£2.5m price tag on iconic Fair City hotel
An iconic Perth hotel which can trace its history back 250 years has been put up for sale with an asking price of over £2.5 million.
The 46-bedroom Royal George Hotel on Tay Street is being sold to facilitate the retirement of the Anderson family, who have owned and operated it for more than 23 years.
Husband and wife duo Eddie and Lorna initially decided to call it a day in April 2019 when they put the hotel on the market, via real estate agents Colliers.
The couple had enjoyed welcoming in a range of famous faces over the years and have catered for around 2000 weddings.
However, no buyer was found and the family stayed on through the Covid pandemic.
New sellers Graham + Sibbald have called the hotel a “well-established city-centre hotel showing rising turnover in 2023” and highlight the recent addition of a gin distillery.
The website added: “Whilst The Royal George Hotel has its origins some 250 years ago, it is the current mid- 19th Century property that forms the core of this special city hotel overlooking the River Tay.”
Noting the hotel had “an extensive range of bar, restaurant, meeting and functionroom facilities” as well as a small gym and games room, the property firm added: “A recent addition, in 2021, is a gin distillery and adjoining gin garden, which is proving to be popular.”
Alistair Letham, a hotel and leisure consultant with Graham + Sibbald, said: “The Royal George Hotel is [a] veritable hotel institution in Perth. But more importantly it is a very well-established business with good profitability, plus bookings for 2023 are showing an excellent growth.
“This is [a] wonderful opportunity for new owners, whether corporate or private, to acquire a very popular city-centre hotel property and business.”
The firm concluded: “The Royal George Hotel has a spectacular position overlooking the River Tay and [is] located within the heart of Perth, itself at the confluence of road and rail transport, and the ‘Gateway to the Highlands’.
“The hotel is very close to the Perth Concert Hall, an increasingly popular concert and conference venue, plus the development of the Perth City Hall as the new Perth Museum is almost completed ready for the Stone of Destiny to be housed there.
“This attraction is expected to bring an additional 280,000 visitors to the city by the end of 2024. Plus, of course, the nearby Perth Racecourse at Scone Palace, the UK’S most northerly National Hunt course, holds around 12 meetings annually.”