Irish-led consortium buys Marriott hotels for €1.6bn

One of London’s best-appointed hotels was sold today as part of a £1.1bn (€1.6bn) transaction involving 47 Marriott sites.

The purchase by a consortium led by an Irish investment group includes Marriott County Hall, the former home of London’s GLC and situated alongside the London Eye and opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The other four- and-five star hotels featured in the sale are located around the UK, including at Leeds, Glasgow and Bristol. There are 39 sites in England, five in Scotland and three in Wales.

They have been acquired from Royal Bank of Scotland, which bought the hotels from a Whitbread and Marriott joint venture a year ago. The sites will continue to be managed by Marriott International on 30-year contracts.

Quinlan Private is the largest investor in the consortium, bolstering an estate that also includes Four Seasons hotels in Dublin, Prague and Budapest.

Pauline Bradley, head of transactions at Quinlan, said: “This is one of the best hotel portfolios in terms of asset quality and geographic spread within the UK.”