Spanish resort operator buys Hustyns in Cornwall for £10.5m

One of Europe's leading resort developers and operators has snapped up the Hustyns hotel and holiday cottage resort in North Cornwall for £10.5m through property agent Savills.

And Club La Costa Resorts and Hotels of Spain has instructed Savills to find it more UK resorts in areas of outstanding natural beauty, national parks and coastal locations.

It intends to buy between 10 and 15 UK sites over the next 18 months, either with existing holiday cottages or with the land on which to build them.

Hustyns, which occupies a 90-acre site in St Breock Downs, near Wadebridge, was opened in 2002 by a group of local businessmen, including St Merryn Food Group founder Terry Matthews.

CLC bought the four-star, 37-bedroom Hustyns hotel, which includes a 65-seat restaurant, a 55-seat brasserie, and spa and leisure facilities.

The resort's 28 three-double-bedroom holiday cottages were acquired separately by an offshore investment vehicle advised the group's CLC Country Homes division.

From July, it will offer 20 holiday cottages for sale to private investors who will lease them back to CLC for 10 years for a guaranteed annual return of 6%.

Hustyns represents the group's 22nd fully-owned hotel and holiday cottage resort in Europe (including Spain, Teneriffe, and Austria), and its third in the UK.

It acquired Duchally Country Estate in Scotland around three years ago and added the Trenython Manor hotel and spa, near Fowey in Cornwall, this March.

CLC owns holiday units in another 55 resorts and has developed partnerships with more than 100 resorts in 20 countries around the world.

By Angela Frewin