Historic 5-star hotel sold to The Arora Group
Global property consultancy Knight Frank has sold Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa on behalf of Elite Hotels to The Arora Group.
The 5-star 228-bedroom Luton Hoo Hotel Golf & Spa is set within 1,000 acres of gardens and parkland and includes a Grade I Mansion House, a bespoke built conference venue, an 18th century country club and golf course designed by Sir Robert Adam, three restaurants with two AA Rosettes, 23 function rooms, along with a spa, gym and indoor pool. It is located within 32 miles of central London, situated minutes away from the M1 motorway.
Steeped in history, the estate was once visited by Sir Winston Churchill during the Second World War, with 110,000 people gathering to show their support. Additionally, in 1951, the property hosted the exhibit of Sir Julian’s art collection, including several items of the now famous Fabergé collection.
Originally known as a specialist airport hotel owner operator, the Arora Group established their first city centre hotel in 2017 with the opening of the InterContinental London – The O2 and most recently has diversified further into the country house hotel market with the opening of Fairmont Windsor Park. The purchase of Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa continues the journey of portfolio diversification, and the hotel is well positioned to capture the significant pent-up demand from leisure and corporate travel from domestic and international markets.
Henry Jackson, Partner, Head of Hotel Agency at Knight Frank commented: “The Knight Frank Hotels team is delighted to have concluded the sale of Luton Hoo Hotel & Spa on behalf of Elite Hotels. We received multiple offers for this very special hotel from a variety of different types of purchasers. Surinder and his team will make excellent custodians of this truly exceptional asset and will build upon the success achieved by Elite Hotels. This sale demonstrates the confidence in the UK hotel market, and we expect this to continue in 2022.”
Graeme Bateman, Managing Director of Elite Hotels, comments: “Naturally, we are sad to be parting company with Luton Hoo Hotel, but we do so in the knowledge that we have passed the custodianship of this wonderful property into safe hands. We wish Surinder Arora and his team every success as they move Luton Hoo Hotel into a new era. May I also take this opportunity to express my huge gratitude to Matthew Long, General Manager, and all his colleagues at Luton Hoo Hotel, for their considerable personal commitment over the past 14-plus years. We will miss them greatly within the Elite family but are sure that they will continue to thrive and prosper under the new ownership.
“As a company, Elite Hotels remains fully committed to ensuring an even brighter future for Ashdown Park Hotel, Tylney Hall Hotel and The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne. Details of our exciting plans will be announced in due course.”
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Surinder Arora, CEO and Chairman of the Arora Group commented: “Our acquisition of Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa continues to support our strategy to diversify our hotel portfolio and we are excited to build on the already significant investment and development by Elite Hotels since their purchase of the estate in 1999. We are excited to welcome the Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa team to the Arora Group and are looking forward to the opportunities ahead for our expanded family.” Payne Hicks Beach acted for Elite Hotels and CMS acted for The Arora Group.