Swansea hotel opens – and is sold the same day

The 99-bedroom hotel near Swansea city centre is BDL's second Ramada Encore hotel, following the opening of the Ramada Encore London West at Gypsy Corner in April.

BDL will continue to manage the Swansea hotel for an initial six months.

The company was set up in 1997 to develop and manage branded hotels across the UK under the Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Ramada Encore flags.

Ewan Campbell, BDL's director of sales and marketing, said, "The sale corresponds with our strategy of developing high-specification properties in financially viable markets, with the objective of providing above- average return on investment"

"The sale affords us the opportunity to continue our exponential growth, while the management contract ensures that we will still be directly involved in sales and marketing, operations, and facilities management."

The Ramada Encore Hotel Swansea, which charges £69.95 a night, is the first acquisition by Pearl Hotels, which was created last year to buy branded, limited-service hotels in good commercial locations.

"This acquisition will put us on a firm footing for the first phase of our expansion which will see us acquiring two additional branded hotels in the next couple of years," commented Zahir Somani, managing director of Pearl Hotels.

by Angela Frewin

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