St James's Hotels acquires 14 Forestdale hotels

St James's hotel group has announced that it has acquired 14 hotels from Forestdale hotels, which is in administration.

The 14 unbranded three-star hotels are in areas such as Bath, Cambridge, Winchester and Bristol.

Forestdale hotels was part of the Akkeron hotel group. It employs 600 people and has annual revenue of around £18m.

St James's said the hotels had suffered from underinvestment and a significant debt burden. It added that it had the financial strength and development capability to invest and improve the portfolio.

St James's Hotels managing director Shaun Robinson said: "We are very excited to have acquired this portfolio and while it will require significant investment in both time and money, we believe we are well placed to maximise the potential of these well located properties. This is the first of a series of acquisitions that we hope to make for St James's Hotels."

Two more Akkeron Hotels Group companies go into administration