Unexpectedly available for sale. Outstanding Scottish Boutique Style Hotel and Wedding venue opportunity. Fully refurbished hotel with spacious beautifully manicured gardens to rear. Handsome period property located in Ayr offering 15 modernised bedrooms. First time available for sale in over 50 years. Highly successful operation with impressive level of future bookings in place. Terrific potential to develop property and increase income further.

Scottish Business Centre is delighted to bring to the market the highly impressive Savoy Park hotel. Set within beautifully manicured gardens and grounds, the most impressive award winning hotel is located on Racecourse Road within the popular coastal town of Ayr.

The town, which has a population in the region of 50,000, is located on Scotland’s west coast and is positioned 36 miles south west of the City of Glasgow. Ayrshire & Ayr has long been established as the perfect base for golfing tourists with the west coast providing many fine links courses, most notably the championship courses at Royal Troon and Turnberry.

The area which has always been a popular short break destination has in recent years benefitted in the growth of the sporting & outdoor visitor. With the improvements in the fast ferry services from Ireland plus the popularity of the low cost airlines which fly into both Prestwick & Glasgow airports which are a 15-minute drive and an hour’s drive away respectively, have helped to make Ayrshire the perfect destination for short breaks. Also, with the excellent road and rail connections from Glasgow and beyond, visiting the area has never been easier.

In addition, Ayr is home to Scotland’s premier racecourse and plays host to The Scottish Grand National in the spring and The Ayr Gold Cup in the autumn. Ayr also hosts the Scottish National Bowling Championship in July every year and the Scottish Air Show in September. The newly refurbished Gaiety Theatre is another popular draw to the area and hosts a variety of performances throughout the year. Just a short drive from the hotel is the magnificent Culzean Castle and the Ayrshire Alps, a testing 80 miles’ cycle ride which is located around 20 lies south of the town.

Owned and operated by the same family for over 50 years, the handsome boutique style Savoy Park Hotel dates back to the 1880s and was originally built as a private residence for Charles Henry Alston, an engineer and iron founder from Glasgow.
Originally called “Red House” the property was the first villa constructed of red Mauchline Sandstone in the Racecourse Road area rather than the local grey toucnhead or content stone. The extended property which has only seen a hand full of owners over the years was converted to a hotel during the early 1930s.

Boasting a most welcoming ambience between traditional and Scottish boutique style, the award winning Savoy Park Hotel has become one of Ayrshire’s premier hotel & wedding venues. Catering for up to 200 guests, the Savoy Park Hotel benefits from having a stunning enclosed country garden with private woodland to the rear. The Savoy Park Hotel is in a unique position locally of being able to provide the peace and tranquillity of the generous private gardens that many competitors are simply not able to offer.

During 1960, our client’s family purchased the property and took over the business from a Mr William Lanham. Then lately the current owner took over the business from his father.

On taking over the business and after many years working in and watching the business steadily grow, our client had a clear idea on the route that the business should travel to ensure future growth.

With clear focus on quality & customer service and by understanding the requirements and ever increasing demands of the modern hotel guest, our client embarked on a major refurbishment and upgrading program which has continued throughout his time owning the business.

From the upgrading of the 15 bedrooms which includes the refitting of the 15 en-suites, upgrading and refurbishment of the public areas, to major improvements within the commercial kitchen and cellar then latterly fitting new quality carpeting within the bedrooms plus upgrading & maintenance work carried out on the roof during 2018/19, the investment made has been substantial.

As the hotel is based nearby the birthplace of Scotland’s National Bard, Robert Burns, our client was keen to create a Scottish theme running through the property. By cleverly mixing modern Scottish pieces alongside more traditional artworks, offering Scottish dishes on the menu and by naming a number of the guest bedrooms after the girlfriends and wife of Burns, our client has managed to tastefully incorporate the Scottish theme throughout the hotel.

Boasting an enviable level of wedding bookings year on year, The Savoy Park Hotel has long been established as a highly desirable venue for weddings. With the magnificent enclosed gardens, the wealth of period features such as wood panelling, feature log fires and with the real sense of heritage and tradition running throughout, The Savoy Park Hotel has long been viewed by brides as one the hotels in the area to host their special day.

Due to the flexible layout, the hotel is also able to provide corporate meeting rooms and often caters for private dinner parties, residential conferences or dinner dances.

While the Savoy Park Hotel enjoys a large and regular customer base, our client has identified a number of future areas of growth available within the food and beverage sector. By having such generous grounds to the rear, the vendor has previously considered utilising the space available by constructing a large garden restaurant within the grounds. The modern glass construction would benefit from offering a separate entrance from the front car park and would offer tremendous potential to substantially increase overall income levels within the business. Due to the size of the grounds, any future development could be sizable whilst still leaving a generous amount of the garden & woodlands for weddings.

By creating a Garden Restaurant, new owners of the hotel would be perfectly placed to tap into lucrative growth areas such as young families, young couples and catering for additional corporate clientele. With 15 upgraded & beautifully presented bedrooms, there is also potential to increase occupancy with online travel agents, tour groups, rate optimisation and targeted marketing.

Another area that the hotel cleverly engages in is social media. With the transformational impact of the digital landscape (including social media) on food, drink, wedding & leisure sectors, our client has recently started to make focused improvements within this area. Now that many clever operational systems plus a considered business strategy firmly is in place, the Savoy Park Hotel looks set to go from strength to strength in the years ahead. We believe that the sale of the business represents a truly rare opportunity for a larger operator to take over a beautifully presented hotel and wedding venue that offers real potential of increased trade and in overall asset value. Our client has only now decided to offer the business for sale due to a wish to retire. Viewing is highly recommended to fully appreciate this highly impressive hotel operation.

THE PROPERTY
Sitting on one of the main arteries into the centre of town and only a short walk from the seafront, the Savoy Park Hotel is positioned to the south of the centre of Ayr and is surrounded by traditional stone built properties. Built of stone construction and housed over ground with two upper floors the hotel consists of the following: 15 en-suite bedrooms, Large welcoming hallway with reception area, Monarch Lounge with bar plus tables an and chairs for dining. The Oak Room with large bay window overlooking the gardens plus tables and chairs for dining and a comfortable seating area in front of the log fire. Magnificent bay windowed Garden Room with ornate cornice work and wood panelling. The Garden Room, which has sliding doors giving the option of opening up the room to the Oak Room. The Burns Room, a beautifully presented dining room suited perfectly for private dining.

ANCILLARY AREAS Commercial kitchen, chill room & dry goods store, laundry room plus various storage facilities found throughout the hotel. Externally the hotel offers off road car parking to the front and side of the hotel, while to the rear is the large enclosed gardens with wooded area. Private/ mangers accommodation: The generous owner’s apartment which is found on the upper floor provides two bedrooms, lounge/office, bathroom plus kitchen/dining area.