A Lake District hotel has been sold for an undisclosed fee after it was put on the market with a guide price of £2.85 million.
The Miller Howe Hotel in Windermere, launched and made famous by one of the original celebrity chefs, John Tovey, was sold to a local businessman.
The AA three-star hotel on Rayrigg Road sits in substantial landscaped grounds overlooking the lake Windermere with 15 en-suite bedrooms, a restaurant, residents’ bar and conservatory, parking for 30 cars and Miller Howe Cottage; a detached former cottage converted into additional letting accommodation with shoreline lake views.
Julian Troup, head of UK Hotels Agency at Colliers, said: “Miller Howe is arguably the most high-profile and prestigious small country house hotel in the Lake District National Park, offering unrivalled views over lake Windermere.
“Its landmark status and outstanding location resulted in a strong level of both domestic and international prospective buyers, who were prepared to reflect the potential and real estate value in their assessment of the opportunity.”
Mr Tovey launched Miller Howe in 1971 with an investment of £53,000 – by 1989 and following several best-seller cookery books and a popular television series, the hotel and restaurant had become renowned internationally and his business had soared in value.
The property was later sold to Charles Garside, former editor of The European newspaper and now assistant editor at The Daily Mail, who managed the business with his brother and sister-in-law.
The property has come full circle with Julian Troup handling the sale to a local businessman around 20 years after he sold the landmark property on behalf of John Tovey in 1998.
Troup added: “Colliers is continuing to experience a high level of serious interest in hotels and hospitality businesses, our sale of Miller Howe brings the total to 21 sales completed by Colliers since the beginning of last year.”
