Prominent hotel in ex-department store on market

AN Exeter hotel has been put up for sale less than two years after it opened. The Hotel Indigo was built in the former House of Fraser store after a £40 million project to turn it into a hotel and spa, with a restaurant and two bars.

The hotel has been put on the market, with estate agents Savills inviting offers in excess of £24m for the 104-bedroom hotel.

The sale will include the hotel, Colson’s Bar & Restaurant, the Dugout sports bar, Becketts rooftop bar, The Retreat Spa and the two retail units on the ground floor, currently let to Mountain Warehouse and Holland & Barrett.

Savills’ advert said: “Outstanding, recently developed, lifestyle hotel in a prominent city centre location including two fixed income-producing retail units on Exeter High Street.

“The sale comprises a significant branded hotel and two high street retail units, fully let and delivering strong fixed income. The hotel is operated under a Hotel Indigo franchise from IHG. The Hotel Indigo brand is synonymous with character and design-led comfort which complements their locations. Offers are sought for the whole on an asset basis with the sale to be by way of a transfer of a going concern.”

Plans to transform the building into a hotel with shops on the ground floor were given the goahead in 2019 and work began in 2020.

As work on the hotel progressed, the sign for the site’s former Colson’s department store, founded in 1792 by Mrs Colson, re-emerged.

In a nod to the historic business, IHG took inspiration from the department store when designing the hotel and named the main restaurant after it.

Hotel Indigo eventually opened in December 2022 and by June 2023 all features had been completed.

In December 2023 it was announced that management was being taken over by Focus Hotels Management.