Historic Lygon Arms hotel sold (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Historic Lygon Arms hotel sold

THE Lygon Arms in Broadway has been sold as part of a £41 million deal, it was confirmed this week.

The luxury hotel, recently voted Best Country House Hotel by the Sunday Times Traveller magazine, is one of three hotels sold by the Furlong Group to Paramount Hotels.

Paramount, which is owned by Dawney Shore Hotels plc, offered £36m in cash and £5m in loan notes due in three years time.

The two other hotels involved in the sale are Billesley Manor near Stratford and Combe Grove Manor near Bath.

The Lygon Arms has 69 bedrooms and a conference capacity of 80. Charles I is reputed to have stayed there during the Civil War.

It has a master suite named after the king and there is a secret passage to the lounge where the monarch met his troops.

Oliver Cromwell is also believed to have stayed at the hotel on the night of the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

Shortly after announcing news of the acquisition, Charles Prew, chief executive officer of Dawnay Shore Hotels plc said: "We're certainly delighted to have been able to acquire these three fine hotels and we'll continue to look for other similar opportunities.

"We are sure we can improve the profits of all three, for example, by introducing many new reasons for staying in them.

"There also seems to be considerable scope to improve the operational performance of the hotels."

Mr Prew said there would be an immediate investment of £1.5m in refurbishment across the three properties and there was also an immediate opportunity to extend the hotels.