Wetherspoon buys historic Tewkesbury hotel
Pub operator JD Wetherspoon has bought the historic Royal Hop Pole hotel in the medieval town of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, off a £1.75m asking price.
The Cirencester office of Colliers Robert Barry handled the sale of the three-star, Grade II-listed hotel in Church Street, parts of which date back to the late 15th century.
The property is one of the oldest inns in Gloucestershire and its famous patrons include the fictional Mr Pickwick (from Charles Dickens's Pickwick Papers) and the non-fictional Queen Mary, whose visit enabled the inn to display the royal coat of arms from 1892.
The business offers 29 en-suite bedrooms across its Georgian, Beamed Medieval and Garden Wings. The F&B element includes the 50-seat Old Beams restaurant with a carved Jacobean fireplace and the 40-seat Pickwick bar.
The gardens at the rear of the hotel lead to the River Avon and command views of the Malvern Hills.
By Angela Frewin