel in Wookey Hole, near Wells in Somerset, off a £2m asking price.
Miller already owns Miller's Residence, a small, luxury, 18th century-style hotel in Central London, and he intends to run Glencot along the same all-inclusive lines with food, drink, newspapers and other expenses included in the overall tariff.
Glencot is a two-star, listed late Victorian property set in 18 acres of garden and parkland that is crossed by a trout river and includes the village cricket pitch.
It is built in the Jacobean style with oak and walnut panelling, carved dressers and fireplaces and decorative ceilings and is furnished with period pieces and antiques.
Along with 13 en-suite bedrooms, the hotel includes a 20-seat dining room that is open to non-residents, a library, a drawing room, and conference facilities for 20 delegates board-room style.
Leisure facilities include snooker, table tennis, croquet, a sauna and an indoor jet-stream exercise pool.
The Cirencester office of Colliers Robert Barry sold the hotel in an off-market deal on behalf of the Attia family.
By Angela Frewin