Starwood Capital Group buys The Town House Collection
The multi-million pound transaction sees the 100-bedroom five-star Blythswood Square hotel in Glasgow and 49-bedroom boutique hotel The Bonham in Edinburgh transfer to the US-based company, taking its portfolio up to 53 in the UK.
Peter Taylor, who formed The Town House Collection 26 years ago, told BigHospitality he had not set out to sell the hotels, but that the offer from Starwood had been too good to refuse.
"When we had the approach we weren't sure we wanted to sell, but it was a very good offer," he said. "When we handed the keys over yesterday we knew they would be in good hands."
Starwood Capital said Town House Collection's managing director Hans Rissmann and finance director Russell Hynd would be retained in a consultancy capacity to ensure a smooth transition, while all 270 Town House Collection employees would remain in their jobs.
Cody Bradshaw, senior vice president and head of European hotels at Starwood Capital Group said the group was 'thrilled' to be adding Blythswood Square and The Bonham to its 'rapidly expanding collection of UK hotels'.
“We have become intimately familiar with the vitality and potential of Glasgow and Edinburgh through our management of the George, Roxburghe and Grand Central, and believe that this acquisition perfectly complements our strategy of purchasing prime hotel assets in the region’s top-performing markets," he said.
Opportunistic
Taylor, who drove forward a £24m three-year redevelopment of Blythswood Square, the former Royal Scottish Automobile Club, before opening it as a luxury hotel in 2009, said he had mixed emotions about selling up a project he had invested so much in, but that he was looking forward to the next challenge.
"I don't want to say I'm retiring, because I'm not, but I'll take a bit of a breather now before I look at doing something else," he said. "All my steps have tended to be opportunistic, so who knows what I'll be doing next."
