Country house hotel with stretch of river changes hands.
A COUNTRY house hotel in Dumfriesshire has changed hands for the first time in 80 years.
Friars Carse, a 21-bedroom former country house, owned by the Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance operating under the Classic Hotels brand, was sold for an undisclosed sum from a guide price of £1.3 million.
The anonymous London-based buyer intends to retain the existing management and staff.
Julian Troup, head of UK Hotels Agency at Colliers who handled the sale, said: “Friars Carse is the most significant single asset hotel opportunity to become available in the area, and this sale, during an elevated period of uncertainty, brought about by the effects of COVID-19 shows how high quality hotel assets will continue to appeal to the market.
“We succeeded in achieving significant domestic and overseas interest from our open marketing campaign.”
The existing property, set in more than 30 acres of parkland, dates back to 1873.
Located on the Robert Burns Heritage Trail in the Nith Valley, it offers a range of public rooms, including a 46-cover restaurant and a fixed marquee which is used for weddings and events.
There are also three self-catering cottages and a 1.5 mile stretch of privately-owned riverbank on the Nith which can be used for salmon fishing.
The hotel is on the land of the former home of Robert Riddell, who became a friend of Burns when he lived on the neighbouring Ellisland Farm.
Riddell is featured in a number of works by Scotland’s national Bard.
