CviewUK Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 A 900-year-old castle is up for sale. Historic Amberley Castle has been put on the market after the financial collapse of its owners, the Von Essen Hotels group. Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group called in administrators Ernst and Young after the group, which owns 28 hotels in the UK and France, failed to make interest payments on its £250 million debt. A spokesman for the administrators said for now it would be “business as usual” for the luxurious hotel and its 40 staff. He said: “The administrators are working with the company to develop the appropriate strategy to take the business forward.” Industry analysts expect a bidding war for the hotel, which is listed as one of the top ten castle hotels in the world by gayot.com. The upmarket property employs 40 people and has 19 bedrooms and suites, many with four-poster beds and all featuring whirlpool bathrooms. The hotel's facilities include two restaurants, lounge areas, tennis court, croquet lawn, gardens and lakes, an 18-hole professional putting course and a thatched-roof tree house with a rope bridge. A spokesman for the hotel said it was open for business and had rooms available for the upcoming Royal Wedding and Bank Holiday period. He said: “If people have weddings, parties and conferences booked at the hotel they can be assured that these events will not be affected in any way.” A West Sussex County Council spokesman said: "Amberley Castle is a very key and important tourist attraction and provides a number of jobs in the local area. We hope that a buyer will be found for the castle as soon as possible." Tim Smith, director of hotel consultancy HVS London, said the holding group had acquired a large number of hotels in a short space of time and that hotels across the UK were still struggling to reach pre-recession levels of occupancy. He said that a single buyer for the chain was unlikely. He said the more likely scenario is that the group will be split up with some hotels being sold individually. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8995936.900_year_old_Sussex_castle_up_for_sale/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copydude Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8995936.900_year_old_Sussex_castle_up_for_sale/ The hotel's facilities include a thatched-roof tree house with a rope bridge. Well, there you go, Bloo Loo, you won't find those at the Toby Carvery. Surprised wedding parties aren't queuing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man o' the year Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 (edited) Von Essen’s Hunstrete House goes into voluntary liquidation. Hunstrete House near Bath has gone into creditors voluntary liquidation after the administrators of Von Essen Hotels terminated the licensing agreement with its operator. Hunstrete House near Bath has gone into liquidation Hunstrete House Limited had been operating the Somerset hotel under an agreement with Von Essen Investments, a company controlled by former director Andrew Davies prior to the group’s administration last month. The business had been making a loss for several years and had only continued to operate thanks to support from Von Essen. However with the appointment of administrators from Ernst & Young, Von Essen has given the operator three months’ notice to terminate its contract and as such as withdrawn all support. All members of staff at the hotel have been notified of the liquidation, and have been paid up to date. Von Essen will seek alternative employment for them at other properties within the group in the Bath and Bristol region. Any outstanding trade creditors will be contacted by the liquidator for an initial meeting of creditors. No option Sir Charles Prew, who joined Von Essen as chief executive in March this year, said the liquidation was regrettable but there was “no option”. “The combination of notice being served by von Essen Investments and the continuing losses of the hotel mean that the Administrators could no longer continue to support the business,” he said. “We are pleased that we have been able to arrange that all staff will be paid up to date and we will be doing all that we can to find them employment in our other hotels in the region which, along with other group hotels, will continue to operate as usual. “We will also be working hard to ensure that customers with outstanding bookings will be able to make alternative arrangements in other group hotels in the region which will honour deposits they have already made and match the terms of their previous arrangements.” The liquidation of Hunstrete House will have no effect on the operation of the remaining 26 hotels in the Von Essen group, which are continuing to trade as normal for now. However experts believe it is “only a matter of time” before further properties are sold. A spokesperson for Ernst & Young confirmed the group had received “significant interest”, but said it was too early to tell whether the group would be sold as a whole or on an individual site basis. Davies was released from his position as director of Von Essen on 20 April upon the appointment of administrators. A spokesperson for Ernst & Young said: “He was removed by a turnaround specialist to ensure control of the group and minimal disruption to the hotel operation business.” link Edited May 5, 2011 by man o' the year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_w_ Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Von Essen's Hunstrete House goes into voluntary liquidation. link This has got to be fraud. Even crass incompetence could not have brought this hotel down. I know times are hard but I've been to Hunstrete House a few times some years ago, a muppet could have kept it functioning as a cash machine. Disgraceful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man o' the year Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 (edited) This has got to be fraud. Even crass incompetence could not have brought this hotel down. I know times are hard but I've been to Hunstrete House a few times some years ago, a muppet could have kept it functioning as a cash machine. Disgraceful. I understand that Hunstrete had a different ethos and feel under previous owners. Perhaps you visited then. The failure of Hunstrete may have been d to money needed by Von Essen group to service over leveraged borrowing. I was told recently by someone that her son, who without experience, had moved to a position of responsibility at Hunstrete. Edited May 5, 2011 by man o' the year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_w_ Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 (edited) I understand that Hunstrete had a different ethos and feel under previous owners. Perhaps you visited then. The failure of Hunstrete may have been to money needed by Von Essen group toservice over leveraged borrowing. I last went there 10 odd years ago (no kids...). My guess is it's the now all too familiar private equity fraud: load a business with more debts that it can handle, do a runner with the borrowed money. If every hotel in the land had to go bust, I would have bet on HH being the last one standing. Edited May 5, 2011 by _w_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man o' the year Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I believe Von Essen bought Hunstrete in 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 This has got to be fraud. Even crass incompetence could not have brought this hotel down. I know times are hard but I've been to Hunstrete House a few times some years ago, a muppet could have kept it functioning as a cash machine. Disgraceful. I haven't been personally since before it was Von Essen and it was fine then but there may have been an issue with competing with other Von Essen hotels as I quite often booked visiting business people into the Royal Crescent in Bath which is very close by and also Von Essen. Not sure how the liquidation will work, suppose they'll flog off the fixtures and fittings and some bank will be left with the property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man o' the year Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Hunstrete now on market. More interestingly another hotel - Millers at Glencot gone on market as residential property today. My link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 (edited) Well, there you go, Bloo Loo, you won't find those at the Toby Carvery. Surprised wedding parties aren't queuing up. I was down at the new fish and chip shop next to the Holes Bay Asda in Poole at lunchtime. It has a nice restaurant section overlooking the bay. Notices were up saying it is block-booked this Saturday Night for a wedding reception. Great food, great view, low cost. Sign o' the times? Edited June 10, 2011 by juvenal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Liebenstein Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 This has got to be fraud. Even crass incompetence could not have brought this hotel down. I know times are hard but I've been to Hunstrete House a few times some years ago, a muppet could have kept it functioning as a cash machine. Disgraceful. Someone does need to look at these debt loading private equity deals that go sour, in my book many could be counted as fraud. Its a bit like me setting up a firm, borrowing loads to pay myself a big salary and then defaulting on the debts. Agree with you comment that most of these places would have been fine if they'd be left as is running their own P&L. I've stayed at a few Von Essen hotels, Dalhousie Castle, Cliveden, New Park Manor and these business independently should all have been viable. That said once the private equity idiots get involved things go wrong, I recall trying to book a room/suite at Amberley Castle one Christmas, and was told they only had the top suite left which was £2000 for three nights - I would have paid this as my wife was 8 months pregnant and he had therefore not booked a winter holiday, but when they said we wouldn't be able to have Christmas lunch as that was fully booked, I didn't bother making the booking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habeas Domus Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Some updates for an old thread.. Barclays sues over audit of hotel chain Von Essen (dec 2014)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/11291501/Barclays-sues-over-audit-of-hotel-chain-Von-Essen.html Creditors of collapsed von Essen hotel chain are to recover only tiny fraction of what they are owed, say liquidatorshttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2924744/Creditors-collapsed-von-Essen-hotel-chain-recover-tiny-fraction-owed-say-liquidators.html Wikipedia now has a long list of all the Hotels sold by failed "businessman" Andrew Davis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Davis_%28businessman%29 One example: In 2002 - Davis leased Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, and the Royal Crescent hotel in Bath, for £50m In 2011 - The Royal Crescent, Bath (Classic Set) – guide price £22.5m - failed to sell 05 April 2012 - Topland Group has bought the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath from the Von Essen portfolio for around £19m after the Livingstone brothers pulled out of the sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Too many country house hotels, particularly around Bath/Cotswolds and I just don't think they're commercially viable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wherebee Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Someone does need to look at these debt loading private equity deals that go sour, in my book many could be counted as fraud. Its a bit like me setting up a firm, borrowing loads to pay myself a big salary and then defaulting on the debts. Agree with you comment that most of these places would have been fine if they'd be left as is running their own P&L. I've stayed at a few Von Essen hotels, Dalhousie Castle, Cliveden, New Park Manor and these business independently should all have been viable. That said once the private equity idiots get involved things go wrong, I recall trying to book a room/suite at Amberley Castle one Christmas, and was told they only had the top suite left which was £2000 for three nights - I would have paid this as my wife was 8 months pregnant and he had therefore not booked a winter holiday, but when they said we wouldn't be able to have Christmas lunch as that was fully booked, I didn't bother making the booking. You ever in that situation again - you can come round me for a full Christmas dinner and panto for 1,695. Deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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