Hand Picked Hotels sells Priest House hotel to owner of Norton Motorcycles

Hand Picked Hotels has exchanged contracts to sell the four-AA-star, 42-bedroom Priest House Hotel in Castle Donington, Derbyshire.

The personal acquisition by Stuart Garner, chief executive of Norton Motorcycles - off a guide price of £3.25m - will enable the 21-strong Hand Picked group to focus on the acquisition of larger hotels.

Located in a converted Norman mill tower and 17th-century cottage on a 54-acre estate on the banks of the River Trent, the hotel is adjacent to events venue Donington Hall, where Norton Motorcycles is based.

All the hotel employees will be transferred to the new ownership on completion of the sale on 29 January.

Garner said: "Already owning and operating Donington Hall, the acquisition of the Priest House Hotel, our neighbouring property, makes perfect sense. Combining the two properties gives operational scale and a fabulous offering to our clients. with a combined 80 acres of grounds, bordered by an ancient deer park and the River Trent, our location is second to none.

Julia Hands, chairman and chief executive, Hand Picked Hotels, said that the company has a concentration of hotels in the Midlands and would like to plug gaps elsewhere. "We are keen to add additional slightly larger hotels to the Hand Picked Hotels collection and we continue to search for hotels in strategic locations across the UK."

The Priest House Hotel was put on the market in July, alongside sister hotel, the three-AA-star, 28-bedroom Seiont Manor in Snowdonia, North Wales, for £2m.

Christie + Co has handled the sale of Priest House and is also marketing Seiont Manor.

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