Royal Clifton for sale with £6m price tag
ONE of Southport’s hotels is up for sale, with an asking price of £6m.
The Royal Clifton Hotel is on the market, four years after current owners D’Urberville bought the 120-bedroom, three-star accommodation.
Before its sale in 2015, it had been trading under the Best Western banner since 1987.
Close to the Marine Lake and Kings Gardens, the hotel was built as the Royal hotel in 1853-54, and was subsequently extended before being connected to the nextdoor Clifton Hotel in 1980.
It has hosted a number of celebrity guests over the years, including Marlene Dietrich, Bing Crosby, Dame Shirley Bassey and golfer Jack Nicklaus.
Today it operates as part of the Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western and hosts weddings and events, featuring nine functions rooms, as well as lounge, restaurant and bar areas. It also has a leisure club and health spa.
The business has been owned and operated by D’Urberville Hotels for the past four years and is being sold as part of what the company called “a planned exit strategy.”
In a statement, the directors of the business said: “Strategic business positioning within the Southport marketplace, supported by the introduction of capital deployed to most of the bedroom stock and a tangible investment in operational people engaged in driving for results is evident in the business and reflected in year to date business performance.”
Ryan Lynn, director at estate agents Christie & Co, is handling the sale and said: “We’re pleased to be working with
D’Urberville Hotels once again and anticipate that the business will be well received by the market.
“The hotel is currently trading strongly but an incoming operator could invest further in order to achieve four-star accreditation, which would complement the existing facilities and diversified revenue streams.
“The UK hotel market is currently very active with both UK and overseas buyers seeking high quality opportunities and we believe that the Royal Clifton Hotel fulfils many of their criteria.”