A luxury boutique hotel overlooking the River Dee is on the market for just short of £3m as the owners announce their retirement.
Specialist business property adviser Christie & Co has been instructed to sell Edgar House, perched above the City Walls, with an asking price of £2,950,000.
The sellers claim the property, which is accessible by car from Duke Street and on foot from The Groves and the Walls, benefits from the estimated 10m visitors who explore the walled circuit each year.
With its Georgian period architecture, the house boasts seven individually-designed bedrooms across two floors, with guest lounge, cinema room, commercial catering kitchen, internal and external storage, plus a lower ground, one-bedroom apartment with private access.
The hotel’s riverside restaurant, Twenty2, is popular with tourists throughout the year and the riverside garden offers al fresco dining during the summer months. There is off street parking available for 12 vehicles, as well as a two-bedroom detached house next door with private parking and garden, included within the sale.
Over recent years, the current owners, Tim Mills and Mike Stephen, have gained national and worldwide recognition resulting in numerous awards: TripAdvisor’s Most Romantic Hotel in Europe, The Sunday Times’ No1 UK City Hotel, Trivago’s Best Hotel in the North West and the ‘by invitation only’ listing in the Good Hotel Guide. In 2016 Edgar House also won TripAdvisor’s award, No1 Small Hotel in the World.
Tim and Mike purchased Edgar House in 2010 and, following an extensive three year development, opened the site as a hotel, immediately gaining AA’s supreme accolade of five gold stars.
Mr Mills and Mr Stephen comment: “We are very proud to have achieved what we had set out to do and more, but it has always been our plan to retire in the coming 12 months. We are delighted to be leaving the business in a position of strength with an excellent reputation and in a fantastic position for growth.
“We have loved running the hotel as a lifestyle business by restricting our number of guests, but for new owners, opening to full capacity, as well as considering the expansion plans for the restaurant extension and increased bedrooms in the next door property, will hopefully offer a superb opportunity for growth.”
Tom O’Malley, senior agent at Christie & Co, which is handling the sale, comments: “There is a current gap in the market for luxury wedding and celebration venues in Chester. In the first quarter of 2018, Edgar House received 82 enquiries for wedding functions to be held in the hotel, without them even marketing events as one of their services.
“Architectural drawings have been completed for an orangery style extension overlooking the river to create an additional 75 covers. Edgar House presents a terrific opportunity to acquire a thriving business and wedding venue.”
