Bath’s former Carfax Hotel has been put on the market, potentially scuppering plans to transform it into a high-end, boutique hotel. But the sale could earn its owners £1.25m profit in less than two years.
Italian property firm Geco Spa bought the 31-bedroom Great Pulteney Street building – made up of Grade I listed three terraced townhouses and a two-storey coach house – in 2014 for £3.25m. 
Last year, upmarket hotel chain Vineyard Group announced plans to develop and then manage the site as a 40-bedroom boutique hotel. The group owns or manages a string of hotels including the Vineyard and Donnington Valley hotels in Berkshire.
But upmarket property agency Savills has now put the Georgian building on the market and is inviting offers of more than £4.5m.
It is being sold with full planning permission to create the additional eight bedrooms and extend the dining space – although Savills said it would consider offers to convert it for residential use.
Savills hotels director Martin Rogers said: “This historic property previously traded successfully as a hotel and with Bath’s strong tourist market, plus planning permission in place to add further bedrooms, it could certainly do so again.
“Alternatively, it could be converted into luxury houses or apartments subject to the necessary planning consents.”
