Red Carnation goes rural with Summer Lodge buyout

Red Carnation Hotels has bought the three-red-star, 18-bedroom Relais & Châteaux Summer Lodge in Evershot, Dorset, for an undisclosed sum. It becomes the group's ninth hotel and the first in the UK outside London.

Red Carnation managing director Jonathan Raggett said there was a need for a hotel outside London for the company's repeat guests, particularly Americans. It would also be aimed at customers in the domestic market wanting to take a second or third short break in a year.

But there were no current plans to buy further properties in the provinces. "It was an opportunity and so we decided to take it," Raggett added.

For 27 years, Summer Lodge had been owned by Nigel and Margaret Corbett, who will stay on for a year to assist with the transition period.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 9 - 15 October 2003