De Vere Grand Harbour hotel in Southampton sold to unnamed buyer
The four-star, 173-bedroom De Vere Grand Harbour hotel in Southampton has been sold to an unnamed private buyer, who intends to carry out a multimillion-pound renovation of the waterfront property.
The disposal of the property by the De Vere Group is the latest step in the company's strategy to sell its non-core hotels and concentrate on the development of its golf resort properties.
Last year the group sold three hotels: the 140-bedroom Royal Bath in Bournemouth and the 192-bedroom De Vere Daresbury Park in Warrington, to Britannia Hotels for around £20m, and the 119-bedroom University Arms, Cambridge, to real estate investor Melford Capital Partners.
Craig Millward, director of CBRE Hotels, which negotiated the sale, said "Southampton is regarded as the cruise capital of Northern Europe with over four million visitors a year. It is seeing rapid annual growth and a fifth terminal is planned. The landmark Grand Harbour hHotel is ideally positioned on the waterfront to take advantage of this increase in demand and represents a first class investment."
The new buyer will operate the hotel under the Grand Harbour name, whilst considering whether to re-brand the property.
Originally opened in 1994, the Grand Harbour offers the largest hotel conference facilities in Southampton with a capacity for up to 500 guests in its largest room. It has two restaurants: Number 5 and Allertons, a bar, swimming pool, spa and leisure centre.
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