A hotel in the heart of Ambleside has been sold.

The Queens Hotel has been acquired by The Inn Collection Group in a deal brokered by real estate advisors Colliers International.

The opportunity was put to the market in a highly confidential fashion at offers in excess of £2.8m.

Acting on behalf of Terry Davie and his wife Dr Mary Albert-Davie, who have owned the hotel for the last 17 years, Colliers sold the property and business to the group for an undisclosed price.

The hotel is around 300 years old and has 26 en suite bedrooms, public bar areas, a restaurant and additional trading areas.

The Queens Hotel is the second acquisition by The Inn Collection Group in the Lake District.

It bought the Waterhead Hotel at Coniston last year.

The North East-based company now operates 10 sites across County Durham, Northumberland and North Yorkshire.

Julian Troup, head of UK hotels agency at Colliers International, said: "We were delighted to complete the sale of the Queens Hotel in a highly confidential fashion.

"Our instructions were to approach a list of targeted potential buyers, and from this we were able to select The Inn Collection Group who had shown their ability to perform when we sold them the Waterhead Hotel, Coniston last year.

“Its sale is indicative of an unprecedented level of interest from buyers wanting to acquire UK provincial hotels, with the Lake District continuing to be Colliers’ most productive area in the UK."

Mr Troup said Colliers International sold 19 Lakeland hotels and hospitality businesses during 2018, representing a record number of sales and further evidence of the unprecedented demand for the region.

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Sean Donkin, managing director of The Inn Collection Group, said: “We are delighted to have completed our second acquisition in the North West with the assistance of Julian and his team and hope to continue our expansion in the Lake District with similar acquisitions over the course of 2019."

Inn Collection Group is backed by Alchemy PE, which bought the group from Kings Park Capital in the summer of 2018 and is supported by Oaknorth Bank for its expansion plans across the North of England.