The sale of one of Scotland’s most famous hotels was hailed as one of the biggest single UK hotel deals in recent years.
Large-scale city hotels, like well-placed gems in tourist hotspots, will always attract investors both international and domestic and the reported £85 million price tag for the 120-year-old Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian was no surprise.
However, smaller boutique hotels have been gaining increasing investment interest also from home and abroad.
Today, we reported that a seven-room hotel named after a reputedly haunted castle ruin is one of the latest to be brought to market. The Goblin Ha’ Hotel in Gifford, East Lothian, is described as “brimming with character”.
The hotel has an 88-cover restaurant and bar and substantial outdoor space, and all seven of its rooms are en-suite.
READ MORE: Hotel owned by same family for more than six decades for sale
Earlier this month the 12-bedroom Nether Abbey Hotel in nearby North Berwick, owned by the same family for more than 60 years, was put up for sale.
Investors vary. One Scottish family-owned city hotel company recently acquired a country house hotel as it signalled an expansion plan that involves rural property.
Edinburgh-based Apex Hotels, which has hotels in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, London, and Bath, gave the first sign of its strategy to move into rural areas with the acquisition of the Pine Trees Hotel in Pitlochry.
READ MORE: Hotel family acquires 'popular' Scottish country house hideaway
Angela Vickers, Apex chief executive, said then that “this move was the perfect fit in seeking to diversify the Apex Hotels brand in more rural locations to provide our guests with greater choice alongside existing city centre locations”.
Earlier this year the Crerar Hotels group sale was a significant transaction across smaller Scottish hotels with the deal extending to tens of millions of pounds.
There are other kinds of opportunities. An aparthotel hotel that "currently operates very profitably" and has a government accommodation contract has been put up for sale after its owner fell into administration.
READ MORE: Scottish property mogul unveils plan for hotel development
The former County Hotel, the Dalkeith Hotel has been extensively refurbished and provides 33 letting rooms.
This is an area that Chris Stewart Group, one of Scotland’s top property developers, has also targeted, submitting plans for a hotel and aparthotel for the West End of the Scottish capital.
Architect 3DReid has lodged proposals for the property giant to City of Edinburgh Council for the 115-room facility across three sites.
Estate agent Savills says its new figures exclusively revealed in tomorrow’s Herald show “the strength of investing in independent, characterful properties”.
Steven Fyfe, director in the hotel capital markets team at Savills Scotland, said: “This ever more popular sub-market offers plenty of differentiation and both consumers and investors alike are attracted to boutique hotels like never before.”
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