Yorkshire hotel part of major acquisition

The Majestic Hotel in Harrogate was bought alongside four other properties in County Durham, Stirling, Cardiff and Brighton, off a guide price of £75m, adding 665 rooms to Cairn Group’s portfolio.

The hotels were part of a portfolio of 10 regional UK hotels, known as Project Solstice, that went on sale on behalf of The Hotel Collection for a total guide price of £130m in April this year.

As well as Majestic, Cairn Group also bought The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton, The Angel Hotel in Cardiff, Durham’s Redworth Hall Hotel and The Stirling Highland Hotel.

The North Yorkshire Hotel has catered for an international clientele of spa town visitors since the turn of the 19th century.

The Victorian-style Majestic, which has 170 bedrooms, first opened in 1900 at the height of Harrogate’s prosperity and it capitalised then on the town’s hugely popular baths, located a short distance away.

It is set within eight acres of private gardens and has become a four-star establishment with a health club, a restaurant, two bars and 15 conference rooms catering for up to 500 delegates.

Richard Warren, finance director of Newcastle-based Cairn Group, said: “This is an incredibly exciting move for us. We are continuing to break into new territories and penetrate new customer bases.

“Each of the hotels are completely unique and operating successfully. We see huge potential for them within the Cairn Group portfolio as we expand our coverage into new areas.”

The acquisition marks the group’s third of 2016.