Cairn group buys former Swallow Imperial hotel in Jesmond

Cairn Hotel Group has picked up the freehold on the Imperial Hotel in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which was on the market for a guide price of £5m.

The 122-bedroom hotel in Jesmond, which was owned by a fund managed by F&C Reit Asset Management, previously operated under the Swallow brand.

The hotel incorporates the 80-seat Chapters Restaurant; the 50-seat Library Bar; seven meeting rooms, a leisure club; and a two-storey, 120-space car park.

The Cairn Hotel Group, which currently operates 16 hotels across England and Scotland, plans to invest a "substantial sum" to reposition the Imperial, part of which was destroyed by fire in early 2008.

Sebastian Meredith, associate director at property agent Christie & Co, which handled the sale of behalf of F&C, said: "We are delighted to have secured a purchaser who completed their acquisition in a timely fashion. This sale is further evidence of ongoing demand in the hotel market for substantial assets where the vendors were seeking offers in the region of £5m for their freehold interest."

Swallow went into administration in 2006 with debts estimated at £40m, but the brand was picked up by Crerar Hotels, which continued to use the name on hotels including the Imperial.

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By Daniel Thomas

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