Leonardo Hotels buys The Bristol Hotel from The Doyle Collection
Leonardo Hotels UK and Ireland has acquired The Bristol Hotel from The Doyle Collection. The buyer announced the purchase on its own press page. The release gives no consideration for the hotel.
The hotel rebrands as Leonardo Royal Hotel Bristol. The buyer's property page reads "Leonardo Royal Hotel Bristol - formerly The Bristol Hotel" at Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4QF, on the city's harbourside.
The release carries no room count for the hotel. The property page publishes none either.
A second Bristol property and a tenth UK Leonardo Royal
The release calls the hotel the group's second property in Bristol and the tenth Leonardo Royal Hotel in the UK. It names the existing Leonardo Royal set as London, Southampton, Glasgow, Birmingham, Oxford, Brighton and Edinburgh.
The group's own UK hotel list carries ten Leonardo Royal properties. They sit in Birmingham, Brighton Waterfront, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London City, London St Paul's, London Tower Bridge, Oxford and Southampton Grand Harbour.
The same list carries two Bristol hotels: Leonardo Hotel Bristol City at 3 Temple Way and Leonardo Royal Hotel Bristol at Prince Street.
The refurbishment programme
The hotel will run a phased GBP 11.5 million refurbishment, the release says. The programme covers guest rooms and public spaces. The release describes the investment as modernising the hotel while preserving its local character.
The hotel carries nine flexible meeting and event spaces for up to 400 delegates, the release says. The property page states the same nine spaces and the same 400-guest capacity.
The release lists Leo's Bar and Restaurant, a fitness centre and on-site parking among the amenities. The property page names The River Grille, The River Lounge and Rick's as the dining and bar outlets. Both descriptions come from the buyer's own pages.
The portfolio behind the acquisition
Leonardo Hotels UK and Ireland operates 63 centrally located properties with more than 13,000 rooms, the release states. The group runs five brands: Leonardo Hotels, Leonardo Royal Hotels, NYX Hotels, Leonardo Limited Edition and Master. The release puts the workforce above 4,000 colleagues.
Leonardo sits inside Fattal Hotels. The release puts Fattal at 332 hotels across more than 140 destinations, with more than 59,000 rooms in 22 countries.
Guy Vardi and Yaniv Amzaleg of Fattal Hotel Group said the acquisition "kicks off our third partnership with institutional investors in the last 4 years, in which we already secured more than 850 million euros of equity for new acquisitions". They put the platform at more than 330 hotels across 22 countries.
Jason Carruthers, managing director of Leonardo Hotels UK and Ireland, said: "With its outstanding harbourside location, strong reputation and excellent facilities, Leonardo Royal Hotel Bristol is a fantastic addition to our growing portfolio."
The seller's position
The Doyle Collection has published no release on the sale. The newest item on its media centre is dated 27 October 2023. Its hotel list holds seven properties: The Westbury and The Croke Park in Dublin, The Marylebone, The Bloomsbury and The Kensington in London, The Dupont Circle in Washington DC and The River Lee in Cork.
A notice on the same site tells guests of The Bristol that reservations are no longer available through the Doyle Collection website. It directs guests with an existing booking to contact the hotel directly.
What the release leaves open
The release publishes no start date and no completion date for the refurbishment. It publishes no room count for the hotel and no consideration for the purchase.