Renowned Malvern hotel sold in undisclosed deal

A WORCESTERSHIRE hotel, described as having ‘The Best View in England’, has been sold in an undisclosed deal.

Located high in the Malvern Hills, a designated area of outstanding beauty, The Cottage in the Wood had been on the market for £1,750,000.

The sale was completed by specialist property adviser Christie + Co to husband and wife team Nick and Julia Davies, with the support of Royal Bank of Scotland.

The 30-bedroom hotel is equally famous for having been a destination of choice for Baroness Thatcher, who regularly visited the venue during her later years. Malvern composer Sir Edward Elgar also performed there.

The property comprises three buildings. Firstly the main house – which has seven bedrooms, a boardroom, the bar lounge and the popular ‘Outlook’ restaurant. The second building is the Beech Cottage – which was once a woodman’s cottage and also a scrumpy house which now houses four bedrooms. The third building is The Pinnacles with 19 bedrooms. It is named after Pinnacle Hill that rises above it.
 
The hotel has been purchased from John and Sue Pattin, who ran the business for over 25 years. Their children Maria Taylor and Dominic Pattin will remain employed there in senior management positions.  
 
The new owners plan to enhance and modernise the hotel, including renovating the bedrooms and reception areas.
 
Nick Davies, who together with his wife has relocated from London, said: “We are really pleased that our bid to acquire The Cottage in the Wood has been successful. It is a great hotel and restaurant with an excellent reputation and we intend to continue to run it to an impeccably high standard. We are also planning to make some minor improvements to the property including re-decorating and rejuvenating some of the bedrooms and other facilities.
 
“Both myself and Julia come from a management consultant background so we are really excited to be moving into a new area of work.  The previous owners of the hotel have established an excellent business and we are looking forward to taking over and working alongside existing members of the team to drive the business forward.”
 
Ian Morgan, Relationship Director at RBS, said: “The business has an excellent reputation and, under their management, I am sure this will continue to grow.”
 
Christie Finance assisted the new owners with the funding arrangements.