Prima Hotels buys Edinburgh's Royal Terrace

The four-star Royal Terrace Hotel in Edinburgh has been sold for around £8m to hotel chain Prima Hotels.

Owner Le Méridien finalised the transaction last Friday, said Prima managing director and founder Liam Walshe.

A refit, spending in the region of £1.5m, is now planned for the 108-bedroom Georgian hotel.

Prima, which owns four hotels in the UK, including Hellaby Hall in South Yorkshire and Stanneylands Hotel in Wilmslow, Cheshire, has existed since 1998.

The latest deal is a joint venture with Dublin-based Hanratty Holdings, with the funding coming from Allied Irish Bank.

"We will start the refurbishment shortly. We have had extensive surveys done and it's now just a question of pulling them all together.

"We want to take the hotel upmarket but still within the four-star brand," said Walshe.

There were no plans to move or get rid any of the staff currently working at the hotel, he added.

The Royal Terrace is an ex-Principal hotel and is the ninth such property to be sold by Le Méridien, which has been selling the bulk of the Principal group for more than a year now.

It was put on the market in April and the agent for the sale was ATIS REAL Weatheralls.

by Nic Paton