Devon's Burgh Island hotel on the market for £15m

An art-deco Devon hotel which inspired Agatha Christie’s novel Evil Under the Sun is up for sale for £15m.

Burgh Island hotel is located on a secluded 21-acre island off the coast of Bigbury-on-Sea in Devon and is only accessible by sea tractor at high tide.

Property agent Knight Frank is seeking a buyer for the 25-room hotel, Pilchard Inn pub and wider facilities including a tennis court, helipad, private mermaid pool and spa treatment rooms.

The hotel includes a Grand Ballroom used to host live jazz and pianists, and three restaurants, including the Palm Court sun lounge and terrace (pictured below), which Knight Frank described as a 'temple of art deco'.

Built in 1929, the hotel was rumoured to be a meeting place for president Eisenhower and prime minister Winston Churchill before the D-Day landings. The Beatles also stayed overnight before playing a concert in Plymouth.

The sale includes Christie’s beach house, a writer’s retreat built for the novelist, who also drew on the island’s remote setting for her novel And Then There Were None.

In December 2022, South Hams District Council approved plans for the hotel’s first major renovation since 1934, including the addition of 12 guest suites, two staff rooms, 11 ensuite staff bedrooms and extensions to the on-site pub and restaurant.

Devon entrepreneur Giles Fuchs, who is also behind the Gunner cocktail business, bought the hotel in 2018.

"Having watched the hotel be reborn, survive the pandemic, and continue as a wild and beautiful oasis for visitors from across the world, I believe now is the time for me to step aside and allow a new chapter to emerge for Burgh,” said Fuchs.

Matthew Smith, partner in the hotel agency team at Knight Frank, said: “It is rare for a hotel of such character and heritage to come to the open market.

“In recent years the buildings have received considerable investment and operates as a thriving business which generated in excess of £6m turnover in its most recent financial year.

“This is a unique opportunity to acquire a truly iconic hotel that benefits from a number of value-add opportunities to further develop the trading performance, and will no doubt appeal to a global investor audience.”