Bath’s four-star Abbey Hotel has been sold to US-UK group KE Hotels by owners Ian and Christa Taylor, with the couple saying they will use the proceeds to fund ‘exciting’ new projects.
The sale of the 62-bedroom hotel, pictured, for an undisclosed sum, leaves the Taylors’ Kaleidoscope Collection with just one establishment, No.15 Great Pulteney, which opened just over a year ago in the former Carfax Hotel.
Last summer they sold the 21-bedroom Villa Magdala to the Indian-owned Roseate Hotels & Resorts.
The sale of the Abbey – one of Bath’s highest profile hotels – takes KE’s portfolio to three, joining the 87-bedroom Best Western Linton Lodge in Oxford and a 147-bedroom Moxy by Marriott in Manchester, which is currently under construction. The company also own several hotels in America.
KE Hotels said it plans to build on the Abbey’s customer experience by investing in the interiors and the staff to ensure a modern and comfortable stay for all guests.
KE Hotels managing director Anil Khanna said: “We are so pleased to be adding the Abbey Hotel to our portfolio. It has a great location, moments from Bath’s most visited sights. It also has a wonderful Georgian façade, balanced by welcoming, contemporary interiors – and a strong sense of place and identity.
“We will work hard to make sure that we preserve what makes the Abbey so special, whilst being utterly committed to investing in the hotel and working with the team to continue to grow and enhance the business.”
The Taylors are well known in the hospitality sector for their transformational hotel projects.
Before arriving in Bath they turned the Cotswold House in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, into a high-performing, luxury boutique hotel.
The Cotswold House and sister hotel Noel Arms were sold by the Taylors in 2007.
They bought the Abbey in 2012 for £5.5m from Compass Hotels. Under their stewardship it has gone from holding three AA stars to four and has doubled annual turnover to around £3.6m.
The Abbey Hotel’s 62 bedrooms are individually designed, while its Allium restaurant was launched with Chris Staines as head chef and is now headed by Rupert Taylor. Its ArtBar is a popular venue while its subterranean Igloo, pictured below, – a former World War II air-raid shelter – offers what it calls “a creative space for creative minds” with private booths.
Ian Taylor said: “Christa and I decided last year to sell the Abbey and to use the funds to move forward with exciting new hotel projects.
“We are delighted it will be part of the KE Hotels portfolio and Anil’s plans for the future of the hotel are very exciting – we both know Anil and the team will give the hotel as much care and dedication as we have done, over the past few years, and we wish them all the very best for the future.”
The Abbey sale was handled by Knight Frank. KE Hotels said Andrew Foulkes will remain as general manager.
