Buyers sought for 1860s Lake District hotel

Keswick Country House Hotel, which boasts 73 en-suite rooms and a range of facilities, has been brought to market by Colliers.

Choice Hotels, which operates three hotels in Blackpool, is selling the estate. The firm acquired the hotel for £3m in 2002, according to the HM Land Registry.

Colliers is seeking “substantial” offers for the hotel off Station Road in Keswick. A guide price has not been made publicly available – seriously interested parties will be contacted with a price range after they have signed an NDA.

Sited on 5.5 acres overlooking one of the Lakes’ tallest mountains, Skiddaw, the hotel also offers dining, meeting, and lounge facilities in its main building, while an annexe, the Old Station House, was converted into eight bedrooms in 1997.

The Lonsdale Restaurant and Garden Room hosts 140 covers, while the Keswick Bar and Lounge can seat up to 100.

Additional event space includes the Barmore Suite, which offers a flexible setting for small private functions or boardroom-style events accommodating roughly 30 attendees.

The Keswick Suite, study, and a 12-person snooker room in the Old Station House complete the amenities on offer.

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Though built in the 1860s, the hotel itself is not listed, but the Old Station House is made of Lakeland green stone and slate and is listed as a Building of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

The 65 bedrooms within the main hotel are complemented with two suites and four junior suites.

The hotel was built in the 1860s. Credit: via Colliers

Julian Troup, head of UK hotels agency at Colliers, said: “There is substantial demand from both domestic and international hotel buyers for high-quality hotels in tourism hotspots such as the Lake District.

“We anticipate a healthy level of interest in the Keswick Country House Hotel.”

The hotel recorded a £4m turnover in the 2024 financial year, according to a sales brochure.

He continued: “Last month we sold the 70-bedroom Ambleside Salutation Hotel and Spa for in excess of the guide price, adding to the high volume of UK hotel sales that we have concluded already this year, and demonstrating the continuing confidence in the market from a diverse range of buyers.”

Extensive staff accommodation in the form of 38 distributed bedrooms in the main hotel, a 12-bed detached accommodation block, and a nine-person chalet is also provided.

On-site car parking for around 80 vehicles is also available.

An application to build two more staff accommodation blocks providing a total of 24 bedrooms is also in the planning pipeline and can be viewed on the Lake District National Park planning portal with the reference number 7/2018/2049.