Dawnay Shore acquires Walton Hall for £15m
Dawnay Shore Hotels (DSH) has added a 14th property to its portfolio with the £15.2m acquisition of Walton Hall in Wellesbourne, near Stratford-Upon-Avon.
The property, which consists of 132 timeshare units plus extensive leisure facilities, was formerly owned by private company Walton Hall Members.
Walton Hall will now undergo a £10m refurbishment which will see it converted into a four-star, 200-bedroom, country house hotel and spa with conference facilities.
Works will include converting the timeshare units into bedrooms and increasing the number of meeting rooms to 10. A 10,000sq ft conference facility is also planned subject to planning permission.
DSH said it will operate the property as a hotel straightaway but initial refurbishment is expected to start in January 2006. Internal works are expected to be completed by the summer when the hotel will be relaunched under DSH's Paramount brand.
The purchase is to be financed from internal resources and an additional lending from DSH's bank. The property has a 104-year lease.
DSH was established by Dawnay, Day and Shore Capital in 2004 to build a chain of four-star hotels in the UK. DSH released maiden financial results in May showing a profit of £14.3m.
The group's initial hotel portfolio consists of 13 hotels, acquired as the Paramount chain in July 2004, together with three additional hotels acquired from subsidiary companies of Hanover International in January this year.
