Atlas hotels acquires Holiday Inn Express Folkestone

Atlas hotels, which is part of L+R hotels, has acquired the Holiday Inn Express Channel Tunnel Folkestone off a guide price of £8.5m.

There are currently over 60 Atlas hotels operating under brands such as Hampton by Hilton and Holiday Inn across the UK.

Knight Frank completed the sale of the hotel, which is situated half a mile from the Eurotunnel Terminal, on behalf of Stellar Asset Management, who acquired the asset in 2015.

The 100-room hotel sits on a 1.1-acre site complete with a 72-cover restaurant and bar, an external decked terrace, four meeting rooms and an on-site parking facility for 90 vehicles.

It was refurbished in 2018 to IHG’s Holiday Inn Express Generation 4 standard and attracts a mixture of leisure and business travellers.

Sean Lowe, chief executive of Atlas Hotels, said: “Our growth strategy to become the leading multi-brand platform for select service hotels in the UK continues with the acquisition of the Holiday Inn Express Folkstone. This demonstrates our appetite to grow through individual stand-alone acquisitions, in addition to our recent track record of buying portfolios of select service hotels. Supported by L+R Hotels, our operating model has allowed us to underwrite and execute transactions in a timely and efficient manner.”

Neil Kirk, chief executive of L+R Hotels, UK and Europe, added: “Working alongside the Atlas management team along with our transactional expertise we can provide existing owners a definitive exit route. L+R Hotels continue to support the growth of Atlas Hotels.”

It comes after L+R Hotels, the owner of Iconic Luxury Hotels, appointed two former members of senior leadership at Starwood Capital Group into C-suite positions.