Hotels for Sale | Guest Houses for Sale

UK Pub Sales have a range of hotels for sale, from small guest houses to large hotels throughout the UK including: Suffolk, Essex, East Anglia, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, South East, London, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Home Counties, Leicestershire, Birmingham, Midlands, West Midlands, Cornwall, Devon, South and South West.

We are a specialist business transfer agent with 24 years experience selling licensed and unlicensed businesses of all kinds including hotels, pubs and restaurant.

To view our current Hotels for Sale, click here.
To view our current Guest Houses for Sale, click here

Range of Hotels for Sale

UK Pub Sales sell hotels of all types including large country house hotels, boutique hotels, seaside hotels, small family run hotels, B&B’s and guest houses.

Some hotels are licensed and incorporate bars and/or restaurants. Others are unlicensed and may have only basic kitchen and restaurant facilities (e.g. for breakfasts).

Whatever your requirements we have a wide selection of properties in stunning locations including both freehold and leasehold hotels.

Below, we’ve chosen to focus on three types of hotels and guest houses for sale, to illustrate what type of person is most suitable to own and run each type, the investment involved, and the potential profit margins.

Large Country House Hotels

Large country house hotels for sale come up fairly infrequently, as there are generally fewer of them (compared to smaller hotels, pub hotels, and guest houses for sale) and because they tend to be freehold hotels with private owners, rather than leasehold owners on a fixed term lease.

The major advantage of this type of hotel lies in its size and versatility. Having a large number of rooms means it can cater for large groups of people and can offer itself as a venue for a wide range of customers, especially if it also has sizeable downstairs rooms. Business conferences, seminars and meetings provide a good source of income, even out of season, even if guests do not stay overnight. But social occasions also provide valuable revenue opportunities, such as wedding receptions (especially if the hotel lies in picturesque grounds), anniversary events, annual dinners for local groups such as sports clubs, charity fundraising events, and more. In fact, the scope is almost unlimited.

The major problem with buying a large country house hotel is the large investment required, coupled with high overhead costs. This type of hotel generally also includes a restaurant and a bar. The restaurant will tend to be in the upmarket range in order to meet the expectations of guests who can afford to stay at the hotel, but also to provide a quality destination for local visitors looking for a meeting or dinner venue. Maintaining this type of restaurant involves employing specialist staff in order to achieve the necessary standards of cuisine and service. Apart from the restaurant, the sheer number of guest rooms requires significant levels of cleaning and laundry, and the frequency of arrivals and departures may necessitate a dedicated reception staff.

Taking over a hotel of this type usually brings with it the advantage of acquiring a renowned name in the local area, with an established reputation and awareness. Given the high level of investment, and therefore risk, associated with this type of operation, it is essential to have detailed accounts so that you can see where the profit is currently coming from. If the business is struggling, it is essential that you are able to clearly see how to change things to bring the business into profit. Based on everything above, it is clear that this type of hotel is not for the novice and requires significant experience, along with a strong financial position.

Ideal owner: Experienced hotelier with finance in place

Price range: £500,000 plus

Potential profit margins: 10-20%

Boutique Hotels

Boutique hotels have acquired a certain mystique in recent years, and many private purchasers dream of owning and running a boutique hotel – but what exactly is a boutique hotel and how is it different to a non-boutique hotel?

Boutique hotels also tend to be on the small to medium size, with perhaps 5-50 rooms.

A truly boutique hotel will tend to be owned by an individual (as opposed to a large hotel chain) and designed, furnished and run in a way which is unique or exclusive in some way. Most often, the uniqueness will lie in the way the hotel is designed and furnished, tending towards the luxurious or with a particular design theme, such as antique, Art Deco, or some other distinctive decorative style. Other common features include a special sense of comfort, discretion and intimacy, with many hotels in this category seeking to provide superior levels of customer service.

Because of the emphasis on luxury, style and service, the ingoing costs of setting up a boutique hotel are generally high – and usually require the owner to have a personal passion for design, or to employ a designer. And because a boutique hotel’s particular design theme or way of treating customers is unproven, it can be a high risk venture.

A safer route is to take over an existing boutique hotel with a proven track record. The risk here is that the new owner does not share the same vision or passion of the previous owner and that this starts to affect business performance.

Once the initial investment has been made however, and assuming there is a market for what the hotel has to offer, you can expect to charge considerably more for a room than in other types of hotel. The target market for this type of hotel are customers for whom budget is not a concern, but exclusivity, fashion and perhaps privacy are. This requires an affluent customer base, so you need to research the area closely to establish whether there is the potential.

Ideal owner: Experienced hotelier with personal funds in place looking to make a mark

Price range: £250,000 plus

Potential profit margins: 10-15%

Guest Houses

A guest house is a small hotel, usually consisting of between 4-10 rooms. They are often situated in private residential properties which have been converted into guest accommodation. They tend to be most common in areas where there is high seasonal demand for accommodation, such as seaside towns. In many ways, a guest house is simply another term for a B&B, usually providing a very similar service.

A guest house owner will typically live on the premises and will also, together with other family members, carry out most of the day to day tasks required such as taking bookings, greeting arrivals, cleaning, making breakfast and so on. Larger guest houses may employ a part-time staff to carry out some tasks.

All this means that the initial investment required for a guest house is on the lower side, and the ongoing overhead is also fairly low. This makes it a feasible option for many and allows the owner to experience the lifestyle whilst maintaining a ‘homely’ atmosphere for themselves and their guests. It also offers the opportunity for seasonal work, perhaps opening for just a few months of the year.

Running a guest house does require that you enjoy dealing with people directly, as you will be the main point of contact for guests for just about every aspect of their stay, from checking them in and out, making them breakfast, showing them how the TV works, and generally being on call. It can therefore sometimes be a challenge to separate business and personal space, and can be a 24/7 job, especially in peak season.
Ideal owner: Those with minimal funds and limited experience, looking for hands on experience. May suit the semi-retired looking to supplement their income, or those seeking part-time or seasonal work.

Price range: £150,000 plus

Potential profit margins: 15-20%