Restaurateurs buy Dorset country hotel
A pair of restaurateurs from West Sussex have bought Kemps Country House hotel in East Stoke, Dorset.
The property (which is just three miles from the Saxon town of Wareham and 12 miles from the Bournemouth/Poole conurbation) overlooks the Purbeck hills with the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site just beyond.
It comprises the main building (a Victorian rectory built in the 1870s), a former coaching house and a more recent garden wing.
The hotel was sold with 15 bedrooms to sleep 36 guests but came with planning permission to add six bedrooms. The new owners are taking advantage of this potential, which will include the conversion of the former conference and function room.
A self-contained flat within the main building provides four-bedroom accommodation for the owners.
The business, which also offers a study, lounge bar and lounge, will reopen in November, possibly as a B&B.
The Southampton office of Colliers Robert Barry was seeking offers in the region of £1m for the freehold, which was acquired by John Smyth and Carol Dyson.
By Angela Frewin