Brooks Hotels buys country house hotel and cottages in Looe

Fledgling hotel company Brooks Hotels and Leisure has snapped up the Barclay House hotel and its self-catering cottages in the historic Cornish fishing port of Looe.

The country house hotel built up a strong reputation for food under previous owner, chef Nick Barclay and his wife Kelli.

It is carved into the hillside overlooking the wooden tidal creek at Looe and is less than 10 minutes from the beach.

The 10-bedroom, four diamond-rated hotel was built around 1890 as a Victorian family villa. It incorporates a ground floor restaurant to seat around 40 diners, a lounge bar and a sitting room.

There are currently eight five-star, self-catering cottages offering between one and three bedrooms, but the business has planning permission to add another seven.

The six-acre grounds are split equally between gardens and woodland and include a swimming pool sited in a suntrap.

Owner Malcolm Brooks, who lives in Yorkshire, has additionally bought the adjacent owners' four-bedroom house. His brother and sister-in-law, Graham and Gill Brooks, are running the hotel and cottages.

The Plymouth office of Colliers Robert Barry was seeking offers in excess of £2.5m for the freehold.

By Angela Frewin