One of Europe's largest private hotel groups has acquired the Premier Inn at Glasgow's Charing Cross following the opening of a rival establishment within the city by its previous owner.
Manchester-based Britannia Hotels, headed by multi-millionaire Alex Langsam, has purchased the 278-bedroom property off a guide price of £8.5 million. It was put up for sale by hotel and restaurant operator Whitbread following the opening of its 249-bedroom Premier Inn and Bar + Block restaurant at St Enoch Square in June 2021.
The transaction at Charing Cross was supported by property advisor Christie & Co, which also acted on the sale of Glasgow's Lorne Hotel at the end of last year. Regional director for Scotland Brian Sheldon said the firm is experiencing higher demand for city centre hotels.
“This is a prime example of the buoyancy across the Glasgow and wider Scottish hotel market at present, with the demand for accommodation across Scotland on the rise," Mr Sheldon said.
READ MORE: New owners for the Lorne Hotel
"We are currently speaking with buyers across all price points with genuine aspirations to add to their portfolios and often surpassing client expectations with local, wider UK and international buyers as a result.”
The acquisition takes Britannia up to 64 hotels with a total of almost 12,300 guest bedrooms. Mr Langsam said the group is "delighted" with its latest acquisition, its fifth hotel in Scotland.
"Glasgow is a classic Britannia Hotels location where people come to work and play, and we will provide great value accommodation for these guests. This city-centre, high rise property joins the city, coast and country hotels we offer across our group which also includes Pontins Holiday Parks.
"We remain keen to grow our group further using the cash resources we have generated over the years which means we can move quickly to secure hotels on an all cash basis.”
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