Park Inn London goes under the hammer

Crimson Hotels Group has bought the 214-bedroom Park Inn London from the administrators of WG Mitchell, the collapsed £500 million property empire of Patrick Hegarty.

The independent hotel chain owned by Aly Kassam, son of Shiraz Kassam, the former chairman of the Baron Hotel group, paid in excess of £45 million for the four-star hotel in Russell Square, according to the Times.

Administrators from Ernst & Young were appointed to 28 of WG Mitchell’s 75 companies in April, after Royal Bank of Scotland called time on a number of loans. The hotel in Bloomsbury is managed by the Rezidor Hotel Group under its Park Inn banner.

The sale by Christies attracted total bids worth £1 billion, showing that the London’s hospitality market remains buoyant as there are few in the way of acquisition opportunities.

Mr Kassam told the Times: “Our acquisition of the Park Inn London, Russell Square, fills a Central London gap in our group. We had been looking for a Central London asset for some time. London hotel opportunities have been rare, so this property coming to the market gave us the chance to secure a well-located freehold trading asset.”

“We are now currently reviewing our investment and branding options but are just relieved to have secured such an excellent hotel.”

Jeremy Jones, director at Christie & Co, said: “We carried out over 50 formal tours of the hotel, culminating in a combined £1 billion of funded offers. What this sale clearly identifies is the huge demand for true Central London hotels from well-funded UK, Far East, Middle East and US buyers.”